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diff --git a/46975-tei/46975-tei.tei b/46975-tei/46975-tei.tei new file mode 100644 index 0000000..851b40e --- /dev/null +++ b/46975-tei/46975-tei.tei @@ -0,0 +1,18703 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> + +<!DOCTYPE TEI.2 SYSTEM "http://www.gutenberg.org/tei/marcello/0.4/dtd/pgtei.dtd" [ + +<!ENTITY u5 "http://www.tei-c.org/Lite/"> + +]> + +<TEI.2 lang="en"> +<teiHeader> + <fileDesc> + <titleStmt> + <title>The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Ezekiel</title> + <author><name reg="Skinner, John">John Skinner</name></author> + </titleStmt> + <editionStmt> + <edition n="1">Edition 1</edition> + </editionStmt> + <publicationStmt> + <publisher>Project Gutenberg</publisher> + <date>September 27, 2014</date> + <idno type="etext-no">46975</idno> + <availability> + <p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and + most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions + whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of + the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at + www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have + to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> + </availability> + </publicationStmt> + <sourceDesc> + <bibl> + Created electronically. + </bibl> + </sourceDesc> + </fileDesc> + <encodingDesc> + </encodingDesc> + <profileDesc> + <langUsage> + <language id="en"></language> + <language id="fr"></language> + <language id="he"></language> + <language id="la"></language> + </langUsage> + </profileDesc> + <revisionDesc> + <change> + <date value="2014-09-27">September 27, 2014</date> + <respStmt> + <name> + Produced by Charlene Taylor, Colin Bell, David King, and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. + (This file was produced from images generously made + available by The Internet Archive.) + </name> + </respStmt> + <item>Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1</item> + </change> + </revisionDesc> +</teiHeader> + +<pgExtensions> + <pgStyleSheet> + .boxed { x-class: boxed } + .shaded { x-class: shaded } + .rules { x-class: rules; rules: all } + .indent { margin-left: 2 } + .bold { font-weight: bold } + .italic { font-style: italic } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + </pgStyleSheet> + + <pgCharMap formats="txt.iso-8859-1"> + <char id="U0x2014"> + <charName>mdash</charName> + <desc>EM DASH</desc> + <mapping>--</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2003"> + <charName>emsp</charName> + <desc>EM SPACE</desc> + <mapping> </mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2026"> + <charName>hellip</charName> + <desc>HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS</desc> + <mapping>...</mapping> + </char> + </pgCharMap> +</pgExtensions> + +<text lang="en"> + <front> + <div> + <divGen type="pgheader" /> + </div> + <div> + <divGen type="encodingDesc" /> + </div> + + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <p rend="font-size: xx-large; text-align: center">The Book of Ezekiel</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">By</p> + <p rend="font-size: x-large; text-align: center">The Rev. John Skinner, M.A.</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Professor of Old Testament Exegesis, Presbyterian College, London</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">London</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Hodder And Stoughton</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">1895</p> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <head>Contents</head> + <divGen type="toc" /> + </div> + + </front> +<body> + +<div> + <p rend='text-align: center'> + <figure url='images/cover.jpg' rend='width: 30%'> + <figDesc>Cover Art</figDesc> + </figure> + </p> + <p> + [Transcriber's Note: The above cover image was produced by the submitter at + Distributed Proofreaders, and is being placed into the public domain.] + </p> +</div> + +<pb n='v'/><anchor id='Pgv'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Preface.</head> + +<p> +In this volume I have endeavoured to present the +substance of Ezekiel's prophecies in a form intelligible +to students of the English Bible. I have tried to make +the exposition a fairly adequate guide to the sense of the +text, and to supply such information as seemed necessary +to elucidate the historical importance of the prophet's +teaching. Where I have departed from the received text +I have usually indicated in a note the nature of the +change introduced. Whilst I have sought to exercise +an independent judgment on all the questions touched +upon, the book has no pretensions to rank as a contribution +to Old Testament scholarship. +</p> + +<p> +The works on Ezekiel to which I am chiefly indebted +are: Ewald's <hi rend='italic'>Propheten des Alten Bundes</hi> (vol. ii.); +Smend's <hi rend='italic'>Der Prophet Ezechiel erklärt</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>Kurzgefasstes +Exegetisches Handbuch zum A. T.</hi>); Cornill's <hi rend='italic'>Das Buch +des Proph. Ezechiel</hi>; and, above all, Dr. A. B. Davidson's +commentary in the <hi rend='italic'>Cambridge Bible for Schools</hi>, my +obligations to which are almost continuous. In a less +degree I have been helped by the commentaries of +Hävernick and Orelli, by Valeton's <hi rend='italic'>Viertal Voorlezingen</hi> +<pb n='vi'/><anchor id='Pgvi'/> +(iii.), and by Gautier's <hi rend='italic'>La Mission du Prophète Ezechiel</hi>. +Amongst works of a more general character special +acknowledgment is due to <hi rend='italic'>The Old Testament in the +Jewish Church</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>The Religion of the Semites</hi> by the +late Dr. Robertson Smith. +</p> + +<p> +I wish also to express my gratitude to two friends—the +Rev. A. Alexander, Dundee, and the Rev. G. Steven, +Edinburgh—who have read most of the work in manuscript +or in proof, and made many valuable suggestions. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='001'/><anchor id='Pg001'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Part I. The Preparation And Call Of +The Prophet.</head> + +<pb n='003'/><anchor id='Pg003'/> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter I. Decline And Fall Of The Jewish State.</head> + +<p> +Ezekiel is a prophet of the Exile. He was one +of the priests who went into captivity with King +Jehoiachin in the year 597, and the whole of his prophetic +career falls after that event. Of his previous life and +circumstances we have no direct information, beyond the +facts that he was a priest and that his father's name was +Buzi. One or two inferences, however, may be regarded +as reasonably certain. We know that that first deportation +of Judæans to Babylon was confined to the nobility, the +men of war, and the craftsmen (2 Kings xxiv. 14-16); +and since Ezekiel was neither a soldier nor an artisan, +his place in the train of captives must have been due +to his social position. He must have belonged to the +upper ranks of the priesthood, who formed part of the +aristocracy of Jerusalem. He was thus a member of +the house of Zadok; and his familiarity with the details of +the Temple ritual makes it probable that he had actually +officiated as a priest in the national sanctuary. Moreover, +a careful study of the book gives the impression that +he was no longer a young man at the time when he +received his call to the prophetic office. He appears as +one whose views of life are already matured, who has +outlived the buoyancy and enthusiasm of youth, and +learned to estimate the moral possibilities of life with the +sobriety that comes through experience. This impression +is confirmed by the fact that he was married and had a +<pb n='004'/><anchor id='Pg004'/> +house of his own from the commencement of his work, +and probably at the time of his captivity. But the most +important fact of all is that Ezekiel had lived through a +period of unprecedented public calamity, and one fraught +with the most momentous consequences for the future +of religion. Moving in the highest circles of society, in +the centre of the national life, he must have been fully +cognisant of the grave events in which no thoughtful +observer could fail to recognise the tokens of the approaching +dissolution of the Hebrew state. Amongst the +influences that prepared him for his prophetic mission, a +leading place must therefore be assigned to the teaching +of history; and we cannot commence our study of his +prophecies better than by a brief survey of the course of +events that led up to the turning-point of his own career, +and at the same time helped to form his conception of +God's providential dealings with His people Israel. +</p> + +<p> +At the time of the prophet's birth the kingdom of +Judah was still a nominal dependency of the great +Assyrian empire. From about the middle of the seventh +century, however, the power of Nineveh had been on +the wane. Her energies had been exhausted in the +suppression of a determined revolt in Babylonia. Media +and Egypt had recovered their independence, and there +were many signs that a new crisis in the affairs of nations +was at hand. +</p> + +<p> +The first historic event which has left discernible traces +in the writings of Ezekiel is an irruption of Scythian +barbarians, which took place in the reign of Josiah +(<hi rend='italic'>c.</hi> 626). Strangely enough, the historical books of the +Old Testament contain no record of this remarkable invasion, +although its effects on the political situation of Judah +were important and far-reaching. According to Herodotus, +Assyria was already hard pressed by the Medes, when +suddenly the Scythians burst through the passes of the +<pb n='005'/><anchor id='Pg005'/> +Caucasus, defeated the Medes, and committed extensive +ravages throughout Western Asia for a period of twenty-eight +years. They are said to have contemplated the +invasion of Egypt, and to have actually reached the +Philistine territory, when by some means they were induced +to withdraw.<note place='foot'>Herodotus, i. 103-106.</note> Judah therefore was in imminent +danger, and the terror inspired by these destructive hordes +is reflected in the prophecies of Zephaniah and Jeremiah, +who saw in the northern invaders the heralds of the +great day of Jehovah. The force of the storm, however, +was probably spent before it reached Palestine, and it +seems to have swept past along the coast, leaving the +mountain land of Israel untouched. Although Ezekiel +was not old enough to have remembered the panic +caused by these movements, the report of them would +be one of the earliest memories of his childhood, and it +made a lasting impression on his mind. One of his later +prophecies, that against Gog, is coloured by such reminiscences, +the last judgment on the heathen being represented +under forms suggested by a Scythian invasion (chs. xxxviii., +xxxix.). We may note also that in ch. xxxii. the names +of Meshech and Tubal occur in the list of conquering +nations who have already gone down to the under-world. +These northern peoples formed the kernel of the army of +Gog, and the only occasion on which they can be supposed +to have played the part of great conquerors in the past +is in connection with the Scythian devastations, in which +they probably had a share. +</p> + +<p> +The withdrawal of the Scythians from the neighbourhood +of Palestine was followed by the great reformation which +made the eighteenth year of Josiah an epoch in the history +of Israel. The conscience of the nation had been quickened +by its escape from so great a peril, and the time was favourable +<pb n='006'/><anchor id='Pg006'/> +for carrying out the changes which were necessary in +order to bring the religious practice of the country into +conformity with the requirements of the Law. The outstanding +feature of the movement was the discovery of the +book of Deuteronomy in the Temple, and the ratification +of a solemn league and covenant, by which the king, princes, +and people pledged themselves to carry out its demands. +This took place in the year 621, somewhere near the time +of Ezekiel's birth.<note place='foot'>If the <q>thirtieth year</q> of ch. i. 1 could refer to the prophet's age at +the time of his call, his birth would fall in the very year in which the +Law Book was found. Although that interpretation is extremely improbable, +he can hardly have been much more, or less, than thirty years old +at the time.</note> The prophet's youth was therefore +spent in the wake of the reformation; and although the +first hopes cherished by its promoters may have died away +before he was able to appreciate its tendencies, we may +be sure that he received from it impulses which continued +with him to the end of his life. We may perhaps allow +ourselves to conjecture that his father belonged to that +section of the priesthood which, under Hilkiah its head, +co-operated with the king in the task of reform, and +desired to see a pure worship established in the Temple. +If so, we can readily understand how the reforming spirit +passed into the very fibre of Ezekiel's mind. To how great +an extent his thinking was influenced by the ideas of Deuteronomy +appears from almost every page of his prophecies. +</p> + +<p> +There was yet another way in which the Scythian +invasion influenced the prospects of the Hebrew kingdom. +Although the Scythians appear to have rendered an immediate +service to Assyria by saving Nineveh from the first +attack of the Medes, there is little doubt that their ravages +throughout the northern and western parts of the empire +prepared the way for its ultimate collapse, and weakened +its hold on the outlying provinces. Accordingly we find +<pb n='007'/><anchor id='Pg007'/> +that Josiah, in pursuance of his scheme of reformation, +exercised a freedom of action beyond the boundaries of +his own land which would not have been tolerated if +Assyria had retained her old vigour. Patriotic visions of +an independent Hebrew monarchy seem to have combined +with new-born zeal for a pure national religion to make +the latter part of Josiah's reign the short <q>Indian summer</q> +of Israel's national existence. +</p> + +<p> +The period of partial independence was brought to an end +about 607 by the fall of Nineveh before the united forces +of the Medes and the Babylonians. In itself this event +was of less consequence to the history of Judah than might +be supposed. The Assyrian empire vanished from the +earth with a completeness which is one of the surprises of +history; but its place was taken by the new Babylonian +empire, which inherited its policy, its administration, and +the best part of its provinces. The seat of empire was +transferred from Nineveh to Babylon; but any other +change which was felt at Jerusalem was due solely to +the exceptional vigour and ability of its first monarch, +Nebuchadnezzar. +</p> + +<p> +The real turning-point in the destinies of Israel came +a year or two earlier with the defeat and death of Josiah +at Megiddo. About the year 608, while the fate of +Nineveh still hung in the balance, Pharaoh Necho prepared +an expedition to the Euphrates, with the object of securing +himself in the possession of Syria. It was assuredly no +feeling of loyalty to his Assyrian suzerain which prompted +Josiah to throw himself across Necho's path. He acted as +an independent monarch, and his motives were no doubt +the loftiest that ever urged a king to a dangerous, not +to say foolhardy, enterprise. The zeal with which the +crusade against idolatry and false worship had been +prosecuted seems to have begotten a confidence on the +part of the king's advisers that the hand of Jehovah was +<pb n='008'/><anchor id='Pg008'/> +with them, and that His help might be reckoned on in any +undertaking entered upon in His name. One would like to +know what the prophet Jeremiah said about the venture; +but probably the defence of Jehovah's land seemed so +obvious a duty of the Davidic king that he was not even +consulted. It was the determination to maintain the +inviolability of the land which was Jehovah's sanctuary +that encouraged Josiah in defiance of every prudential +consideration to endeavour by force to intercept the passage +of the Egyptian army. The disaster that followed gave +the death-blow to this illusion and the shallow optimism +which sprang from it. There was an end of idealism in +politics; and the ruling class in Jerusalem fell back on the +old policy of vacillation between Egypt and her eastern +rival which had always been the snare of Jewish statesmanship. +And with Josiah's political ideal the faith on +which it was based also gave way. It seemed that the +experiment of exclusive reliance on Jehovah as the +guardian of the nation's interests had been tried and had +failed, and so the death of the last good king of Judah was +a signal for a great outburst of idolatry, in which every +divine power was invoked and every form of worship +sedulously practised in order to sustain the courage of +men who were resolved to fight to the death for their +national existence. +</p> + +<p> +By the time of Josiah's death Ezekiel was able to take +an intelligent interest in public affairs. He lived through +the troubled period that ensued in the full consciousness +of its disastrous import for the fortunes of his people, and +occasional references to it are to be found in his writings. +He remembers and commiserates the sad fate of Jehoahaz, +the king of the people's choice, who was dethroned and +imprisoned by Pharaoh Necho during the short interval of +Egyptian supremacy. The next king, Jehoiakim, received +the throne as a vassal of Egypt, on the condition of paying +<pb n='009'/><anchor id='Pg009'/> +a heavy annual tribute. After the battle of Carchemish, +in which Necho was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar and +driven out of Syria, Jehoiakim transferred his allegiance +to the Babylonian monarch; but after three years' service +he revolted, encouraged no doubt by the usual promises +of support from Egypt. The incursions of marauding +bands of Chaldæans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites, +instigated doubtless from Babylon, kept him in play until +Nebuchadnezzar was free to devote his attention to the +western part of his empire. Before that time arrived, +however, Jehoiakim had died, and was followed by his +son Jehoiachin. This prince was hardly seated on the +throne, when a Babylonian army, with Nebuchadnezzar +at its head, appeared before the gates of Jerusalem. The +siege ended in a capitulation, and the king, the queen-mother, +the army and nobility, a section of the priests +and the prophets, and all the skilled artisans were transported +to Babylonia (597). +</p> + +<p> +With this event the history of Ezekiel may be said to +begin. But in order to understand the conditions under +which his ministry was exercised, we must try to realise +the situation created by this first removal of Judæan captives. +From this time to the final capture of Jerusalem, +a period of eleven years, the national life was broken into +two streams, which ran in parallel channels, one in Judah +and the other in Babylon. The object of the captivity +was of course to deprive the nation of its natural leaders, +its head and its hands, and leave it incapable of organised +resistance to the Chaldæans. In this respect Nebuchadnezzar +simply adopted the traditional policy of the later +Assyrian kings, only he applied it with much less rigour +than they were accustomed to display. Instead of making +nearly a clean sweep of the conquered population, and +filling the gap by colonists from a distant part of his +empire, as had been done in the case of Samaria, he +<pb n='010'/><anchor id='Pg010'/> +contented himself with removing the more dangerous +elements of the state, and making a native prince responsible +for the government of the country. The result +showed how greatly he had underrated the fierce and +fanatical determination which was already a part of the +Jewish character. Nothing in the whole story is more +wonderful than the rapidity with which the enfeebled +remnant in Jerusalem recovered their military efficiency, +and prepared a more resolute defence than the unbroken +nation had been able to offer. +</p> + +<p> +The exiles, on the other hand, succeeded in preserving +most of their national peculiarities under the very eyes +of their conquerors. Of their temporal condition very +little is known beyond the fact that they found themselves +in tolerably easy circumstances, with the opportunity to +acquire property and amass wealth. The advice which +Jeremiah sent them from Jerusalem, that they should +identify themselves with the interests of Babylon, and live +settled and orderly lives in peaceful industry and domestic +happiness (Jer. xxix. 5-7), shows that they were not +treated as prisoners or as slaves. They appear to have +been distributed in villages in the fertile territory of +Babylon, and to have formed themselves into separate +communities under the elders, who were the natural +authorities in a simple Semitic society. The colony in +which Ezekiel lived was located in Tel Abib, near the +<hi rend='italic'>Nahr</hi> (river or canal) Kebar, but neither the river nor the +settlement can now be identified. The Kebar, if not the +name of an arm of the Euphrates itself, was probably one +of the numerous irrigating canals which intersected in all +parts the great alluvial plain of the Euphrates and Tigris.<note place='foot'>The opinion, once prevalent, that it was the Chaboras in Northern +Mesopotamia, where colonies of Northern Israelites had been settled a +century and a half before, has nothing to justify it, and is now universally +abandoned.</note> +<pb n='011'/><anchor id='Pg011'/> +In this settlement the prophet had his own house, where +the people were free to visit him, and social life in all +probability differed little from that in a small provincial +town in Palestine. That, to be sure, was a great change +for the quondam aristocrats of Jerusalem, but it was +not a change to which they could not readily adapt +themselves. +</p> + +<p> +Of much greater importance, however, is the state of +mind which prevailed amongst these exiles. And here +again the remarkable thing is their intense preoccupation +with matters national and Israelitic. A lively intercourse +with the mother country was kept up, and the exiles were +perfectly informed of all that was going on in Jerusalem. +There were, no doubt, personal and selfish reasons for +their keen interest in the doings of their countrymen at +home. The antipathy which existed between the two +branches of the Jewish people was extreme. The exiles +had left their children behind them (Ezek. xxiv. 21, 25) +to suffer under the reproach of their fathers' misfortunes. +They appear also to have been compelled to sell their +estates hurriedly on the eve of their departure, and such +transactions, necessarily turning to the advantage of the +purchasers, left a deep grudge in the breasts of the sellers. +Those who remained in the land exulted in the calamity +which had brought so much profit to themselves, and +thought themselves perfectly secure in so doing because +they regarded their brethren as men driven out for their +sins from Jehovah's heritage. The exiles on their part +affected the utmost contempt for the pretensions of the +upstart plebeians who were carrying things with a high +hand in Jerusalem. Like the French <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>Émigrés</foreign> in the time +of the Revolution, they no doubt felt that their country +was being ruined for want of proper guidance and experienced +statesmanship. Nor was it altogether patrician +prejudice that gave them this feeling of their own superiority. +<pb n='012'/><anchor id='Pg012'/> +Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel regard the exiles as +the better part of the nation, and the nucleus of the Messianic +community of the future. For the present, indeed, +there does not seem to have been much to choose, in point +of religious belief and practice, between the two sections +of the people. In both places the majority were steeped +in idolatrous and superstitious notions; some appear even +to have entertained the purpose of assimilating themselves +to the heathen around, and only a small minority were +steadfast in their allegiance to the national religion. Yet +the exiles could not, any more than the remnant in Judah, +abandon the hope that Jehovah would save His sanctuary +from desecration. The Temple was <q>the excellency of +their strength, the desire of their eyes, and that which +their soul pitied</q> (Ezek. xxiv. 21). False prophets appeared +in Babylon to prophesy smooth things, and assure the +exiles of a speedy restoration to their place in the people +of God. It was not till Jerusalem was laid in ruins, and +the Jewish state had disappeared from the earth, that +the Israelites were in a mood to understand the meaning +of God's judgment, or to learn the lessons which the +prophecy of nearly two centuries had vainly striven to +inculcate. +</p> + +<p> +We have now reached the point at which the Book of +Ezekiel opens, and what remains to be told of the history +of the time will be given in connection with the prophecies +on which it is fitted to throw light. But before proceeding +to consider his entrance on the prophetic office, it will +be useful to dwell for a little on what was probably the +most fruitful influence of Ezekiel's youth, the personal +influence of his contemporary and predecessor Jeremiah. +This will form the subject of the next chapter. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='013'/><anchor id='Pg013'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter II. Jeremiah And Ezekiel.</head> + +<p> +Each of the communities described in the last chapter +was the theatre of the activity of a great prophet. +When Ezekiel began to prophesy at Tel Abib, Jeremiah +was approaching the end of his great and tragic career. +For five-and-thirty years he had been known as a prophet, +and during the latter part of that time had been the most +prominent figure in Jerusalem. For the next five years +their ministries were contemporaneous, and it is somewhat +remarkable that they ignore each other in their writings +so completely as they do. We would give a good deal to +have some reference by Ezekiel to Jeremiah or by Jeremiah +to Ezekiel, but we find none. Scripture does not often +favour us with those cross-lights which prove so instructive +in the hands of a modern historian. While Jeremiah +knows of the rise of false prophets in Babylonia, and +Ezekiel denounces those he had left behind in Jerusalem, +neither of these great men betrays the slightest consciousness +of the existence of the other. This silence is specially +noticeable on Ezekiel's part, because his frequent +descriptions of the state of society in Jerusalem give him +abundant opportunity to express his sympathy with the +position of Jeremiah. When we read in the twenty-second +chapter that there was not found a man to make +up the fence and stand in the breach before God, we +might be tempted to conclude that he really was not +aware of Jeremiah's noble stand for righteousness in the +<pb n='014'/><anchor id='Pg014'/> +corrupt and doomed city. And yet the points of contact +between the two prophets are so numerous and so obvious +that they cannot fairly be explained by the common +operation of the Spirit of God on the minds of both. +There is nothing in the nature of prophecy to forbid the +view that one prophet learned from another, and built on +the foundation which his predecessors had laid; and when +we find a parallelism so close as that between Jeremiah +and Ezekiel we are driven to the conclusion that the +influence was unusually direct, and that the whole +thinking of the younger writer had been moulded by +the teaching and example of the older. +</p> + +<p> +In what way this influence was communicated is a +question on which some difference of opinion may exist. +Some writers, such as Kuenen, think that the indebtedness +of Ezekiel to Jeremiah was mainly literary. That is to +say, they hold that it must be accounted for by prolonged +study on Ezekiel's part of the written prophecies of him +who was his teacher. Kuenen surmises that this happened +after the destruction of Jerusalem, when some friends +of Jeremiah arrived in Babylon, bringing with them the +completed volume of his prophecies. Before Ezekiel proceeded +to write his own prophecies, his mind is supposed +to have been so saturated with the ideas and language of +Jeremiah that every part of his book bears the impress +and betrays the influence of his predecessor. In this fact, +of course, Kuenen finds an argument for the view that +Ezekiel's prophecies were written at a comparatively late +period of his life. It is difficult to speak with confidence +on some of the points raised by this hypothesis. That +the influence of Jeremiah can be traced in all parts of the +book of Ezekiel is undoubtedly true; but it is not so clear +that it can be assigned equally to all periods of Jeremiah's +activity. Many of the prophecies of Jeremiah cannot be +referred to a definite date; and we do not know what +<pb n='015'/><anchor id='Pg015'/> +means Ezekiel had of obtaining copies of those which +belong to the period after the two prophets were separated. +We know, however, that a great part of the book of +Jeremiah was in writing several years before Ezekiel +was carried away to Babylon; and we may safely +assume that amongst the treasures which he took with +him into exile was the roll written by Baruch to the +dictation of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim +(Jer. xxxvi.). Even later oracles may have reached +Ezekiel either before or during his prophetic career +through the active correspondence maintained between +the exiles and Jerusalem. It is possible, therefore, that +even the literary dependence of Ezekiel on Jeremiah may +belong to a much earlier time than the final issue of the +book of Ezekiel; and if it should be found that ideas in +the earlier part of the book suggest acquaintance with a +later utterance of Jeremiah, the fact need not surprise us. +It is certainly no sufficient reason for concluding that the +whole substance of Ezekiel's prophecy had been recast +under the influence of a late perusal of the work of +Jeremiah. +</p> + +<p> +But, setting aside verbal coincidences and other phenomena +which suggest literary dependence, there remains +an affinity of a much deeper kind between the teaching +of the two prophets, which can only be explained, if it is +to be explained at all, by the personal influence of the +older upon the younger. And it is these more fundamental +resemblances which are of most interest for our +present purpose, because they may enable us to understand +something of the settled convictions with which +Ezekiel entered on the prophet's calling. Moreover, a +comparison of the two prophets will bring out more clearly +than anything else certain aspects of the character of +Ezekiel which it is important to bear in mind. Both are +men of strongly marked individuality, and no conception +<pb n='016'/><anchor id='Pg016'/> +of the age in which they lived can safely be formed from +the writings of either, taken alone. +</p> + +<p> +It has been already remarked that Jeremiah was the +most conspicuous public character of his day. If it be +the case that he threw his spell over the youthful mind +of Ezekiel, the fact is the most striking tribute to his +influence that could be conceived. No two men could +differ more widely in natural temperament and character. +Jeremiah is the prophet of a dying nation, and the agony +of Judah's prolonged death-struggle is reproduced with +tenfold intensity in the inward conflict which rends the +heart of the prophet. Inexorable in his prediction of the +coming doom, he confesses that this is because he is over-mastered +by the Divine power which urges him into a +path from which his nature recoiled. He deplores the +isolation which is forced upon him, the alienation of +friends and kinsmen, and the constant strife of which he +is the reluctant cause. He feels as if he could gladly +shake off the burden of prophetic responsibility and become +a man amongst common men. His human sympathies go +forth towards his unhappy country, and his heart bleeds +for the misery which he sees hanging over the misguided +people, for whom he is forbidden even to pray. The tragic +conflict of his life reaches its height in those expostulations +with Jehovah which are amongst the most remarkable +passages of the Old Testament. They express the shrinking +of a sensitive nature from the inward necessity in +which he was compelled to recognise the higher truth; +and the wrestling of an earnest spirit for the assurance of +his personal standing with God, when all the outward +institutions of religion were being dissolved. +</p> + +<p> +To such mental conflicts Ezekiel was a stranger, or if +he ever passed through them the traces of them have +almost vanished from his written words. He can hardly +be said to be more severe than Jeremiah; but his severity +<pb n='017'/><anchor id='Pg017'/> +seems more a part of himself, and more in keeping with +the bent of his disposition. He is wholly on the side +of the divine sovereignty; there is no reaction of the +human sympathies against the imperative dictates of the +prophetic inspiration; he is one in whom every thought +seems brought into captivity to the word of Jehovah. It +is possible that the completeness with which Ezekiel +surrendered himself to the judicial aspect of his message +may be partly due to the fact that he had been familiar +with its leading conceptions from the teaching of Jeremiah; +but it must also be due to a certain austerity natural to +him. Less emotional than Jeremiah, his mind was more +readily taken possession of by the convictions that formed +the substance of his prophetic message. He was evidently +a man of profoundly ethical habits of thought, stern and +uncompromising in his judgments, both on himself and +other men, and gifted with a strong sense of human +responsibility. As his captivity cut him off from living +contact with the national life, and enabled him to survey +his country's condition with something of the dispassionate +scrutiny of a spectator, so his natural disposition enabled +him to realise in his own person that breach with the past +which was essential to the purification of religion. He had +the qualities which marked him out for the prophet of the +new order that was to be, as clearly as Jeremiah had those +which fitted him to be the prophet of a nation's dissolution. +In social standing, also, and professional training, the +men were far removed from each other. Both were +priests, but Ezekiel belonged to the house of Zadok, who +officiated in the central sanctuary, while Jeremiah's family +may have been attached to one of the provincial sanctuaries.<note place='foot'>This, however, is not certain. Although Jeremiah's property and +residence were in Anathoth, his official connection may have been with +the Temple in Jerusalem.</note> +The interests of the two classes of priests came +<pb n='018'/><anchor id='Pg018'/> +into sharp collision as a consequence of Josiah's reformation. +The law provided that the rural priesthood should +be admitted to the service of the Temple on equal terms +with their brethren of the sons of Zadok; but we are +expressly informed that the Temple priests successfully +resisted this encroachment on their peculiar privileges. +It has been adduced by several expositors as a proof of +Ezekiel's freedom from caste prejudice, that he was willing +to learn from a man who was socially his inferior, and +who belonged to an order which he himself was to +declare unworthy of full priestly rights in the restored +theocracy. But it must be said that there was little in +Jeremiah's public work to call attention to the fact that +he was by birth a priest. In the profound spiritual sense +of the Epistle to the Hebrews we may indeed say that +he was at heart a priest, <q>having compassion on the +ignorant and them that are out of the way, forasmuch as +he himself was compassed with infirmity.</q> But this +quality of spiritual sympathy sprang from his calling as +a prophet rather than from his priestly training. One +of the contrasts between him and Ezekiel lies just in the +respective estimates of the worth of ritual which underlie +their teaching. Jeremiah is distinguished even among +the prophets by his indifference to the outward institutions +and symbols of religion which it is the priest's function +to conserve. He stands in the succession of Amos and +Isaiah as an upholder of the purely ethical character of +the service of God. Ritual forms no essential element +of Jehovah's covenant with Israel, and it is doubtful if +his prophecies of the future contain any reference to a +priestly class or priestly ordinances.<note place='foot'>The passage xxxiii. 14-26 is wanting in the LXX., and may possibly +be a later insertion. Even if genuine it would hardly alter the general +estimate of the prophet's teaching expressed above.</note> In the present he +<pb n='019'/><anchor id='Pg019'/> +repudiates the actual popular worship as offensive to +Jehovah, and, except in so far as he may have given his +support to Josiah's reforms, he does not concern himself +to put anything better in its place. To Ezekiel, on the +contrary, a pure worship is a primary condition of Israel's +enjoyment of the fellowship of Jehovah. All through his +teaching we detect his deep sense of the religious value +of priestly ceremonies, and in the concluding vision that +underlying thought comes out clearly as a fundamental +principle of the new religious constitution. Here again +we can see how each prophet was providentially fitted +for the special work assigned him to do. To Jeremiah +it was given, amidst the wreck of all the material embodiments +in which faith had clothed itself in the past, +to realise the essential truth of religion as personal communion +with God, and so to rise to the conception of a +purely spiritual religion, in which the will of God should +be written in the heart of every believer. To Ezekiel +was committed the different, but not less necessary, task +of organising the religion of the immediate future, and +providing the forms which were to enshrine the truths of +revelation until the coming of Christ. And that task +could not, humanly speaking, have been performed but by +one whose training and inclination taught him to appreciate +the value of those rules of ceremonial sanctity which +were the tradition of the Hebrew priesthood. +</p> + +<p> +Very closely connected with this is the attitude of the +two prophets to what we may call the legal aspect of +religion. Jeremiah seems to have become convinced at a +very early date of the insufficiency and shallowness of +the revival of religion which was expressed in the establishment +of the national covenant in the reign of Josiah. +He seems also to have discerned some of the evils which +are inseparable from a religion of the letter, in which the +claims of God are presented in the form of external laws +<pb n='020'/><anchor id='Pg020'/> +and ordinances. And these convictions led him to the +conception of a far higher manifestation of God's redeeming +grace to be realised in the future, in the form of a +new covenant, based on God's forgiving love, and operative +through a personal knowledge of God, and the law written +on the heart and mind of each member of the covenant +people. That is to say, the living principle of religion +must be implanted in the heart of each true Israelite, and +his obedience must be what we call evangelical obedience, +springing from the free impulse of a nature renewed by +the knowledge of God. Ezekiel is also impressed by the +failure of the Deuteronomic covenant and the need of a +new heart before Israel is able to comply with the high +requirements of the holy law of God. But he does not +appear to have been led to connect the failure of the +past with the inherent imperfection of a legal dispensation +as such. Although his teaching is full of evangelical +truths, amongst which the doctrine of regeneration holds +a conspicuous place, we yet observe that with him a man's +righteousness before God consists in acts of obedience to +the objective precepts of the divine law. This of course +does not mean that Ezekiel was concerned only about +the outward act and indifferent to the spirit in which +the law was observed. But it does mean that the end +of God's dealings with His people was to bring them into +a condition for fulfilling His law, and that the great aim +of the new Israel was the faithful observance of the law +which expressed the conditions on which they could +remain in communion with God. Accordingly Ezekiel's +final ideal is on a lower plane, and therefore more +immediately practicable, than that of Jeremiah. Instead +of a purely spiritual anticipation expressing the essential +nature of the perfect relation between God and man, +Ezekiel presents us with a definite, clearly conceived +vision of a new theocracy—a state which is to be the +<pb n='021'/><anchor id='Pg021'/> +outward embodiment of Jehovah's will and in which life +is minutely regulated by His law. +</p> + +<p> +If in spite of such wide differences of temperament, of +education, and of religious experience, we find nevertheless +a substantial agreement in the teaching of the two +prophets, we must certainly recognise in this a striking +evidence of the stability of that conception of God and +His providence which was in the main a product of +Hebrew prophecy. It is not necessary here to enumerate +all the points of coincidence between Jeremiah and +Ezekiel; but it will be of advantage to indicate a few +salient features which they have in common. Of these +one of the most important is their conception of the +prophetic office. It can hardly be doubted that on this +subject Ezekiel had learned much both from observation +of Jeremiah's career and from the study of his writings. +He knew something of what it meant to be a prophet to +Israel before he himself received the prophet's commission; +and after he had received it his experience ran closely +parallel with that of his master. The idea of the prophet +as a man standing alone for God amidst a hostile world, +surrounded on every side by threats and opposition, was +impressed on each of them from the outset of his ministry. +To be a true prophet one must know how to confront men +with an inflexibility equal to theirs, sustained only by a +divine power which assures him of ultimate victory. He +is cut off, not only from the currents of opinion which +play around him, but from all share in common joys and +sorrows, living a solitary life in sympathy with a God +justly alienated from His people. This attitude of antagonism +to the people, as Jeremiah well knew, had been +the common fate of all true prophets. What is characteristic +of him and Ezekiel is that they both enter on their +work in the full consciousness of the stern and hopeless +nature of their task. Isaiah knew from the day he became +<pb n='022'/><anchor id='Pg022'/> +a prophet that the effect of his teaching would be to harden +the people in unbelief; but he says nothing of personal +enmity and persecution to be faced from the outset. But +now the crisis of the people's fate has arrived, and the +relations between the prophet and his age become more +and more strained as the great controversy approaches +its decision. +</p> + +<p> +Another point of agreement which may be here mentioned +is the estimate of Israel's sin. Ezekiel goes further +than Jeremiah in the way of condemnation, regarding the +whole history of Israel as an unbroken record of apostasy +and rebellion, while Jeremiah at least looks back to the +desert wandering as a time when the ideal relation between +Israel and Jehovah was maintained. But on the whole, +and especially with respect to the present state of the +nation, their judgment is substantially one. The source +of all the religious and moral disorders of the nation is +infidelity to Jehovah, which is manifested in the worship +of false gods and reliance on the help of foreign nations. +Specially noteworthy is the frequent recurrence in Jeremiah +and Ezekiel of the figure of <q>whoredom,</q> an idea introduced +into prophecy by Hosea to describe these two +sins. The extension of the figure to the false worship +of Jehovah by images and other idolatrous emblems can +also be traced to Hosea; and in Ezekiel it is sometimes +difficult to say which species of idolatry he has in view, +whether it be the actual worship of other gods or the +unlawful worship of the true God. His position is that +an unspiritual worship implies an unspiritual deity, and +that such service as was performed at the ordinary sanctuaries +could by no possibility be regarded as rendered +to the true God who spoke through the prophets. From +this fountain-head of a corrupted religious sense proceed +all those immoral practices which both prophets stigmatise +as <q>abominations</q> and as a defilement of the land of +<pb n='023'/><anchor id='Pg023'/> +Jehovah. Of these the most startling is the prevalent +sacrifice of children to which they both bear witness, +although, as we shall afterwards see, with a characteristic +difference in their point of view. +</p> + +<p> +The whole picture, indeed, which Jeremiah and Ezekiel +present of contemporary society is appalling in the extreme. +Making all allowance for the practical motive of the prophetic +invective, which always aims at conviction of sin, +we cannot doubt that the state of things was sufficiently +serious to mark Judah as ripe for judgment. The very +foundations of society were sapped by the spread of licence +and high-handed violence through all classes of the community. +The restraints of religion had been loosened by +the feeling that Jehovah had forsaken the land, and nobles, +priests, and prophets plunged into a career of wickedness +and oppression which made salvation of the existing +nation impossible. The guilt of Jerusalem is symbolised +to both prophets in the innocent blood which stains her +skirts and cries to heaven for vengeance. The tendencies +which are uppermost are the evil legacy of the days of +Manasseh, when, in the judgment of Jeremiah and the +historian of the books of Kings,<note place='foot'>Jer. xv. 4; 2 Kings xxiii. 26.</note> the nation sinned beyond +hope of mercy. In painting his lurid pictures of social +degeneracy Ezekiel is no doubt drawing on his own +memory and information; nevertheless the forms in which +his indictment is cast show that even in this matter he +has learned to look on things with the eyes of his great +teacher. +</p> + +<p> +It is scarcely necessary to add that both prophets +anticipate a speedy downfall of the state and its restoration +in a more glorious form after a short interval, fixed by +Jeremiah at seventy years and by Ezekiel at forty years. +The restoration is regarded as final, and as embracing both +<pb n='024'/><anchor id='Pg024'/> +branches of the Hebrew nation, the kingdom of the ten +tribes as well as the house of Judah. The Messianic hope +in Ezekiel appears in a form similar to that in which it is +presented by Jeremiah; in neither prophet is the figure of +the ideal King so prominent as in the prophecies of Isaiah. +The similarity between the two is all the more noteworthy +as an evidence of dependence, because Ezekiel's final outlook +is towards a state of things in which the Prince has +a somewhat subordinate position assigned to Him. Both +prophets, again following Hosea, regard the spiritual renewal +of the people as the effect of chastisement in exile. +Those parts of the nation which go first into banishment +are the first to be brought under the salutary influences of +God's providential discipline; and hence we find that Jeremiah +adopts a more hopeful tone in speaking of Samaria +and the captives of 597 than in his utterances to those who +remained in the land. This conviction was shared by +Ezekiel, in spite of his daily contact with abominations from +which his whole nature revolted. It has been supposed +that Ezekiel lived long enough to see that no such spiritual +transformation was to be wrought by the mere fact of captivity, +and that, despairing of a general and spontaneous +conversion, he put his hand to the work of practical reform +as if he would secure by legislation the results which he had +once expected as fruits of repentance. If the prophet had +ever expected that punishment of itself would work a change +in the religious condition of his countrymen, there might +have been room for such a disenchantment as is here +assumed. But there is no evidence that he ever looked for +anything else than a regeneration of the people in captivity +by the supernatural working of the divine Spirit; and that +the final vision is meant to help out the divine plan by +human policy is a suggestion negatived by the whole scope +of the book. It may be true that his practical activity in +the present was directed to preparing individual men for +<pb n='025'/><anchor id='Pg025'/> +the coming salvation; but that was no more than any +spiritual teacher must have done in a time recognised as +a period of transition. The vision of the restored theocracy +presupposes a national resurrection and a national +repentance. And on the face of it it is such that man can +take no step towards its accomplishment until God has +prepared the way by creating the conditions of a perfect +religious community, both the moral conditions in the +mind of the people and the outward conditions in the +miraculous transformation of the land in which they are +to dwell. +</p> + +<p> +Most of the points here touched upon will have to be +more fully treated in the course of our exposition, and +other affinities between the two great prophets will have +to be noticed as we proceed. Enough has perhaps been +said to show that Ezekiel's thinking has been profoundly +influenced by Jeremiah, that the influence extends not only +to the form but also to the substance of his teaching, and +can therefore only be explained by early impressions +received by the younger prophet in the days before the +word of the Lord had come to him. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='026'/><anchor id='Pg026'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter III. The Vision Of The Glory Of God. Chapter i.</head> + +<p> +It might be hazardous to attempt, from the general +considerations advanced in the last two chapters, to +form a conception of Ezekiel's state of mind during the +first few years of his captivity. If, as we have found +reason to believe, he had already come under the influence +of Jeremiah, he must have been in some measure prepared +for the blow which had descended on him. Torn from +the duties of the office which he loved, and driven in upon +himself, Ezekiel must no doubt have meditated deeply on +the sin and the prospects of his people. From the first +he must have stood aloof from his fellow-exiles, who, +led by their false prophets, began to dream of the fall +of Babylon and a speedy return to their own land. He +knew that the calamity which had befallen them was but +the first instalment of a sweeping judgment before which +the old Israel must utterly perish. Those who remained +in Jerusalem were reserved for a worse fate than those +who had been carried away; but so long as the latter +remained impenitent there was no hope even for them of +an alleviation of the bitterness of their lot. Such thoughts, +working in a mind naturally severe in its judgments, may +have already produced that attitude of alienation from the +whole life of his companions in misfortune which dominates +the first period of his prophetic career. But these convictions +did not make Ezekiel a prophet. He had as yet +<pb n='027'/><anchor id='Pg027'/> +no independent message from God, no sure perception +of the issue of events, or the path which Israel must +follow in order to reach the blessedness of the future. +It was not till the fifth year of his captivity<note place='foot'>In the superscription of the book (ch. i. 1-3) a double date is given for +this occurrence. In ver. 1 it is said to have taken place <q>in the thirtieth +year</q>; but this expression has never been satisfactorily explained. The +principal suggestions are: (1) that it is the year of Ezekiel's life; (2) that +the reckoning is from the year of Josiah's reformation; and (3) that +it is according to some Babylonian era. But none of these has much +probability, unless, with Klostermann, we go further and assume that +the explanation was given in an earlier part of the prophet's autobiography +now lost—a view which is supported by no evidence and is +contrary to all analogy. Cornill proposes to omit ver. 1 entirely, chiefly +on the ground that the use of the first person before the writer's name +has been mentioned is unnatural. That the superscription does not read +smoothly as it stands has been felt by many critics; but the rejection +of the verse is perhaps a too facile solution.</note> that the +inward change took place which brought him into +Jehovah's counsel, and disclosed to him the outlines of +all his future work, and endowed him with the courage to +stand forth amongst his people as the spokesman of Jehovah. +</p> + +<p> +Like other great prophets whose personal experience +is recorded, Ezekiel became conscious of his prophetic +vocation through a vision of God. The form in which +Jehovah first appeared to him is described with great +minuteness of detail in the first chapter of his book. It +would seem that in some hour of solitary meditation by +the river Kebar his attention was attracted to a storm-cloud +forming in the north and advancing toward him +across the plain. The cloud may have been an actual +phenomenon, the natural basis of the theophany which +follows. Falling into a state of ecstasy, the prophet sees +the cloud grow luminous with an unearthly splendour. +From the midst of it there shines a brightness which he +compares to the lustre of electron.<note place='foot'>Not <q>amber,</q> but a natural alloy of silver and gold, highly esteemed +in antiquity.</note> Looking more closely, +<pb n='028'/><anchor id='Pg028'/> +he discerns four living creatures, of strange composite form,—human +in general appearance, but winged; and each +having four heads combining the highest types of animal +life—man, lion, ox, and eagle. These are afterwards +identified with the cherubim of the Temple symbolism +(ch. x. 20); but some features of the conception may have +been suggested by the composite animal figures of Babylonian +art, with which the prophet must have been already +familiar. The interior space is occupied by a hearth of +glowing coals, from which lightning-flashes constantly +dart to and fro between the cherubim. Beside each +cherub is a wheel, formed apparently of two wheels intersecting +each other at right angles. The appearance of the +wheels is like <q>chrysolite,</q> and their rims are filled with +eyes, denoting the intelligence by which their motions are +directed. The wheels and the cherubim together embody +the spontaneous energy by which the throne of God is +transported whither He wills; although there is no +mechanical connection between them, they are represented +as animated by a common spirit, directing all their +motions in perfect harmony. Over the heads and out-stretched +wings of the cherubim is a rigid pavement or +<q>firmament,</q> like crystal; and above this a sapphire stone<note place='foot'>Cf. Exod. xxiv. 10: <q>like the very heavens for pureness.</q></note> +supporting the throne of Jehovah. The divine Being is +seen in the likeness of a man; and around Him, as if to +temper the fierceness of the light in which He dwells, is +a radiance like that of the rainbow. It will be noticed that +while Ezekiel's imagination dwells on what we must consider +the accessories of the vision—the fire, the cherubim, +the wheels—he hardly dares to lift his eyes to the person +of Jehovah Himself. The full meaning of what he is +passing through only dawns on him when he realises +that he is in the presence of the Almighty. Then he +<pb n='029'/><anchor id='Pg029'/> +falls on his face overpowered by the sense of his own +insignificance. +</p> + +<p> +There is no reason to doubt that what is thus described +represents an actual experience on the part of the prophet. +It is not to be regarded merely as a conscious clothing of +spiritual truths in symbolic imagery. The <emph>description</emph> of a +vision is of course a conscious exercise of literary faculty; +and in all such cases it must be difficult to distinguish +what a prophet actually saw and heard in the moment of +inspiration from the details which he was compelled to +add in order to convey an intelligible picture to the minds +of his readers. It is probable that in the case of Ezekiel +the element of free invention has a larger range than in +the less elaborate descriptions which other prophets give +of their visions. But this does not detract from the force +of the prophet's own assertion that what he relates was +based on a real and definite experience when in a state +of prophetic ecstasy. This is expressed by the words +<q>the hand of Jehovah was upon him</q> (ver. 3)—a phrase +which is invariably used throughout the book to denote the +prophet's peculiar mental condition when the communication +of divine truth was accompanied by experiences of a +visionary order. Moreover, the account given of the state +in which this vision left him shows that his natural consciousness +had been overpowered by the pressure of super-sensible +realities on his spirit. He tells us that he went +<q>in bitterness, in the heat of his spirit, the hand of the +Lord being heavy upon him; and came to the exiles at +Tel-abib, ... and sat there seven days stupefied in their +midst</q> (ch. iii. 14, 15). +</p> + +<p> +Now whatever be the ultimate nature of the prophetic +vision, its significance for us would appear to lie in the untrammelled +working of the prophet's imagination under the +influence of spiritual perceptions which are too profound to +be expressed as abstract ideas. The prophet's consciousness +<pb n='030'/><anchor id='Pg030'/> +is not suspended, for he remembers his vision and +reflects on its meaning afterwards; but his intercourse with +the outer world through the senses is interrupted, so that his +mind moves freely amongst images stored in his memory, +and new combinations are formed which embody a truth +not previously apprehended. The <emph>tableau</emph> of the vision is +therefore always capable to some extent of a psychological +explanation. The elements of which it is composed must +have been already present in the mind of the prophet, +and in so far as these can be traced to their sources we +are enabled to understand their symbolic import in the +novel combination in which they appear. But the real +significance of the vision lies in the immediate impression +left on the mind of the prophet by the divine realities +which govern his life, and this is especially true of the +vision of God Himself which accompanies the call to +the prophetic office. Although no vision can express the +whole of a prophet's conception of God, yet it represents +to the imagination certain fundamental aspects of the +divine nature and of God's relation to the world and to +men; and through all his subsequent career the prophet +will be influenced by the form in which he once beheld +the great Being whose words come to him from time +to time. To his later reflection the vision becomes a +symbol of certain truths about God, although in the first +instance the symbol was created for him by a mysterious +operation of the divine Spirit in a process over which he +had no control. In one respect Ezekiel's inaugural vision +seems to possess a greater importance for his theology +than is the case with any other prophet. With the other +prophets the vision is a momentary experience, of which +the spiritual meaning passes into the thinking of the +prophet, but which does not recur again in the visionary +form. With Ezekiel, on the other hand, the vision becomes +a fixed and permanent symbol of Jehovah, appearing +<pb n='031'/><anchor id='Pg031'/> +again and again in precisely the same form as often as the +reality of God's presence is impressed on his mind. +</p> + +<p> +The essential question, then, with regard to Ezekiel's +vision is, What revelation of God or what ideas respecting +God did it serve to impress on the mind of the prophet? +It may help us to answer that question if we begin by +considering certain affinities which it presents to the great +vision which opened the ministry of Isaiah. It must be +admitted that Ezekiel's experience is much less intelligible +as well as less impressive than Isaiah's. In Isaiah's +delineation we recognise the presence of qualities which +belong to genius of the highest order. The perfect +balance of form and idea, the reticence which suggests +without exhausting the significance of what is seen, the +fine artistic sense which makes every touch in the picture +contribute to the rendering of the emotion which fills +the prophet's soul, combine to make the sixth chapter of +Isaiah one of the most sublime passages in literature. +No sympathetic reader can fail to catch the impression +which the passage is intended to convey of the awful +majesty of the God of Israel, and the effect produced on +a frail and sinful mortal ushered into that holy Presence. +We are made to feel how inevitably such a vision gives +birth to the prophetic impulse, and how both vision and +impulse inform the mind of the seer with the clear and +definite purpose which rules all his subsequent work. +</p> + +<p> +The point in which Ezekiel's vision differs most strikingly +from Isaiah's is the almost entire suppression of his +subjectivity. This is so complete that it becomes difficult +to apprehend the meaning of the vision in relation +to his thought and activity. Spiritual realities are so +overlaid with symbolism that the narrative almost fails +to reflect the mental state in which he was consecrated +for the work of his life. Isaiah's vision is a drama, +Ezekiel's is a spectacle; in the one religious truth is +<pb n='032'/><anchor id='Pg032'/> +expressed in a series of significant actions and words, in +the other it is embodied in forms and splendours that +appeal only to the eye. One fact may be noted in illustration +of the diversity between the two representations. The +scenery of Isaiah's vision is interpreted and spiritualised by +the medium of language. The seraphs' hymn of adoration +strikes the note which is the central thought of the vision, +and the exclamation which breaks from the prophet's lips +reveals the impact of that great truth on a human spirit. +The whole scene is thus lifted out of the region of mere +symbolism into that of pure religious ideas. Ezekiel's, +on the other hand, is like a song without words. His +cherubim are speechless. While the rustling of their +wings and the thunder of the revolving wheels break on +his ear like the sound of mighty waters, no articulate +voice bears home to the mind the inner meaning of what +he beholds. Probably he himself felt no need of it. The +pictorial character of his thinking appears in many features +of his work; and it is not surprising to find that the import +of the revelation is expressed mainly in visual images. +</p> + +<p> +Now these differences are in their own place very instructive, +because they show how intimately the vision is +related to the individuality of him who receives it, and +how even in the most exalted moments of inspiration the +mind displays the same tendencies which characterise +its ordinary operations. Yet Ezekiel's vision represents +a spiritual experience not less real than Isaiah's. His +mental endowments are of a different order, of a lower +order if you will, than those of Isaiah; but the essential +fact that he too saw the glory of God and in that vision +obtained the insight of the true prophet is not to be +explained away by analysis of his literary talent or of +the sources from which his images are derived. It is +allowable to write worse Greek than Plato; and it is no +disqualification for a Hebrew prophet to lack the grandeur +<pb n='033'/><anchor id='Pg033'/> +of imagination and the mastery of style which are the +notes of Isaiah's genius. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of their obvious dissimilarities the two visions +have enough in common to show that Ezekiel's thoughts +concerning God had been largely influenced by the study +of Isaiah. Truths that had perhaps long been latent in +his mind now emerge into clear consciousness, clothed in +forms which bear the impress of the mind in which they +were first conceived. The fundamental idea is the same +in each vision: the absolute and universal sovereignty +of God. <q>Mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of +hosts.</q> Jehovah appears in human form, seated on a +throne and attended by ministering creatures which serve +to show forth some part of His glory. In the one case +they are seraphim, in the other cherubim; and the functions +imposed on them by the structure of the vision are +very diverse in the two cases. But the points in which +they agree are more significant than those in which they +differ. They are the agents through whom Jehovah +exercises His sovereign authority, beings full of life and +intelligence and moving in swift response to His will. +Although free from earthly imperfection they cover themselves +with their wings before His majesty, in token of +the reverence which is due from the creature in presence +of the Creator. For the rest they are symbolic figures +embodying in themselves certain attributes of the Deity, +or certain aspects of His kingship. Nor can Ezekiel any +more than Isaiah think of Jehovah as the King apart from +the emblems associated with the worship of His earthly +sanctuary. The cherubim themselves are borrowed from +the imagery of the Temple, although their forms are +different from those which stood in the Holy of holies. +So again the altar, which was naturally suggested to +Isaiah by the scene of his vision being laid in the Temple, +appears in Ezekiel's vision in the form of the hearth of +<pb n='034'/><anchor id='Pg034'/> +glowing coals which is under the divine throne. It is +true that the fire symbolises destructive might rather +than purifying energy (see ch. x. 2), but it can hardly be +doubted that the origin of the symbol is the altar-hearth +of the sanctuary and of Isaiah's vision. It is as if the +essence of the Temple and its worship were transferred +to the sphere of heavenly realities where Jehovah's glory +is fully manifested. All this, therefore, is nothing more +than the embodiment of the fundamental truth of the Old +Testament religion—that Jehovah is the almighty King +of heaven and earth, that He executes His sovereign +purposes with irresistible power, and that it is the highest +privilege of men on earth to render to Him the homage +and adoration which the sight of His glory draws forth +from heavenly beings. +</p> + +<p> +The idea of Jehovah's kingship, however, is presented in +the Old Testament under two aspects. On the one hand, +it denotes the moral sovereignty of God over the people +whom He had chosen as His own and to whom His will +was continuously revealed as the guide of their national +and social life. On the other hand, it denotes God's absolute +dominion over the forces of nature and the events of +history, in virtue of which all things are the unconscious +instruments of His purposes. These two truths can never +be separated, although the emphasis is laid sometimes on +the one and sometimes on the other. Thus in Isaiah's +vision the emphasis lies perhaps more on the doctrine +of Jehovah's kingship over Israel. It is true that He is +at the same time represented as One whose glory is the +<q>fulness of the whole earth,</q> and who therefore manifests +His power and presence in every part of His world-wide +dominions. But the fact that Jehovah's palace is the +idealised Temple of Jerusalem suggests at once, what all +the teaching of the prophet confirms, that the nation of +Israel is the special sphere within which His kingly +<pb n='035'/><anchor id='Pg035'/> +authority is to obtain practical recognition. While no +man had a firmer grasp of the truth that God wields +all natural forces and overrules the actions of men in +carrying out His providential designs, yet the leading +ideas of His ministry are those which spring from the +thought of Jehovah's presence in the midst of His people +and the obligation that lies on Israel to recognise His +sovereignty. He is, to use Isaiah's own expression, the +<q>Holy One of Israel.</q> +</p> + +<p> +This aspect of the divine kingship is undoubtedly represented +in the vision of Ezekiel. We have remarked +that the imagery of the vision is to some extent moulded +on the idea of the sanctuary as the seat of Jehovah's +government, and we shall find later on that the final +resting-place of this emblem of His presence is a restored +sanctuary in the land of Canaan. But the circumstances +under which Ezekiel was called to be a prophet required +that prominence should be given to the complementary +truth that the kingship of Jehovah was independent of +His special relation to Israel. For the present the tie +between Jehovah and His land was dissolved. Israel had +disowned her divine King, and was left to suffer the +consequences of her disloyalty. Hence it is that the +vision appears, not from the direction of Jerusalem, but +<q>out of the north,</q> in token that God has departed from +His Temple and abandoned it to its enemies. In this +way the vision granted to the exiled prophet on the plain +of Babylonia embodied a truth opposed to the religious +prejudices of his time, but reassuring to himself—that the +fall of Israel leaves the essential sovereignty of Jehovah +untouched; that He still lives and reigns, although His +people are trodden underfoot by worshippers of other +gods. But more than this, we can see that on the whole +the tendency of Ezekiel's vision, as distinguished from +that of Isaiah, is to emphasise the universality of Jehovah's +<pb n='036'/><anchor id='Pg036'/> +relations to the world of nature and of mankind. His +throne rests here on a sapphire stone, the symbol of +heavenly purity, to signify that His true dwelling-place is +above the firmament, in the heavens, which are equally near +to every region of the earth. Moreover, it is mounted +on a chariot, by which it is moved from place to place +with a velocity which suggests ubiquity, and the chariot +is borne by <q>living creatures</q> whose forms unite all that +is symbolical of power and dignity in the living world. +Further, the shape of the chariot, which is foursquare, +and the disposition of the wheels and cherubim, which +is such that there is no before or behind, but the same +front presented to each of the four quarters of the globe, +indicate that all parts of the universe are alike accessible +to the presence of God. Finally, the wheels and the +cherubim are covered with eyes, to denote that all things +are open to the view of Him who sits on the throne. The +attributes of God here symbolised are those which express +His relations to created existence as a whole—omnipresence, +omnipotence, omniscience. These ideas are +obviously incapable of adequate representation by any +sensuous image—they can only be suggested to the mind; +and it is just the effort to suggest such transcendental +attributes that imparts to the vision the character of +obscurity which attaches to so many of its details. +</p> + +<p> +Another point of comparison between Isaiah and Ezekiel +is suggested by the name which the latter constantly uses +for the appearance which he sees, or rather perhaps for +that part of it which represents the personal appearance +of God. He calls it the <q>glory of Jehovah,</q> or <q>glory +of the God of Israel.</q> The word for glory (<foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>kābôd</foreign>) is +used in a variety of senses in the Old Testament. Etymologically +it comes from a root expressing the idea +of heaviness. When used, as here, concretely, it signifies +that which is the outward manifestation of power or +<pb n='037'/><anchor id='Pg037'/> +worth or dignity. In human affairs it may be used of +a man's wealth, or the pomp and circumstance of military +array, or the splendour and pageantry of a royal court, +those things which oppress the minds of common men +with a sense of magnificence. In like manner, when +applied to God, it denotes some reflection in the outer +world of His majesty, something that at once reveals and +conceals His essential Godhead. Now we remember that +the second line of the seraphs' hymn conveyed to Isaiah's +mind this thought, that <q>that which fills the whole earth +is His glory.</q> What is this <q>filling of the whole earth</q> +in which the prophet sees the effulgence of the divine +glory? Is his feeling akin to Wordsworth's +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 20'><q rend='pre'>sense sublime</q></l> +<l>Of something far more deeply interfused,</l> +<l>Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,</l> +<l>And the round ocean, and the living air,</l> +<l><q rend='post'>And the blue sky, and in the mind of man</q>?</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +At least the words must surely mean that all through +nature Isaiah recognised that which declares the glory +of God, and therefore in some sense reveals Him. +Although they do not teach a doctrine of the divine +immanence, they contain all that is religiously valuable +in that doctrine. In Ezekiel, however, we find nothing +that looks in this direction. It is characteristic of his +thoughts about God that the very word <q>glory</q> which +Isaiah uses of something diffused through the earth +is here employed to express the concentration of all +divine qualities in a single image of dazzling splendour, +but belonging to heaven rather than to earth. Glory +is here equivalent to brightness, as in the ancient conception +of the bright cloud which led the people through +the desert and that which filled the Temple with overpowering +light when Jehovah took possession of it +(2 Chron. vii. 1-3). In a striking passage of his last +<pb n='038'/><anchor id='Pg038'/> +vision Ezekiel describes how this scene will be repeated +when Jehovah returns to take up His abode amongst +His people and the earth will be lighted up with His +glory (ch. xliii. 2). But meanwhile it may seem to us +that earth is left poorer by the loss of that aspect of +nature in which Isaiah discovered a revelation of the +divine. +</p> + +<p> +Ezekiel is conscious that what he has seen is after +all but an imperfect semblance of the essential glory of +God on which no mortal eye can gaze. All that he +describes is expressly said to be an <q>appearance</q> and +a <q>likeness.</q> When he comes to speak of the divine +form in which the whole revelation culminates he can say +no more than that it is the <q>appearance of the likeness +of the glory of Jehovah.</q> The prophet appears to +realise his inability to penetrate behind the appearance +to the reality which it shadows forth. The clearest +vision of God which the mind of man can receive is an +after-look like that which was vouchsafed to Moses when +the divine presence had passed by (Exod. xxxiii. 23). +So it was with Ezekiel. The true revelation that came +to him was not in what he saw with his eyes in the +moment of his initiation, but in the intuitive knowledge +of God which from that hour he possessed, and which +enabled him to interpret more fully than he could have +done at the time the significance of his first memorable +meeting with the God of Israel. What he retained in +his waking hours was first of all a vivid sense of the +reality of God's being, and then a mental picture suggesting +those attributes which lay at the foundation of his +prophetic ministry. +</p> + +<p> +It is easy to see how this vision dominates all Ezekiel's +thinking about the divine nature. The God whom he +saw was in the form of a man, and so the God of his +conscience is a moral person to whom he fearlessly +<pb n='039'/><anchor id='Pg039'/> +ascribes the parts and even the passions of humanity. +He speaks through the prophet in the language of royal +authority, as a king who will brook no rival in the +affections of his people. As King of Israel He asserts +His determination to reign over them with a mighty +hand, and by mingled goodness and severity to break +their stubborn heart and bend them to His purpose. +There are perhaps other and more subtle affinities between +the symbol of the vision and the prophet's inner consciousness +of God. Just as the vision gathers up all in +nature that suggests divinity into one resplendent image, +so it is also with the moral action of God as conceived by +Ezekiel. His government of the world is self-centred; +all the ends which He pursues in His providence lie within +Himself. His dealings with the nations, and with Israel +in particular, are dictated by regard for His own glory, +or, as Ezekiel expresses it, by pity for His great name. +<q>Not for your sake do I act, O house of Israel, but for +My holy name, which ye have profaned among the +heathen whither ye went</q> (ch. xxxvi. 22). The relations +into which He enters with men are all subordinate to the +supreme purpose of <q>sanctifying</q> Himself in the eyes of +the world or manifesting Himself as He truly is. It is +no doubt possible to exaggerate this feature of Ezekiel's +theology in a way that would be unjust to the prophet. +After all, Jehovah's desire to be known as He is implies +a regard for His creatures which includes the ultimate +intention to bless them. It is but an extreme expression +in the form necessary for that time of the truth to which +all the prophets bear witness, that the knowledge of God +is the indispensable condition of true blessedness to men. +Still, the difference is marked between the <q>not for your +sake</q> of Ezekiel and the <q>human bands, the cords of +love</q> of which Hosea speaks, the yearning and compassionate +affection that binds Jehovah to His erring people. +</p> + +<pb n='040'/><anchor id='Pg040'/> + +<p> +In another respect the symbolism of the vision may be +taken as an emblem of the Hebrew conception of the +universe. The Bible has no scientific theory of God's +relation to the world; but it is full of the practical conviction +that all nature responds to His behests, that all +occurrences are indications of His mind, the whole realm +of nature and history being governed by one Will which +works for moral ends. That conviction is as deeply +rooted in the thinking of Ezekiel as in that of any other +prophet, and, consciously or unconsciously, it is reflected +in the structure of the <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>merkābā</foreign>, or heavenly chariot, +which has no mechanical connection between its different +parts, and yet is animated by one spirit and moves +altogether at the impulse of Jehovah's will. +</p> + +<p> +It will be seen that the general tendency of Ezekiel's +conception of God is what might be described in modern +language as <q>transcendental.</q> In this, however, the +prophet does not stand alone, and the difference between +him and earlier prophets is not so great as is sometimes +represented. Indeed, the contrast between transcendent +and immanent is hardly applicable in the Old Testament +religion. If by transcendence it is meant that God +is a being distinct from the world, not losing Himself +in the life of nature, but ruling over it and controlling +it as His instrument, then all the inspired writers of +the Old Testament are transcendentalists. But this does +not mean that God is separated from the human spirit by +a dead, mechanical universe which owes nothing to its +Creator but its initial impulse and its governing laws. +The idea that a world could come between man and God +is one that would never have occurred to a prophet. Just +because God is above the world He can reveal Himself +directly to the spirit of man, speaking to His servants +face to face as a man speaketh to his friend. +</p> + +<p> +But frequently in the prophets the thought is expressed +<pb n='041'/><anchor id='Pg041'/> +that Jehovah is <q>far off</q> or <q>comes from far</q> in the crises +of His people's history. <q>Am I a God at hand, saith +Jehovah, and not a God afar off?</q> is Jeremiah's question +to the false prophets of his day; and the answer is, <q>Do +not I fill heaven and earth? saith Jehovah.</q> On this +subject we may quote the suggestive remarks of a recent +commentator on Isaiah: <q>The local deities, the gods of +the tribal religions, are near; Jehovah is far, but at the +same time everywhere present. The remoteness of Jehovah +in space represented to the prophets better than our +transcendental abstractions Jehovah's absolute ascendency. +This <q>far off</q> is spoken with enthusiasm. Everywhere +and nowhere, Jehovah comes when His hour is come.</q><note place='foot'>Duhm on Isa. xxx. 27.</note> +That is the idea of Ezekiel's vision. God comes to him +<q>from far,</q> but He comes very near. Our difficulty may +be to realise the nearness of God. Scientific discovery +has so enlarged our view of the material universe that +we feel the need of every consideration that can bring +home to us a sense of the divine condescension and +interest in man's earthly history and his spiritual welfare. +But the difficulty which beset the ordinary Israelite even +so late as the Exile was as nearly as possible the opposite +of ours. His temptation was to think of God as only a +God <q>at hand,</q> a local deity, whose range of influence +was limited to a particular spot, and whose power was +measured by the fortunes of His own people. Above all +things he needed to learn that God was <q>afar off,</q> filling +heaven and earth, that His power was exerted everywhere, +and that there was no place where either a man could +hide himself from God or God was hidden from man. +When we bear in mind these circumstances we can see +how needful was the revelation of the divine omnipresence +as a step towards the perfect knowledge of God which +comes to us through Jesus Christ. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='042'/><anchor id='Pg042'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter IV. Ezekiel's Prophetic Commission. Chapters ii., iii.</head> + +<p> +The call of a prophet and the vision of God which +sometimes accompanied it are the two sides of one +complex experience. The man who has truly seen God +necessarily has a message to men. Not only are his +spiritual perceptions quickened and all the powers of +his being stirred to the highest activity, but there is laid +on his conscience the burden of a sacred duty and a +lifelong vocation to the service of God and man. The +true prophet therefore is one who can say with Paul, +<q>I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,</q> for that +cannot be a real vision of God which does not demand +obedience. And of the two elements the call is the one +that is indispensable to the idea of a prophet. We can +conceive a prophet without an ecstatic vision, but not +without a consciousness of being chosen by God for a +special work or a sense of moral responsibility for the +faithful declaration of His truth. Whether, as with Isaiah +and Ezekiel, the call springs out of the vision of God, or +whether, as with Jeremiah, the call comes first and is +supplemented by experiences of a visionary kind, the +essential fact in the prophet's initiation always is the +conviction that from a certain period in his life the word +of Jehovah came to him, and along with it the feeling of +personal obligation to God for the discharge of a mission +entrusted to him. While the vision merely serves to +<pb n='043'/><anchor id='Pg043'/> +impress on the imagination by means of symbols a certain +conception of God's being, and may be dispensed with +when symbols are no longer the necessary vehicle of +spiritual truth, the call, as conveying a sense of one's +true place in the kingdom of God, can never be wanting +to any man who has a prophetic work to do for God +amongst his fellow-men. +</p> + +<p> +It has been already hinted that in the case of Ezekiel +the connection between the call and the vision is less +obvious than in that of Isaiah. The character of the narrative +undergoes a change at the beginning of ch. ii. The +first part is moulded, as we have seen, very largely +on the inaugural vision of Isaiah; the second betrays +with equal clearness the influence of Jeremiah. The +appearance of a break between the first chapter and the +second is partly due to the prophet's laborious manner +of describing what he had passed through. It is altogether +unfair to represent him as having first curiously inspected +the mechanism of the <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>merkābā</foreign>, and then bethought himself +that it was a fitting thing to fall on his face before it. +The experience of an ecstasy is one thing, the relating +of it is another. In much less time than it takes us to +master the details of the picture, Ezekiel had seen and +been overpowered by the glory of Jehovah, and had +become aware of the purpose for which it had been +revealed to him. He knew that God had come to him in +order to send him as a prophet to his fellow-exiles. And +just as the description of the vision draws out in detail +those features which were significant of God's nature and +attributes, so in what follows he becomes conscious step +by step of certain aspects of the work to which he is +called. In the form of a series of addresses of the +Almighty there are presented to his mind the outlines +of his prophetic career—its conditions, its hardships, its +encouragements, and above all its binding and peremptory +<pb n='044'/><anchor id='Pg044'/> +obligation. Some of the facts now set before him, such +as the spiritual condition of his audience, had long been +familiar to his thoughts—others were new; but now they +all take their proper place in the scheme of his life; he is +made to know their bearing on his work, and what attitude +he is to adopt in face of them. All this takes place in the +prophetic trance; but the ideas remain with him as the +sustaining principles of his subsequent work. +</p> + +<p> +1. Of the truths thus presented to the mind of Ezekiel +the first, and the one that directly arises out of the +impression which the vision made on him, is his personal +insignificance. As he lies prostrate before the glory of +Jehovah he hears for the first time the name which ever +afterwards signalises his relation to the God who speaks +through him. It hardly needs to be said that the term +<q>son of man</q> in the book of Ezekiel is no title of honour +or of distinction. It is precisely the opposite of this. +It denotes the absence of distinction in the person of the +prophet. It signifies no more than <q>member of the +human race</q>; its sense might almost be conveyed if we +were to render it by the word <q>mortal.</q> It expresses the +infinite contrast between the heavenly and the earthly, +between the glorious Being who speaks from the throne +and the frail creature who needs to be supernaturally +strengthened before he can stand upright in the attitude +of service (ch. ii. 1). He felt that there was no reason +in himself for the choice which God made of him to be +a prophet. He is conscious only of the attributes which +he has in common with the race—of human weakness and +insignificance; all that distinguishes him from other men +belongs to his office, and is conferred on him by God in +the act of his consecration. There is no trace of the +generous impulse that prompted Isaiah to offer himself +as a servant of the great King as soon as he realised that +there was work to be done. He is equally a stranger +<pb n='045'/><anchor id='Pg045'/> +to the shrinking of Jeremiah's sensitive spirit from the +responsibilities of the prophet's charge. To Ezekiel the +divine Presence is so overpowering, the command is so +definite and exacting, that no room is left for the play of +personal feeling; the hand of the Lord is heavy on him, +and he can do nothing but stand still and hear. +</p> + +<p> +2. The next thought that occupies the attention of the +prophet is the spiritual condition of those to whom he is +sent. It is to be noted that his mission presents itself to +him from the outset in two aspects. In the first place, he +is a prophet to the whole house of Israel, including the +lost kingdom of the ten tribes, as well as the two sections +of the kingdom of Judah, those now in exile and +those still remaining in their own land. This is his ideal +audience; the sweep of his prophecy is to embrace the +destinies of the nation as a whole, although but a small +part be within the reach of his spoken words. But in +literal fact he is to be the prophet of the exiles (ch. iii. 11); +that is the sphere in which he has to make proof of his +ministry. These two audiences are for the most part not +distinguished in the mind of Ezekiel; he sees the ideal in +the real, regarding the little colony in which he lives as +an epitome of the national life. But in both aspects of +his work the outlook is equally dispiriting. If he looks +forward to an active career amongst his fellow-captives, +he is given to know that <q>thorns and thistles</q> are with +him and that his dwelling is among scorpions (ch. ii. 6). +Petty persecution and rancorous opposition are the inevitable +lot of a prophet there. And if he extends his +thoughts to the idealised nation he has to think of a people +whose character is revealed in a long history of rebellion +and apostasy: they are <q>the rebels who have rebelled +against Me, they and their fathers to this very day</q> +(ch. ii. 3). The greatest difficulty he will have to contend +with is the impenetrability of the minds of his hearers +<pb n='046'/><anchor id='Pg046'/> +to the truths of his message. The barrier of a strange +language suggests an illustration of the impossibility of +communicating spiritual ideas to such men as he is sent +to. But it is a far more hopeless barrier that separates +him from his people. <q>Not to a people of deep speech +and heavy tongue art thou sent; and not to many peoples +whose language thou canst not understand: if I had sent +thee to <emph>them</emph>, <emph>they</emph> would hear thee. But the house of +Israel will refuse to hear thee; for they refuse to hear Me: +for the whole house of Israel are hard of forehead and +stout of heart</q> (ch. iii. 5-7). The meaning is that the +incapacity of the people is not intellectual, but moral and +spiritual. They can understand the prophet's words, but +they will not hear them because they dislike the truth +which he utters and have rebelled against the God who +sent him. The hardening of the national conscience which +Isaiah foresaw as the inevitable result of his own ministry +is already accomplished, and Ezekiel traces it to its source +in a defect of the will, an aversion to the truths which +express the character of Jehovah. +</p> + +<p> +This fixed judgment on his contemporaries with which +Ezekiel enters on his work is condensed into one of those +stereotyped expressions which abound in his writings: +<q>house of disobedience</q><note place='foot'><foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>Bêth mĕri</foreign>, or simply <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>mĕrî</foreign>, +occurring about fifteen times in the first +half of the book, but only once after ch. xxiv.</note>—a phrase which is afterwards +amplified in more than one elaborate review of the nation's +past. It no doubt sums up the result of much previous +meditation on the state of Israel and the possibility of a +national reformation. If any hope had hitherto lingered +in Ezekiel's mind that the exiles might now respond to +a true word from Jehovah, it disappears in the clear +insight which he obtains into the state of their hearts. +He sees that the time has not yet come to win the people +<pb n='047'/><anchor id='Pg047'/> +back to God by assurances of His compassion and the +nearness of His salvation. The breach between Jehovah +and Israel has not begun to be healed, and the prophet +who stands on the side of God must look for no sympathy +from men. In the very act of his consecration his mind +is thus set in the attitude of uncompromising severity +towards the obdurate house of Israel: <q>Behold, I make +thy face hard like their faces, and thy forehead hard like +theirs, like adamant harder than flint. Thou shalt not +fear them nor be dismayed at their countenance, for a +disobedient house are they</q> (ch. iii. 8, 9). +</p> + +<p> +3. The significance of the transaction in which he takes +part is still further impressed on the mind of the prophet +by a symbolic act in which he is made to signify his +acceptance of the commission entrusted to him (chs. ii. 8-iii. +3). He sees a hand extended to him holding the roll of +a book, and when the roll is spread out before him it is +found to be written on both sides with <q>lamentations and +mourning and woe.</q> In obedience to the divine command +he opens his mouth and eats the scroll, and finds +to his surprise that in spite of its contents its taste is +<q>like honey for sweetness.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The meaning of this strange symbol appears to include +two things. In the first place it denotes the removal +of the inward hindrance of which every man must be +conscious when he receives the call to be a prophet. +Something similar occurs in the inaugural vision of +Isaiah and Jeremiah. The impediment of which Isaiah +was conscious was the uncleanness of his lips; and +this being removed by the touch of the hot coal from +the altar, he is filled with a new feeling of freedom and +eagerness to engage in the service of God. In the case +of Jeremiah the hindrance was a sense of his own +weakness and unfitness for the arduous duties which +were imposed on him; and this again was taken away +<pb n='048'/><anchor id='Pg048'/> +by the consecrating touch of Jehovah's hand on his lips. +The part of Ezekiel's experience with which we are +dealing is obviously parallel to these, although it is not +possible to say what feeling of incapacity was uppermost +in his mind. Perhaps it was the dread lest in him there +should lurk something of that rebellious spirit which was +the characteristic of the race to which he belonged. He +who had been led to form so hard a judgment of his +people could not but look with a jealous eye on his own +heart, and could not forget that he shared the same +sinful nature which made their rebellion possible. Accordingly +the book is presented to him in the first instance +as a test of his obedience. <q>But <emph>thou</emph>, son of man, hear +what I say to thee; Be not disobedient like the disobedient +house: open thy mouth, and eat what I give thee</q> (ch. ii. +8). When the book proves sweet to his taste, he has the +assurance that he has been endowed with such sympathy +with the thoughts of God that things which to the natural +mind are unwelcome become the source of a spiritual +satisfaction. Jeremiah had expressed the same strange +delight in his work in a striking passage which was +doubtless familiar to Ezekiel: <q>When Thy words were +found I did eat them; and Thy word was to me the joy +and rejoicing of my heart: for I was called by Thy name, +O Jehovah God of hosts</q> (Jer. xv. 16). We have a still +higher illustration of the same fact in the life of our Lord, +to whom it was meat and drink to do the will of His +Father, and who experienced a joy in the doing of it +which was peculiarly His own. It is the reward of the +true service of God that amidst all the hardships and +discouragements which have to be endured the heart is +sustained by an inward joy springing from the consciousness +of working in fellowship with God. +</p> + +<p> +But in the second place the eating of the book undoubtedly +signifies the bestowal on the prophet of the +<pb n='049'/><anchor id='Pg049'/> +gift of inspiration—that is, the power to speak the words +of Jehovah. <q>Son of man, eat this roll, and go speak +to the children of Israel.... Go, get thee to the house +of Israel, and speak with My words to them</q> (ch. iii. 1, 4). +Now the call of a prophet does not mean that his mind +is charged with a certain body of doctrine, which he is +to deliver from time to time as circumstances require. +All that can safely be said about the prophetic inspiration +is that it implies the faculty of distinguishing the truth +of God from the thoughts that naturally arise in the +prophet's own mind. Nor is there anything in Ezekiel's +experience which necessarily goes beyond this conception; +although the incident of the book has been interpreted in +ways that burden him with a very crude and mechanical +theory of inspiration. Some critics have believed that the +book which he swallowed is the book he was afterwards +to write, as if he had reproduced in instalments what +was delivered to him at this time. Others, without going +so far as this, find it at least significant that one who +was to be pre-eminently a literary prophet should conceive +of the word of the Lord as communicated to him in the +form of a book. When one writer speaks of <q>eigenthümliche +Empfindungen im Schlunde</q><note place='foot'>Klostermann.</note> as the basis of the +figure, he seems to come perilously near to resolving +inspiration into a nervous disease. All these representations +go beyond a fair construction of the prophet's +meaning. The act is purely symbolic. The book has +nothing to do with the subject-matter of his prophecy, +nor does the eating of it mean anything more than the +self-surrender of the prophet to his vocation as a vehicle +of the word of Jehovah. The idea that the word of God +becomes a living power in the inner being of the prophet +is also expressed by Jeremiah when he speaks of it as a +<pb n='050'/><anchor id='Pg050'/> +<q>burning fire shut up in his bones</q> (Jer. xx. 9); and +Ezekiel's conception is similar. Although he speaks as if he +had once for all assimilated the word of God, although he +was conscious of a new power working within him, there +is no proof that he thought of the word of the Lord as +dwelling in him otherwise than as a spiritual impulse to +utter the truth revealed to him from time to time. That +is the inspiration which all the prophets possess: <q>Jehovah +God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?</q> (Amos iii. 8). +</p> + +<p> +4. It was not to be expected that a prophet so practical +in his aims as Ezekiel should be left altogether without +some indication of the end to be accomplished by his work. +The ordinary incentives to an arduous public career +have indeed been denied to him. He knows that his +mission contains no promise of a striking or an immediate +success, that he will be misjudged and opposed by nearly +all who hear him, and that he will have to pursue his +course without appreciation or sympathy. It has been +impressed on him that to declare God's message is an end +in itself, a duty to be discharged with no regard to its +issues, <q>whether men hear or whether they forbear.</q> +Like Paul he recognises that <q>necessity is laid upon him</q> +to preach the word of God. But there is one word which +reveals to him the way in which his ministry is to be +made effective in the working out of Jehovah's purpose +with Israel. <q>Whether they hear or whether they forbear, +they shall know that a prophet hath been among +them</q> (ii. 5). The reference is mainly to the destruction +of the nation which Ezekiel well knew must form the chief +burden of any true prophetic message delivered at that +time. He will be approved as a prophet, and recognised +as what he is, when his words are verified by the event. +Does it seem a poor reward for years of incessant contention +with prejudice and unbelief? It was at all events +the only reward that was possible, but it was also to +<pb n='051'/><anchor id='Pg051'/> +be the beginning of better days. For these words have +a wider significance than their bearing on the prophet's +personal position. +</p> + +<p> +It has been truly said that the preservation of the +true religion after the downfall of the nation depended +on the fact that the event had been clearly foretold. +Two religions and two conceptions of God were then +struggling for the mastery in Israel. One was the +religion of the prophets, who set the moral holiness +of Jehovah above every other consideration, and affirmed +that His righteousness must be vindicated even at the +cost of His people's destruction. The other was the +popular religion which clung to the belief that Jehovah +could not for any reason abandon His people without +ceasing to be God. This conflict of principles reached +its climax in the time of Ezekiel, and it also found its +solution. The destruction of Jerusalem cleared the issues. +It was then seen that the teaching of the prophets afforded +the only possible explanation of the course of events. +The Jehovah of the opposite religion was proved to be a +figment of the popular imagination; and there was no +alternative between accepting the prophetic interpretation +of history and resigning all faith in the destiny of Israel. +Hence the recognition of Ezekiel, the last of the old order +of prophets, who had carried their threatenings on to the +eve of their accomplishment, was really a great crisis of +religion. It meant the triumph of the only conception of +God on which the hope of a better future could be built. +Although the people might still be far from the state of +heart in which Jehovah could remove His chastening +hand, the first condition of national repentance was given +as soon as it was perceived that there had been prophets +among them who had declared the purpose of Jehovah. +The foundation was also laid for a more fruitful development +of Ezekiel's activity. The word of the Lord had +<pb n='052'/><anchor id='Pg052'/> +been in his hands a power <q>to pluck up and to break +down and to destroy</q> the old Israel that would not know +Jehovah; henceforward it was destined to <q>build and +plant</q> a new Israel inspired by a new ideal of holiness +and a whole-hearted repugnance to every form of idolatry. +</p> + +<p> +5. These then are the chief elements which enter into +the remarkable experience that made Ezekiel a prophet. +Further disclosures of the nature of his office were, however, +necessary before he could translate his vocation into +a conscious plan of work. The departure of the theophany +appears to have left him in a state of mental prostration.<note place='foot'>In ch. iii. 12 read <q>As the glory of Jehovah arose from its place</q> +instead of <q>Blessed be the glory,</q> etc. (ברום for ברוך).</note> +In <q>bitterness and heat of spirit</q> he resumes his place +amongst his fellow-captives at Tel-abib, and sits among +them like a man bewildered for seven days. At the end +of that time the effects of the ecstasy seem to pass away, +and more light breaks on him with regard to his mission. +He realises that it is to be largely a mission to individuals. +He is appointed as a watchman to the house of Israel, to +warn the wicked from his way; and as such he is held +accountable for the fate of any soul that might miss the +way of life through failure of duty on his part. +</p> + +<p> +It has been supposed that this passage (ch. iii. 16-21) +describes the character of a short period of public activity, +in which Ezekiel endeavoured to act the part of a <q>reprover</q> +(ver. 26) among the exiles. This is considered +to have been his first attempt to act on his commission, +and to have been continued until the prophet was convinced +of its hopelessness and in obedience to the divine +command shut himself up in his own house. But this +view does not seem to be sufficiently borne out by the +terms of the narrative. The words rather represent a +point of view from which his whole ministry is surveyed, +<pb n='053'/><anchor id='Pg053'/> +or an aspect of it which possessed peculiar importance +from the circumstances in which he was placed. The +idea of his position as a watchman responsible for individuals +may have been present to the prophet's mind from +the time of his call; but the practical development of that +idea was not possible until the destruction of Jerusalem +had prepared men's minds to give heed to his admonitions. +Accordingly the second period of Ezekiel's work opens +with a fuller statement of the principles indicated in this +section (ch. xxxiii.). We shall therefore defer the consideration +of these principles till we reach the stage of +the prophet's ministry at which their practical significance +emerges. +</p> + +<p> +6. The last six verses of the third chapter may be +regarded either as closing the account of Ezekiel's consecration +or as the introduction to the first part of his +ministry, that which preceded the fall of Jerusalem. +They contain the description of a second trance, which +appears to have happened seven days after the first. The +prophet seemed to himself to be carried out in spirit to +a certain plain near his residence in Tel-abib. There the +glory of Jehovah appears to him precisely as he had seen +it in his former vision by the river Kebar. He then +receives the command to shut himself up within his house. +He is to be like a man bound with ropes, unable to move +about among his fellow-exiles. Moreover, the free use +of speech is to be interdicted; his tongue will be made +to cleave to his palate, so that he is as one <q>dumb.</q> +But as often as he receives a message from Jehovah +his mouth will be opened that he may declare it to +the rebellious house of Israel. +</p> + +<p> +Now if we compare ver. 26 with xxiv. 27 and xxxiii. 22, +we find that this state of intermittent dumbness continued +till the day when the siege of Jerusalem began, and was +not finally removed till tidings were brought of the capture +<pb n='054'/><anchor id='Pg054'/> +of the city. The verses before us therefore throw light +on the prophet's demeanour during the first half of his +ministry. What they signify is his almost entire withdrawal +from public life. Instead of being like his great +predecessors, a man living full in the public view, and +thrusting himself on men's notice when they least desired +him, he is to lead an isolated and a solitary life, a sign to +the people rather than a living voice.<note place='foot'>A somewhat similar episode seems to have occurred in the life of +Isaiah. See the commentaries on Isa. viii. 16-18.</note> From the sequel +we gather that he excited sufficient interest to induce +the elders and others to visit him in his house to inquire +of Jehovah. We must also suppose that from time to time +he emerged from his retirement with a message for the +whole community. It cannot, indeed, be assumed that +the chs. iv.-xxiv. contain an exact reproduction of the +addresses delivered on these occasions. Few of them +profess to have been uttered in public, and for the most +part they give the impression of having been intended for +patient study on the written page rather than for immediate +oratorical effect. There is no reason to doubt that +in the main they embody the results of Ezekiel's prophetic +experiences during the period to which they are referred, +although it may be impossible to determine how far they +were actually spoken at the time, and how far they are +merely written for the instruction of a wider audience. +</p> + +<p> +The strong figures used here to describe this state of +seclusion appear to reflect the prophet's consciousness +of the restraints providentially imposed on the exercise +of his office. These restraints, however, were moral, +and not, as has sometimes been maintained, physical. +The chief element was the pronounced hostility and +incredulity of the people. This, combined with the sense +of doom hanging over the nation, seems to have weighed +<pb n='055'/><anchor id='Pg055'/> +on the spirit of Ezekiel, and in the ecstatic state the +incubus lying upon him and paralysing his activity +presents itself to his imagination as if he were bound +with ropes and afflicted with dumbness. The representation +finds a partial parallel in a later passage in +the prophet's history. From ch. xxix. 21 (which is +the latest prophecy in the whole book) we learn that +the apparent non-fulfilment of his predictions against +Tyre had caused a similar hindrance to his public work, +depriving him of the boldness of speech characteristic +of a prophet. And the opening of the mouth given to +him on that occasion by the vindication of his words +is clearly analogous to the removal of his silence by the +news that Jerusalem had fallen.<note place='foot'>These verses (ch. iii. 22-27) furnish one of the chief supports of Klostermann's +peculiar theory of Ezekiel's condition during the first period +of his career. Taking the word <q>dumb</q> in its literal sense, he considers +that the prophet was afflicted with the malady known as <foreign rend='italic'>alalia</foreign>, +that this was intermittent down to the date of ch. xxiv., and then +became chronic till the fugitive arrived from Jerusalem (ch. xxxiii. 21), +when it finally disappeared. This is connected with the remarkable +series of symbolic actions related in ch. iv., which are regarded as +exhibiting all the symptoms of catalepsy and hemiplegia. These facts, +together with the prophet's liability to ecstatic visions, justify, in Klostermann's +view, the hypothesis that for seven years Ezekiel laboured +under serious nervous disorders. The partiality shown by a few writers +to this view probably springs from a desire to maintain the literal +accuracy of the prophet's descriptions. But in that aspect the theory +breaks down. Even Klostermann admits that the binding with ropes +had no existence save in Ezekiel's imagination. But if we are obliged +to take into account what <emph>seemed</emph> to the prophet, it is better to explain +the whole phenomena on the same principle. There can be no good +grounds for taking the dumbness as real and the ropes as imaginary. +Besides, it is surely a questionable expedient to vindicate a prophet's +literalism at the expense of his sanity. In the hands of Klostermann +and Orelli the hypothesis assumes a stupendous miracle; but it is obvious +that a critic of another school might readily <q>wear his rue with a +difference,</q> and treat the whole of Ezekiel's prophetic experiences as +hallucinations of a deranged intellect.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='059'/><anchor id='Pg059'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Part II. Prophecies Relating Mainly To The +Destruction Of Jerusalem.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter V. The End Foretold. Chapters iv.-vii.</head> + +<p> +With the fourth chapter we enter on the exposition +of the first great division of Ezekiel's prophecies. +The chs. iv.-xxiv. cover a period of about four and a +half years, extending from the time of the prophet's call to +the commencement of the siege of Jerusalem. During +this time Ezekiel's thoughts revolved round one great +theme—the approaching judgment on the city and the +nation. Through contemplation of this fact there was +disclosed to him the outline of a comprehensive theory of +divine providence, in which the destruction of Israel was +seen to be the necessary consequence of her past history +and a necessary preliminary to her future restoration. +The prophecies may be classified roughly under three +heads. In the first class are those which exhibit the +judgment itself in ways fitted to impress the prophet +and his hearers with a conviction of its certainty; a +second class is intended to demolish the illusions and +false ideals which possessed the minds of the Israelites +and made the announcement of disaster incredible; and +a third and very important class expounds the moral +principles which were illustrated by the judgment, and +which show it to be a divine necessity. In the passage +which forms the subject of the present lecture the bare +fact and certainty of the judgment are set forth in word +<pb n='060'/><anchor id='Pg060'/> +and symbol and with a minimum of commentary, although +even here the conception which Ezekiel had formed of +the moral situation is clearly discernible. +</p> + +<div> +<head>I</head> + +<p> +The certainty of the national judgment seems to have +been first impressed on Ezekiel's mind in the form of a +singular series of symbolic acts which he conceived himself +to be commanded to perform. The peculiarity of +these signs is that they represent simultaneously two +distinct aspects of the nation's fate—on the one hand the +horrors of the siege of Jerusalem, and on the other hand +the state of exile which was to follow.<note place='foot'>An ingenious attempt has been made by Professor Cornill to rearrange +the verses so as to bring out two separate series of actions, one +referring exclusively to the exile and the other to the siege. But the +proposed reading requires a somewhat violent handling of the text, and +does not seem to have met with much acceptance. The blending of +diverse elements in a single image appears also in ch. xii. 3-16.</note> +</p> + +<p> +That the destruction of Jerusalem should occupy the +first place in the prophet's picture of national calamity +requires no explanation. Jerusalem was the heart and +brain of the nation, the centre of its life and its religion, +and in the eyes of the prophets the fountain-head of its +sin. The strength of her natural situation, the patriotic +and religious associations which had gathered round her, +and the smallness of her subject province gave to Jerusalem +a unique position among the mother-cities of +antiquity. And Ezekiel's hearers knew what he meant +when he employed the picture of a beleaguered city to +set forth the judgment that was to overtake them. That +crowning horror of ancient warfare, the siege of a fortified +town, meant in this case something more appalling to +the imagination than the ravages of pestilence and famine +and sword. The fate of Jerusalem represented the disappearance +<pb n='061'/><anchor id='Pg061'/> +of everything that had constituted the glory +and excellence of Israel's national existence. That the +light of Israel should be extinguished amidst the anguish +and bloodshed which must accompany an unsuccessful +defence of the capital was the most terrible element in +Ezekiel's message, and here he sets it in the forefront of +his prophecy. +</p> + +<p> +The manner in which the prophet seeks to impress +this fact on his countrymen illustrates a peculiar vein of +realism which runs through all his thinking (ch. iv. 1-3). +Being at a distance from Jerusalem, he seems to feel the +need of some visible emblem of the doomed city before +he can adequately represent the import of his prediction. +He is commanded to take a brick and portray upon +it a walled city, surrounded by the towers, mounds, and +battering-rams which marked the usual operations of a +besieging army. Then he is to erect a plate of iron +between him and the city, and from behind this, with +menacing gestures, he is as it were to press on the siege. +The meaning of the symbols is obvious. As the engines +of destruction appear on Ezekiel's diagram, at the bidding +of Jehovah, so in due time the Chaldæan army will be +seen from the walls of Jerusalem, led by the same +unseen Power which now controls the acts of the prophet. +In the last act Ezekiel exhibits the attitude of Jehovah +Himself, cut off from His people by the iron wall of an +inexorable purpose which no prayer could penetrate. +</p> + +<p> +Thus far the prophet's actions, however strange they +may appear to us, have been simple and intelligible. +But at this point a second sign is as it were superimposed +on the first, in order to symbolise an entirely different +set of facts—the hardship and duration of the Exile +(vv. 4-8). While still engaged in prosecuting the siege +of the city, the prophet is supposed to become at the same +time the representative of the guilty people and the victim +<pb n='062'/><anchor id='Pg062'/> +of the divine judgment. He is to <q>bear their iniquity</q>—that +is, the punishment due to their sin. This is represented +by his lying bound on his left side for a number +of days equal to the years of Ephraim's banishment, and +then on his right side for a time proportionate to the +captivity of Judah. Now the time of Judah's exile is +fixed at forty years, dating of course from the fall of the +city. The captivity of North Israel exceeds that of Judah +by the interval between the destruction of Samaria (722) +and the fall of Jerusalem, a period which actually measured +about a hundred and thirty-five years. In the Hebrew +text, however, the length of Israel's captivity is given as +three hundred and ninety years—that is, it must have +lasted for three hundred and fifty years before that of +Judah begins. This is obviously quite irreconcilable +with the facts of history, and also with the prophet's +intention. He cannot mean that the banishment of the +northern tribes was to be protracted for two centuries after +that of Judah had come to an end, for he uniformly speaks +of the restoration of the two branches of the nation as +simultaneous. The text of the Greek translation helps us +past this difficulty. The Hebrew manuscript from which +that version was made had the reading a <q>hundred and +ninety</q> instead of <q>three hundred and ninety</q> in ver. 5. +This alone yields a satisfactory sense, and the reading of +the Septuagint is now generally accepted as representing +what Ezekiel actually wrote. There is still a slight +discrepancy between the hundred and thirty-five years +of the actual history and the hundred and fifty years +expressed by the symbol; but we must remember that +Ezekiel is using round numbers throughout, and moreover +he has not as yet fixed the precise date of the capture of +Jerusalem when the last forty years are to commence.<note place='foot'>The correspondence would be almost exact if we date the commencement +of the northern captivity from 734, when Tiglath-pileser carried +away the inhabitants of the northern and eastern parts of the country. +This is a possible view, although hardly necessary.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='063'/><anchor id='Pg063'/> + +<p> +In the third symbol (vv. 9-17) the two aspects of +the judgment are again presented in the closest possible +combination. The prophet's food and drink during the +days when he is imagined to be lying on his side represents +on the one hand, by its being small in quantity and carefully +weighed and measured, the rigours of famine in +Jerusalem during the siege—<q>Behold, I will break the +staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by +weight, and with anxiety; and drink water by measure, and +with horror</q> (ver. 16); on the other hand, by its mixed +ingredients and by the fuel used in its preparation, it +typifies the unclean religious condition of the people +when in exile—<q>Even so shall the children of Israel +eat their food unclean among the heathen</q> (ver. 13). +The meaning of this threat is best explained by a passage +in the book of Hosea. Speaking of the Exile, Hosea says: +<q>They shall not remain in the land of Jehovah; but the +children of Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and shall eat +unclean food in Assyria. They shall pour out no wine +to Jehovah, nor shall they lay out their sacrifices for Him: +like the food of mourners shall their food be; all that eat +thereof shall be defiled: for their bread shall only satisfy +their hunger; it shall not come into the house of Jehovah</q> +(Hos. ix. 3, 4). The idea is that all food which has not +been consecrated by being presented to Jehovah in the +sanctuary is necessarily unclean, and those who eat of +it contract ceremonial defilement. In the very act of +satisfying his natural appetite a man forfeits his religious +standing. This was the peculiar hardship of the state +of exile, that a man must become unclean, he must eat +unconsecrated food unless he renounced his religion and +<pb n='064'/><anchor id='Pg064'/> +served the gods of the land in which he dwelt. Between +the time of Hosea and Ezekiel these ideas may have been +somewhat modified by the introduction of the Deuteronomic +law, which expressly permits secular slaughter at a distance +from the sanctuary. But this did not lessen the importance +of a legal sanctuary for the common life of an Israelite. +The whole of a man's flocks and herds, the whole produce +of his fields, had to be sanctified by the presentation of +firstlings and firstfruits at the Temple before he could +enjoy the reward of his industry with the sense of standing +in Jehovah's favour. Hence the destruction of the +sanctuary or the permanent exclusion of the worshippers +from it reduced the whole life of the people to a condition +of uncleanness which was felt to be as great a calamity as +was a papal interdict in the Middle Ages. This is the fact +which is expressed in the part of Ezekiel's symbolism +now before us. What it meant for his fellow-exiles was +that the religious disability under which they laboured +was to be continued for a generation. The whole life +of Israel was to become unclean until its inward state +was made worthy of the religious privileges now to be +withdrawn. At the same time no one could have felt the +penalty more severely than Ezekiel himself, in whom +habits of ceremonial purity had become a second nature. +The repugnance which he feels at the loathsome manner +in which he was at first directed to prepare his food, and +the profession of his own practice in exile, as well as the +concession made to his scrupulous sense of propriety +(vv. 14-16), are all characteristic of one whose priestly +training had made a defect of ceremonial cleanness almost +equivalent to a moral delinquency. +</p> + +<p> +The last of the symbols (ch. v. 1-4) represents the fate of +the population of Jerusalem when the city is taken. The +shaving of the prophet's head and beard is a figure for +the depopulation of the city and country. By a further +<pb n='065'/><anchor id='Pg065'/> +series of acts, whose meaning is obvious, he shows how +a third of the inhabitants shall die of famine and +pestilence during the siege, a third shall be slain by the +enemy when the city is captured, while the remaining +third shall be dispersed among the nations. Even these +shall be pursued by the sword of vengeance until but +a few numbered individuals survive, and of them again +a part passes through the fire. The passage reminds us +of the last verse of the sixth chapter of Isaiah, which was +perhaps in Ezekiel's mind when he wrote: <q>And if a +tenth still remain in it [the land], it shall again pass +through the fire: as a terebinth or an oak whose stump +is left at their felling: a holy seed shall be the stock +thereof</q> (Isa. vi. 13). At least the conception of a +succession of sifting judgments, leaving only a remnant +to inherit the promise of the future, is common to both +prophets, and the symbol in Ezekiel is noteworthy as the +first expression of his steadfast conviction that further +punishments were in store for the exiles after the destruction +of Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +It is clear that these signs could never have been +enacted, either in view of the people or in solitude, as +they are here described. It may be doubted whether +the whole description is not purely ideal, representing a +process which passed through the prophet's mind, or +was suggested to him in the visionary state but never +actually performed. That will always remain a tenable +view. An imaginary symbolic act is as legitimate a +literary device as an imaginary conversation. It is absurd +to mix up the question of the prophet's truthfulness with +the question whether he did or did not actually do what +he conceives himself as doing. The attempt to explain +his action by catalepsy would take us but a little way, +even if the arguments adduced in favour of it were stronger +than they are. Since even a cataleptic patient could not +<pb n='066'/><anchor id='Pg066'/> +have tied himself down on his side or prepared and eaten +his food in that posture, it is necessary in any case to +admit that there must be a considerable, though indeterminate, +element of literary imagination in the account given +of the symbols. It is not impossible that some symbolic +representation of the siege of Jerusalem may have actually +been the first act in Ezekiel's ministry. In the interpretation +of the vision which immediately follows we shall +find that no notice is taken of the features which refer +to exile, but only of those which announce the siege of +Jerusalem. It may therefore be the case that Ezekiel did +some such action as is here described, pointing to the fall +of Jerusalem, but that the whole was taken up afterwards +in his imagination and made into an ideal representation +of the two great facts which formed the burden of his +earlier prophecy. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II</head> + +<p> +It is a relief to turn from this somewhat fantastic, though +for its own purpose effective, exhibition of prophetic ideas to +the impassioned oracles in which the doom of the city and +the nation is pronounced. The first of these (ch. v. 5-17) +is introduced here as the explanation of the signs that +have been described, in so far as they bear on the fate of +Jerusalem; but it has a unity of its own, and is a characteristic +specimen of Ezekiel's oratorical style. It consists +of two parts: the first (vv. 5-10) deals chiefly with the +reasons for the judgment on Jerusalem, and the second +(vv. 11-17) with the nature of the judgment itself. The +chief thought of the passage is the unexampled severity of +the punishment which is in store for Israel, as represented +by the fate of the capital. A calamity so unprecedented +demands an explanation as unique as itself. Ezekiel finds +the ground of it in the signal honour conferred on Jerusalem +in her being set in the midst of the nations, in the +<pb n='067'/><anchor id='Pg067'/> +possession of a religion which expressed the will of the +one God, and in the fact that she had proved herself +unworthy of her distinction and privileges and tried to +live as the nations around. <q>This is Jerusalem which I +have set in the midst of the nations, with the lands round +about her. But she rebelled against My judgments +wickedly<note place='foot'>Or, with a different pointing, <q>She changed My judgments to +wickedness.</q></note> more than the nations, and My statutes more +than [other] lands round about her: for they rejected +My judgments, and in My statutes they did not walk.... +Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, even I +am against you; and I will execute in thy midst judgments +before the nations, and will do in thy case what I have +not done [heretofore], and what I shall not do the like of +any more, according to all thy abominations</q> (vv. 5-9). +The central position of Jerusalem is evidently no figure of +speech in the mouth of Ezekiel. It means that she is so +situated as to fulfil her destiny in the view of all the +nations of the world, who can read in her wonderful +history the character of the God who is above all gods. +Nor can the prophet be fairly accused of provincialism +in thus speaking of Jerusalem's unrivalled physical and +moral advantages. The mountain ridge on which she stood +lay almost across the great highways of communication +between the East and the West, between the hoary seats +of civilisation and the lands whither the course of empire +took its way. Ezekiel knew that Tyre was the centre of +the old world's commerce,<note place='foot'>See ch. xxvii.</note> but he also knew that Jerusalem +occupied a central situation in the civilised world, and in +that fact he rightly saw a providential mark of the grandeur +and universality of her religious mission. Her calamities, +too, were probably such as no other city experienced. The +terrible prediction of ver. 10, <q>Fathers shall eat sons in +<pb n='068'/><anchor id='Pg068'/> +the midst of thee, and sons shall eat fathers,</q> seems to +have been literally fulfilled. <q>The hands of the pitiful +women have sodden their own children: they were their +meat in the destruction of the daughter of My people</q> +(Lam. iv. 10). It is likely enough that the annals of +Assyrian conquest cover many a tale of woe which in +point of mere physical suffering paralleled the atrocities +of the siege of Jerusalem. But no other nation had a +conscience so sensitive as Israel, or lost so much by its +political annihilation. The humanising influences of a +pure religion had made Israel susceptible of a kind of +anguish which ruder communities were spared. +</p> + +<p> +The sin of Jerusalem is represented after Ezekiel's +manner as on the one hand transgression of the divine +commandments, and on the other defilement of the Temple +through false worship. These are ideas which we shall +frequently meet in the course of the book, and they need +not detain us here. The prophet proceeds (vv. 11-17) to +describe in detail the relentless punishment which the +divine vengeance is to inflict on the inhabitants and the +city. The jealousy, the wrath, the indignation of Jehovah, +which are represented as <q>satisfied</q> by the complete +destruction of the people, belong to the limitations of the +conception of God which Ezekiel had. It was impossible +at that time to interpret such an event as the fall of +Jerusalem in a religious sense otherwise than as a vehement +outburst of Jehovah's anger, expressing the reaction +of His holy nature against the sin of idolatry. There is +indeed a great distance between the attitude of Ezekiel +towards the hapless city and the yearning pity of Christ's +lament over the sinful Jerusalem of His time. Yet the first +was a step towards the second. Ezekiel realised intensely +that part of God's character which it was needful to enforce +in order to beget in his countrymen the deep horror at +the sin of idolatry which characterised the later Judaism. +<pb n='069'/><anchor id='Pg069'/> +The best commentary on the latter part of this chapter is +found in those parts of the book of Lamentations which +speak of the state of the city and the survivors after its overthrow. +There we see how quickly the stern judgment produced +a more chastened and beautiful type of piety than had +ever been prevalent before. Those pathetic utterances, in +which patriotism and religion are so finely blended, are +like the timid and tentative advances of a child's heart +towards a parent who has ceased to punish but has not +begun to caress. This and much else that is true and +ennobling in the later religion of Israel is rooted in the +terrifying sense of the divine anger against sin so powerfully +represented in the preaching of Ezekiel. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>III</head> + +<p> +The next two chapters may be regarded as pendants to +the theme which is dealt with in this opening section of +the book of Ezekiel. In the fourth and fifth chapters the +prophet had mainly the city in his eye as the focus of the +nation's life; in the sixth he turns his eye to the land which +had shared the sin, and must suffer the punishment, of the +capital. It is, in its first part (vv. 2-10), an apostrophe to the +mountain land of Israel, which seems to stand out before +the exile's mind with its mountains and hills, its ravines +and valleys, in contrast to the monotonous plain of +Babylonia which stretched around him. But these mountains +were familiar to the prophet as the seats of the rural +idolatry in Israel. The word <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>bāmah</foreign>, which means properly +<q>the height,</q> had come to be used as the name of an +idolatrous sanctuary. These sanctuaries were probably +Canaanitish in origin; and although by Israel they had +been consecrated to the worship of Jehovah, yet He was +worshipped there in ways which the prophets pronounced +hateful to Him. They had been destroyed by Josiah, but +<pb n='070'/><anchor id='Pg070'/> +must have been restored to their former use during the +revival of heathenism which followed his death. It is +a lurid picture which rises before the prophet's imagination +as he contemplates the judgment of this provincial idolatry: +the altars laid waste, the <q>sun-pillars</q><note place='foot'><foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>Hammânim</foreign>—a word of doubtful meaning, however. The word for +idols, <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>gillûlîm</foreign>, is all but peculiar to Ezekiel. It is variously explained +as <hi rend='italic'>block-gods</hi> or <hi rend='italic'>dung-gods</hi>—in any case an epithet of contempt. The +<foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>ashērah</foreign>, or sacred pole, is never referred to by Ezekiel.</note> broken, and the +idols surrounded by the corpses of men who had fled to +their shrines for protection and perished at their feet. +This demonstration of the helplessness of the rustic +divinities to save their sanctuaries and their worshippers +will be the means of breaking the rebellious heart and +the whorish eyes that had led Israel so far astray from +her true Lord, and will produce in exile the self-loathing +which Ezekiel always regards as the beginning of +penitence. +</p> + +<p> +But the prophet's passion rises to a higher pitch, and he +hears the command <q>Clap thy hands, and stamp with thy +foot, and say, Aha for the abominations of the house of +Israel!</q> These are gestures and exclamations, not of +indignation, but of contempt and triumphant scorn. The +same feeling and even the same gestures are ascribed to +Jehovah Himself in another passage of highly charged +emotion (ch. xxi. 17). And it is only fair to remember that +it is the anticipation of the victory of Jehovah's cause that +fills the mind of the prophet at such moments and seems +to deaden the sense of human sympathy within him. At +the same time the victory of Jehovah was the victory of +prophecy, and in so far Smend may be right in regarding +the words as throwing light on the intensity of the +antagonism in which prophecy and the popular religion +then stood. The devastation of the land is to be effected +by the same instruments as were at work in the destruction +<pb n='071'/><anchor id='Pg071'/> +of the city: first the sword of the Chaldæans, then famine +and pestilence among those who escape, until the whole +of Israel's ancient territory lies desolate from the southern +steppes to Riblah in the north.<note place='foot'>In ver. 14 the true sense has been lost by the corruption of the word +Riblah into Diblah.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Ch. vii. is one of those singled out by Ewald as +preserving most faithfully the spirit and language of +Ezekiel's earlier utterances. Both in thought and expression +it exhibits a freedom and animation seldom attained in +Ezekiel's writings, and it is evident that it must have been +composed under keen emotion. It is comparatively free +from those stereotyped phrases which are elsewhere so +common, and the style falls at times into the rhythm which +is characteristic of Hebrew poetry. Ezekiel hardly perhaps +attains to perfect mastery of poetic form, and even here +we may be sensible of a lack of power to blend a series +of impressions and images into an artistic unity. The +vehemence of his feeling hurries him from one conception +to another, without giving full expression to any, or +indicating clearly the connection that leads from one to +the other. This circumstance, and the corrupt condition +of the text together, make the chapter in some parts +unintelligible, and as a whole one of the most difficult in +the book. In its present position it forms a fitting conclusion +to the opening section of the book. All the +elements of the judgment which have just been foretold +are gathered up in one outburst of emotion, producing +a song of triumph in which the prophet seems to stand +in the uproar of the final catastrophe and exult amid +the crash and wreck of the old order which is passing +away. +</p> + +<p> +The passage is divided into five stanzas, which may +originally have been approximately equal in length, +<pb n='072'/><anchor id='Pg072'/> +although the first is now nearly twice as long as any +of the others.<note place='foot'>The reason may be that two different recensions of the text have +been combined and mixed up. So Hitzig and Cornill.</note> +</p> + +<p> +i. Vv. 2-9.—The first verse strikes the keynote of the +whole poem; it is the inevitableness and the finality of +the approaching dissolution. A striking phrase of Amos<note place='foot'>Amos viii. 2.</note> +is first taken up and expanded in accordance with the +anticipations with which the previous chapters have now +familiarised us: <q>An end is come, the end is come on +the four skirts of the land.</q> The poet already hears the +tumult and confusion of the battle; the vintage songs of +the Judæan peasant are silenced, and with the din and +fury of war the day of the Lord draws near. +</p> + +<p> +ii. Vv. 10-13.—The prophet's thoughts here revert to +the present, and he notes the eager interest with which +men both in Judah and Babylon are pursuing the ordinary +business of life and the vain dreams of political greatness. +<q>The diadem flourishes, the sceptre blossoms, arrogance +shoots up.</q> These expressions must refer to the efforts +of the new rulers of Jerusalem to restore the fortunes of +the nation and the glories of the old kingdom which had +been so greatly tarnished by the recent captivity. Things +are going bravely, they think; they are surprised at their +own success; they hope that the day of small things will +grow into the day of things greater than those which are +past. The following verse is untranslatable; probably +the original words, if we could recover them, would contain +some pointed and scornful antithesis to these futile +and vain-glorious anticipations. The allusion to <q>buyers +and sellers</q> (ver. 12) may possibly be quite general, referring +only to the absorbing interest which men continue +to take in their possessions, heedless of the impending +judgment.<note place='foot'>Cf. Luke xvii. 26-30.</note> But the facts that the advantage is assumed +<pb n='073'/><anchor id='Pg073'/> +to be on the side of the buyer and that the seller expects +to return to his heritage make it probable that the prophet +is thinking of the forced sales by the expatriated nobles of +their estates in Palestine, and to their deeply cherished +resolve to right themselves when the time of their exile is +over. All such ambitions, says the prophet, are vain—<q>the +seller shall not return to what he sold, and a man +shall not by wrong preserve his living.</q> In any case +Ezekiel evinces here, as elsewhere, a certain sympathy +with the exiled aristocracy, in opposition to the pretensions +of the new men who had succeeded to their +honours. +</p> + +<p> +iii. Vv. 14-18.—The next scene that rises before the +prophet's vision is the collapse of Judah's military preparations +in the hour of danger. Their army exists but +on paper. There is much blowing of trumpets and much +organising, but no men to go forth to battle. A blight +rests on all their efforts; their hands are paralysed and +their hearts unnerved by the sense that <q>wrath rests +on all their pomp.</q> Sword, famine, and pestilence, the +ministers of Jehovah's vengeance, shall devour the inhabitants +of the city and the country, until but a few survivors +on the tops of the mountains remain to mourn over the +universal desolation. +</p> + +<p> +iv. Vv. 19-22.—At present the inhabitants of Jerusalem +are proud of the ill-gotten and ill-used wealth stored up +within her, and doubtless the exiles cast covetous eyes +on the luxury which may still have prevailed amongst the +upper classes in the capital. But of what avail will all +this treasure be in the evil day now so near at hand? +It will but add mockery to their sufferings to be surrounded +by gold and silver which can do nothing to allay +the pangs of hunger. It will be cast in the streets as +refuse, for it cannot save them in the day of Jehovah's +anger. Nay, more, it will become the prize of the most +<pb n='074'/><anchor id='Pg074'/> +ruthless of the heathen (the Chaldæans); and when in +the eagerness of their lust for gold they ransack the Temple +treasury and so desecrate the Holy Place, Jehovah will +avert His face and suffer them to work their will. The +curse of Jehovah rests on the silver and gold of Jerusalem, +which has been used for the making of idolatrous images, +and now is made to them an unclean thing. +</p> + +<p> +v. Vv. 23-27.—The closing strophe contains a powerful +description of the dismay and despair that will seize +all classes in the state as the day of wrath draws near. +Calamity after calamity comes, rumour follows hard on +rumour, and the heads of the nation are distracted and +cease to exercise the functions of leadership. The recognised +guides of the people—the prophets, the priests, and +the wise men—have no word of counsel or direction to offer; +the prophet's vision, the priest's traditional lore, and the +wise man's sagacity are alike at fault. So the king and +the grandees are filled with stupefaction; and the common +people, deprived of their natural leaders, sit down in helpless +dejection. Thus shall Jerusalem be recompensed +according to her doings. <q>The land is full of bloodshed, +and the city of violence</q>; and in the correspondence +between desert and retribution men shall be made to +acknowledge the operation of the divine righteousness. +<q>They shall know that I am Jehovah.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>IV</head> + +<p> +It may be useful at this point to note certain theological +principles which already begin to appear in this earliest +of Ezekiel's prophecies. Reflection on the nature and +purpose of the divine dealings we have seen to be a +characteristic of his work; and even those passages which +we have considered, although chiefly devoted to an enforcement +of the fact of judgment, present some features +<pb n='075'/><anchor id='Pg075'/> +of the conception of Israel's history which had been +formed in his mind. +</p> + +<p> +1. We observe in the first place that the prophet lays +great stress on the world-wide significance of the events +which are to befall Israel. This thought is not as yet +developed, but it is clearly present. The relation between +Jehovah and Israel is so peculiar that He is known to the +nations in the first instance only as Israel's God, and +thus His being and character have to be learned from +His dealings with His own people. And since Jehovah +is the only true God and must be worshipped as such +everywhere, the history of Israel has an interest for the +world such as that of no other nation has. She was +placed in the centre of the nations in order that the +knowledge of God might radiate from her through all +the world; and now that she has proved unfaithful to +her mission, Jehovah must manifest His power and His +character by an unexampled work of judgment. Even +the destruction of Israel is a demonstration to the universal +conscience of mankind of what true divinity is. +</p> + +<p> +2. But the judgment has of course a purpose and a +meaning for Israel herself, and both purposes are +summed up in the recurring formula <q>Ye [they] shall +know that I am Jehovah,</q> or <q>that I, Jehovah, have +spoken.</q> These two phrases express precisely the same +idea, although from slightly different starting-points. It +is assumed that Jehovah's personality is to be identified +by His word spoken through the prophets. He is known +to men through the revelation of Himself in the prophets' +utterances. <q>Ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken</q> +means therefore, Ye shall know that it is I, the God of +Israel and the Ruler of the universe, who speak these +things. In other words, the harmony between prophecy +and providence guarantees the source of the prophet's +message. The shorter phrase <q>Ye shall know that I am +<pb n='076'/><anchor id='Pg076'/> +Jehovah</q> may mean Ye shall know that I who now speak +am truly Jehovah, the God of Israel. The prejudices +of the people would have led them to deny that the +power which dictated Ezekiel's prophecy could be their +God; but this denial, together with the false idea of +Jehovah on which it rests, shall be destroyed for ever +when the prophet's words come true. +</p> + +<p> +There is of course no doubt that Ezekiel conceived +Jehovah as endowed with the plenitude of deity, or that +in his view the name expressed all that we mean by the +word God. Nevertheless, historically the name Jehovah +is a proper name, denoting the God who is the God +of Israel. Renan has ventured on the assertion that a +deity with a proper name is necessarily a false god. The +statement perhaps measures the difference between the +God of revealed religion and the god who is an abstraction, +an expression of the order of the universe, who exists +only in the mind of the man who names him. The God +of revelation is a living person, with a character and will +of His own, capable of being known by man. It is the +distinction of revelation that it dares to regard God as +an individual with an inner life and nature of His own, +independent of the conception men may form of Him. +Applied to such a Being, a personal name may be as true +and significant as the name which expresses the character +and individuality of a man. Only thus can we understand +the historical process by which the God who was first +manifested as the deity of a particular nation preserves +His personal identity with the God who in Christ is at last +revealed as the God of the spirits of all flesh. The knowledge +of Jehovah of which Ezekiel speaks is therefore at +once a knowledge of the character of the God whom Israel +professed to serve, and a knowledge of that which constitutes +true and essential divinity.<note place='foot'>Ezekiel's use of the divine names would hardly be satisfactory to +Renan. Outside of the prophecies addressed to heathen nations the +generic name אלהים is never used absolutely, except in the phrases +<q>visions of God</q> (three times) and <q>spirit of God</q> (once, in ch. xi. 24, +where the text may be doubtful). Elsewhere it is used only of God in +His relation to men, as, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, in the expression <q>be to you for a God.</q> +אל שדי occurs once (ch. x. 5) and אל alone three times in ch. xxviii. +(addressed to the prince of Tyre). The prophet's word, when he wishes +to express absolute divinity, is just the <q>proper</q> name יהוה, in accordance +no doubt with the interpretation given in Exod. iii. 13, 14.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='077'/><anchor id='Pg077'/> + +<p> +3. The prophet, in ch. vi. 8-10, proceeds one step further +in delineating the effect of the judgment on the minds of +the survivors. The fascination of idolatry for the Israelites +is conceived as produced by that radical perversion of +the religious sense which the prophets call <q>whoredom</q>—a +sensuous delight in the blessings of nature, and an +indifference to the moral element which can alone preserve +either religion or human love from corruption. The spell +shall at last be broken in the new knowledge of Jehovah +which is produced by calamity; and the heart of the people, +purified from its delusions, shall turn to Him who has +smitten them, as the only true God. <q>When your fugitives +from the sword are among the nations, when they are +scattered through the lands, then shall your fugitives +remember Me amongst the nations whither they have been +carried captive, when I break their heart that goes +awhoring from Me, and their whorish eyes which went +after their idols.</q> When the idolatrous propensity is thus +eradicated, the conscience of Israel will turn inwards on +itself, and in the light of its new knowledge of God will +for the first time read its own history aright. The +beginnings of a new spiritual life will be made in the +bitter self-condemnation which is one side of the national +repentance. <q>They shall loathe themselves for all the evil +that they have committed in all their abominations.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='078'/><anchor id='Pg078'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter VI. Your House Is Left Unto You Desolate. Chapters viii.-xi.</head> + +<p> +One of the most instructive phases of religious belief +among the Israelites of the seventh century was the +superstitious regard in which the Temple at Jerusalem +was held. Its prestige as the metropolitan sanctuary had +no doubt steadily increased from the time when it was +built. But it was in the crisis of the Assyrian invasion +that the popular sentiment in favour of its peculiar sanctity +was transmuted into a fanatical faith in its inherent +inviolability. It is well known that during the whole +course of this invasion the prophet Isaiah had consistently +taught that the enemy should never set foot within the +precincts of the Holy City—that, on the contrary, the +attempt to seize it would prove to be the signal for his +annihilation. The striking fulfilment of this prediction +in the sudden destruction of Sennacherib's army had an +immense effect on the religion of the time. It restored +the faith in Jehovah's omnipotence which was already +giving way, and it granted a new lease of life to the very +errors which it ought to have extinguished. For here, as +in so many other cases, what was a spiritual faith in one +generation became a superstition in the next. Indifferent +to the divine truths which gave meaning to Isaiah's prophecy, +the people changed his sublime faith in the living +God working in history into a crass confidence in the +material symbol which had been the means of expressing +<pb n='079'/><anchor id='Pg079'/> +it to their minds. Henceforth it became a fundamental +tenet of the current creed that the Temple and the city +which guarded it could never fall into the hands of an +enemy; and any teaching which assailed that belief +was felt to undermine confidence in the national deity. +In the time of Jeremiah and Ezekiel this superstition +existed in unabated vigour, and formed one of the +greatest hindrances to the acceptance of their teaching. +<q>The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the +Temple of the Lord are these!</q> was the cry of the +benighted worshippers as they thronged to its courts to +seek the favour of Jehovah (Jer. vii. 4). The same state +of feeling must have prevailed among Ezekiel's fellow-exiles. +To the prophet himself, attached as he was to +the worship of the Temple, it may have been a thought +almost too hard to bear that Jehovah should abandon the +only place of His legitimate worship. Amongst the rest +of the captives the faith in its infallibility was one of the +illusions which must be overthrown before their minds +could perceive the true drift of his teaching. In his first +prophecy the fact had just been touched on, but merely as +an incident in the fall of Jerusalem. About a year later, +however, he received a new revelation, in which he learned +that the destruction of the Temple was no mere incidental +consequence of the capture of the city, but a main object +of the calamity. The time was come when judgment +must begin at the house of God. +</p> + +<p> +The weird vision in which this truth was conveyed to +the prophet is said to have occurred during a visit of the +elders to Ezekiel in his own house. In their presence he +fell into a trance, in which the events now to be considered +passed before him; and after the trance was removed he +recounted the substance of the vision to the exiles. This +statement has been somewhat needlessly called in question, +on the ground that after so protracted an ecstasy the +<pb n='080'/><anchor id='Pg080'/> +prophet would not be likely to find his visitors still in +their places. But this matter-of-fact criticism overreaches +itself. We have no means of determining how long it +would take for this series of events to be realised. If we +may trust anything to the analogy of dreams—and of all +conditions to which ordinary men are subject the dream +is surely the closest analogy to the prophetic ecstasy—the +whole may have passed in an incredibly short space of +time. If the statement were untrue, it is difficult to see +what Ezekiel would have gained by making it. If the +whole vision were a fiction, this must of course be fictitious +too; but even so it seems a very superfluous piece of +invention. +</p> + +<p> +We prefer, therefore, to regard the vision as real, and +the assigned situation as historical; and the fact that it +is recorded suggests that there must be some connection +between the object of the visit and the burden of the +revelation which was then communicated. It is not difficult +to imagine points of contact between them. Ewald +has conjectured that the occasion of the visit may have +been some recent tidings from Jerusalem which had +opened the eyes of the <q>elders</q> to the real relation that +existed between them and their brethren at home. If +they had ever cherished any illusions on the point, they +had certainly been disabused of them before Ezekiel had +this vision. They were aware, whether the information +was recent or not, that they were absolutely disowned +by the new authorities in Jerusalem, and that it was +impossible that they should ever come back peaceably +to their old place in the state. This created a problem +which they could not solve, and the fact that Ezekiel had +announced the fall of Jerusalem may have formed a bond +of sympathy between him and his brethren in exile which +drew them to him in their perplexity. Some such hypothesis +gives at all events a fuller significance to the closing +<pb n='081'/><anchor id='Pg081'/> +part of the vision, where the attitude of the men in +Jerusalem is described, and where the exiles are taught +that the hope of Israel's future lies with them. It is the +first time that Ezekiel has distinguished between the fates +in store for the two sections of the people, and it would +almost appear as if the promotion of the exiles to the +first place in the true Israel was a new revelation to him. +Twice during this vision he is moved to intercede for the +<q>remnant of Israel,</q> as if the only hope of a new people +of God lay in sparing at least some of those who were +left in the land. But the burden of the message that +now comes to him is that in the spiritual sense the true +remnant of Israel is not in Judæa, but among the exiles in +Babylon. It was there that the new Israel was to be +formed, and the land was to be the heritage, not of those +who clung to it and exulted in the misfortunes of their +banished brethren, but of those who under the discipline +of exile were first prepared to use the land as Jehovah's +holiness demanded. +</p> + +<p> +The vision is interesting, in the first place, on account +of the glimpse it affords of the state of mind prevailing +in influential circles in Jerusalem at this time. There is +no reason whatever to doubt that here in the form of a +vision we have reliable information regarding the actual +state of matters when Ezekiel wrote. It has been supposed +by some critics that the description of the idolatries +in the Temple does not refer to contemporary practices, +but to abuses that had been rife in the days of Manasseh +and had been put a stop to by Josiah's reformation. But +the vision loses half its meaning if it is taken as merely +an idealised representation of all the sins that had polluted +the Temple in the course of its history. The names of +those who are seen must be names of living men known +to Ezekiel and his contemporaries, and the sentiments put +in their mouth, especially in the latter part of the vision, +<pb n='082'/><anchor id='Pg082'/> +are suitable only to the age in which he lived. It is very +probable that the description in its general features would +<emph>also</emph> apply to the days of Manasseh; but the revival of +idolatry which followed the death of Josiah would naturally +take the form of a restoration of the illegal cults which +had flourished unchecked under his grandfather. Ezekiel's +own experience before his captivity, and the steady intercourse +which had been maintained since, would supply +him with the material which in the ecstatic condition is +wrought up into this powerful picture. +</p> + +<p> +The thing that surprises us most is the prevailing +conviction amongst the ruling classes that <q>Jehovah had +forsaken the land.</q> These men seem to have partly +emancipated themselves, as politicians in Israel were apt +to do, from the restraints and narrowness of the popular +religion. To them it was a conceivable thing that +Jehovah should abandon His people. And yet life was +worth living and fighting for apart from Jehovah. It was +of course a merely selfish life, not inspired by national +ideals, but simply a clinging to place and power. The +wish was father to the thought; men who so readily +yielded to the belief in Jehovah's absence were very +willing to be persuaded of its truth. The religion of +Jehovah had always imposed a check on social and civic +wrong, and men whose power rested on violence and +oppression could not but rejoice to be rid of it. So they +seem to have acquiesced readily enough in the conclusion +to which so many circumstances seemed to point, that +Jehovah had ceased to interest Himself either for good or +evil in them and their affairs. Still, the wide acceptance +of a belief like this, so repugnant to all the religious ideas +of the ancient world, seems to require for its explanation +some fact of contemporary history. It has been thought +that it arose from the disappearance of the ark of Jehovah +from the Temple. It seems from the third chapter of +<pb n='083'/><anchor id='Pg083'/> +Jeremiah that the ark was no longer in existence in +Josiah's reign, and that the want of it was felt as a grave +religious loss. It is not improbable that this circumstance, +in connection with the disasters which had marked the last +days of the kingdom, led in many minds to the fear and +in some to the hope that along with His most venerable +symbol Jehovah Himself had vanished from their midst. +</p> + +<p> +It should be noticed that the feeling described was +only one of several currents that ran in the divided +society of Jerusalem. It is quite a different point of view +that is presented in the taunt quoted in ch. xi. 15, that +the exiles were far from Jehovah, and had therefore lost +their right to their possessions. But the religious despair +is not only the most startling fact that we have to look +at; it is also the one that is made most prominent in +the vision. And the divine answer to it given through +Ezekiel is that the conviction is true; Jehovah <emph>has</emph> +forsaken the land. But in the first place the cause of +His departure is found in those very practices for which +it was made the excuse; and in the second, although +He has ceased to dwell in the midst of His people, He +has lost neither the power nor the will to punish their +iniquities. To impress these truths first on his fellow-exiles +and then on the whole nation is the chief object of +the chapter before us. +</p> + +<p> +Now we find that the general sense of God-forsakenness +expressed itself principally in two directions. On the one +hand it led to the multiplication of false objects of worship +to supply the place of Him who was regarded as the +proper tutelary Divinity of Israel; on the other hand it +produced a reckless, devil-may-care spirit of resistance +against any odds, such as was natural to men who +had only material interests to fight for, and nothing to +trust in but their own right hand. Syncretism in religion +and fatalism in politics—these were the twin symptoms +<pb n='084'/><anchor id='Pg084'/> +of the decay of faith among the upper classes in Jerusalem. +But these belong to two different parts of the +vision which we must now distinguish. +</p> + +<div> +<head>I</head> + +<p> +The first part deals with the departure of Jehovah as +caused by religious offences perpetrated in the Temple, +and with the return of Jehovah to destroy the city on +account of these offences. The prophet is transported +in <q>visions of God</q> to Jerusalem, and placed in the +outer court near the northern gate, outside of which +was the site where the <q>image of Jealousy</q> had stood +in the time of Manasseh. Near him stands the appearance +which he had learned to recognise as the glory of +Jehovah, signifying that Jehovah has, for a purpose not +yet disclosed, revisited His Temple. But first Ezekiel +must be made to see the state of things which exists in +this Temple which had once been the seat of God's +presence. Looking through the gate to the north, he +discovers that the image of Jealousy<note place='foot'>Of what nature this idolatrous symbol was we cannot certainly +determine. The word used for <q>image</q> (<foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>semel</foreign>) occurs in only two other +passages. The writer of the books of Chronicles uses it of the <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>asherah</foreign> +which was set up by Manasseh in the Temple, and it is possible that +he means thus to identify that object with what Ezekiel saw (cf. 2 Chron. +xxxiii. 7, and 2 Kings xxi. 7). This interpretation is as satisfactory as +any that has been proposed.</note> has been restored to +its old place. This is the first and apparently the least +heinous of the abominations that defiled the sanctuary. +</p> + +<p> +The second scene is the only one of the four which +represents a secret cult. Partly perhaps for that reason +it strikes our minds as the most repulsive of all; but that +was obviously not Ezekiel's estimate of it. There are +greater abominations to follow. It is difficult to understand +the particulars of Ezekiel's description, especially +<pb n='085'/><anchor id='Pg085'/> +in the Hebrew text (the LXX. is simpler); but it seems +impossible to escape the impression that there was something +obscene in a worship where idolatry appears as +ashamed of itself. The essential fact, however, is that +the very highest and most influential men in the land +were addicted to a form of heathenism, whose objects +of worship were pictures of <q>horrid creeping things, +and cattle, and all the gods of the house of Israel.</q> +The name of one of these men, the leader in this superstition, +is given, and is significant of the state of life +in Jerusalem shortly before its fall. Jaazaniah was +the son of Shaphan, who is probably identical with the +chancellor of Josiah's reign whose sympathy with the +prophetic teaching was evinced by his zeal in the cause +of reform. We read of other members of the family +who were faithful to the national religion, such as his +son Ahikam, also a zealous reformer, and his grandson +Gedaliah, Jeremiah's friend and patron, and the governor +appointed over Judah by Nebuchadnezzar after the +taking of the city. The family was thus divided both +in religion and politics. While one branch was devoted +to the worship of Jehovah and favoured submission to +the king of Babylon, Jaazaniah belonged to the opposite +party and was the ringleader in a peculiarly obnoxious +form of idolatry.<note place='foot'>The nature of the cults is best explained by Professor Robertson +Smith, who supposes that they are a survival of aboriginal totemistic +superstitions which had been preserved in secret circles till now, but +suddenly assumed a new importance with the collapse of the national +religion and the belief that Jehovah had left the land. Others, however, +have thought that it is Egyptian rites which are referred to. This view +might best explain its prevalence among the elders, but it has little +positive support.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The third <q>abomination</q> is a form of idolatry widely +diffused over Western Asia—the annual mourning for +Tammuz. Tammuz was originally a Babylonian deity +<pb n='086'/><anchor id='Pg086'/> +(Dumuzi), but his worship is specially identified with +Phœnicia, whence under the name Adonis it was introduced +into Greece. The mourning celebrates the death of +the god, which is an emblem of the decay of the earth's +productive powers, whether due to the scorching heat of +the sun or to the cold of winter. It seems to have been +a comparatively harmless rite of nature-religion, and its +popularity among the women of Jerusalem at this time +may be due to the prevailing mood of despondency which +found vent in the sympathetic contemplation of that aspect +of nature which most suggests decay and death. +</p> + +<p> +The last and greatest of the abominations practised in +and near the Temple is the worship of the sun. The +peculiar enormity of this species of idolatry can hardly lie +in the object of adoration; it is to be sought rather in the +place where it was practised, and in the rank of those +who took part in it, who were probably priests. Standing +between the porch and the altar, with their backs to the +Temple, these men unconsciously expressed the deliberate +rejection of Jehovah which was involved in their idolatry. +The worship of the heavenly bodies was probably imported +into Israel from Assyria and Babylon, and its prevalence +in the later years of the monarchy was due to political +rather than religious influences. The gods of these imperial +nations were esteemed more potent than those of +the states which succumbed to their power, and hence +men who were losing confidence in their national deity +naturally sought to imitate the religions of the most +powerful peoples known to them.<note place='foot'>It has been supposed, however, that the sun-worship referred to +here is of Persian origin, chiefly because of the obscure expression in +ver. 17: <q>Behold they put the twig to their nose.</q> This has been +explained by a Persian custom of holding up a branch before the face, lest +the breath of the worshipper should contaminate the purity of the deity. +But Persia had not yet played any great part in history, and it is hardly +credible that a distinctively Persian custom should have found its way +into the ritual of Jerusalem. Moreover, the words do not occur in the +description of the sun-worshippers, nor do they refer particularly to +them.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In the arrangement of the four specimens of the religious +<pb n='087'/><anchor id='Pg087'/> +practices which prevailed in Jerusalem, Ezekiel +seems to proceed from the most familiar and explicable to +the more outlandish defections from the purity of the +national faith. At the same time his description shows +how different classes of society were implicated in the +sin of idolatry—the elders, the women, and the priests. +During all this time the glory of Jehovah has stood in +the court, and there is something very impressive in the +picture of these infatuated men and women preoccupied +with their unholy devotions and all unconscious of the +presence of Him whom they deemed to have forsaken +the land. To the open eye of the prophet the meaning +of the vision must be already clear, but the sentence +comes from the mouth of Jehovah Himself: <q>Hast thou +seen, Son of man? Is it too small a thing for the house +of Judah to practise the abominations which they have +here practised, that they must also fill the land with +violence, and [so] provoke Me again to anger? So will I +act towards them in anger: My eye shall not pity, nor +will I spare</q> (ch. viii. 17, 18). +</p> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<p> +The last words introduce the account of the punishment +of Jerusalem, which is given of course in the symbolic +form suggested by the scenery of the vision. Jehovah +has meanwhile risen from His throne near the cherubim, +and stands on the threshold of the Temple. There He +summons to His side the destroyers who are to execute +His purpose—six angels, each with a weapon of destruction +in his hand. A seventh of higher rank clothed in linen +appears with the implements of a scribe in his girdle. These +<pb n='088'/><anchor id='Pg088'/> +stand <q>beside the brazen altar,</q> and await the commands +of Jehovah. The first act of the judgment is a massacre +of the inhabitants of the city, without distinction of age +or rank or sex. But, in accordance with his strict view +of the divine righteousness, Ezekiel is led to conceive +of this last judgment as discriminating carefully between +the righteous and the wicked. All those who have +inwardly separated themselves from the guilt of the city +by hearty detestation of the iniquities perpetrated in its +midst are distinguished by a mark on their foreheads +before the work of slaughter begins. What became of +this faithful remnant it does not belong to the vision to +declare. Beginning with the twenty men before the porch, +the destroying angels follow the man with the inkhorn +through the streets of the city, and slay all on whom he +has not set his mark. When the messengers have gone +out on their dread errand, Ezekiel, realising the full horror +of a scene which he dare not describe, falls prostrate before +Jehovah, deprecating the outbreak of indignation which +threatened to extinguish <q>the remnant of Israel.</q> He is +reassured by the declaration that the guilt of Judah and +Israel demands no less a punishment than this, because +the notion that Jehovah had forsaken the land had opened +the floodgates of iniquity, and filled the land with bloodshed +and the city with oppression. Then the man in +the linen robes returns and announces, <q>It is done as +Thou hast commanded.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The second act of the judgment is the destruction of +Jerusalem by fire. This is symbolised by the scattering +over the city of burning coals taken from the altar-hearth +under the throne of God. The man with the linen +garments is directed to step between the wheels and take +out fire for this purpose. The description of the execution +of this order is again carried no further than what actually +takes place before the prophet's eyes: the man took the +<pb n='089'/><anchor id='Pg089'/> +fire and went out. In the place where we might have +expected to have an account of the destruction of the city, +we have a second description of the appearance and +motions of the <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>merkaba</foreign>, the purpose of which it is +difficult to divine. Although it deviates slightly from +the account in ch. i., the differences appear to have no +significance, and indeed it is expressly said to be the +same phenomenon. The whole passage is certainly superfluous, +and might be omitted but for the difficulty of +imagining any motive that would have tempted a scribe +to insert it. We must keep in mind the possibility that +this part of the book had been committed to writing before +the final redaction of Ezekiel's prophecies, and the description +in vv. 8-17 may have served a purpose there which +is superseded by the fuller narrative which we now possess +in ch. i. +</p> + +<p> +In this way Ezekiel penetrates more deeply into the +inner meaning of the judgment on city and people whose +external form he had announced in his earlier prophecy. +It must be admitted that Jehovah's strange work bears to +our minds a more appalling aspect when thus presented +in symbols than the actual calamity would bear when +effected through the agency of second causes. Whether +it had the same effect on the mind of a Hebrew, who +hardly believed in second causes, is another question. +In any case it gives no ground for the charge made +against Ezekiel of dwelling with a malignant satisfaction +on the most repulsive features of a terrible picture. He +is indeed capable of a rigorous logic in exhibiting the +incidence of the law of retribution which was to him +the necessary expression of the divine righteousness. +That it included the death of every sinner and the overthrow +of a city that had become a scene of violence and +cruelty was to him a self-evident truth, and more than +this the vision does not teach. On the contrary, it +<pb n='090'/><anchor id='Pg090'/> +contains traits which tend to moderate the inevitable +harshness of the truth conveyed. With great reticence +it allows the execution of the judgment to take +place behind the scenes, giving only those details which +were necessary to suggest its nature. Whilst it is being +carried out the attention of the reader is engaged in the +presence of Jehovah, or his mind is occupied with the +principles which made the punishment a moral necessity. +The prophet's expostulations with Jehovah show that +he was not insensible to the miseries of his people, +although he saw them to be inevitable. Further, this +vision shows as clearly as any passage in his writings +the injustice of the view which represents him as more +concerned for petty details of ceremonial than for the +great moral interests of a nation. If any feeling expressed +in the vision is to be regarded as Ezekiel's own, +then indignation against outrages on human life and +liberty must be allowed to weigh more with him than +offences against ritual purity. And, finally, it is clearly +one object of the vision to show that in the destruction +of Jerusalem no individual shall be involved who is not +also implicated in the guilt which calls down wrath upon +her. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II</head> + +<p> +The second part of the vision (ch. xi.) is but loosely +connected with the first. Here Jerusalem still exists, +and men are alive who must certainly have perished in +the <q>visitation of the city</q> if the writer had still kept +himself within the limits of his previous conception. But +in truth the two have little in common, except the Temple, +which is the scene of both, and the cherubim, whose +movements mark the transition from the one to the +other. The glory of Jehovah is already departing +from the house when it is stayed at the entrance of the +<pb n='091'/><anchor id='Pg091'/> +east gate to give the prophet his special message to the +exiles. +</p> + +<p> +Here we are introduced to the more political aspect of +the situation in Jerusalem. The twenty-five men who are +gathered in the east gate of the Temple are clearly the +leading statesmen in the city; and two of them, whose +names are given, are expressly designated as <q>princes +of the people.</q> They are apparently met in conclave to +deliberate on public matters, and a word from Jehovah +lays open to the prophet the nature of their projects. +<q>These are the men that plan ruin, and hold evil counsel +in this city.</q> The evil counsel is undoubtedly the project +of rebellion against the king of Babylon which must +have been hatched at this time and which broke out into +open revolt about three years later. The counsel was +evil because directly opposed to that which Jeremiah was +giving at the time in the name of Jehovah. But Ezekiel +also throws invaluable light on the mood of the men who +were urging the king along the path which led to ruin. +<q>Are not the houses recently built?</q><note place='foot'>Following the LXX.</note> they say, congratulating +themselves on their success in repairing the damage +done to the city in the time of Jehoiachin. The image +of the pot and the flesh is generally taken to express the +feeling of easy security in the fortifications of Jerusalem +with which these light-hearted politicians embarked on a +contest with Nebuchadnezzar. But their mood must be +a gloomier one than that if there is any appropriateness +in the language they use. To stew in their own juice, +and over a fire of their own kindling, could hardly seem +a desirable policy to sane men, however strong the pot +might be. These councillors are well aware of the dangers +they incur, and of the misery which their purpose must +necessarily bring on the people. But they are determined +to hazard everything and endure everything on the chance +<pb n='092'/><anchor id='Pg092'/> +that the city may prove strong enough to baffle the +resources of the king of Babylon. Once the fire is +kindled, it will certainly be better to be in the pot than +in the fire; and so long as Jerusalem holds out they will +remain behind her walls. The answer which is put into +the prophet's mouth is that the issue will not be such as +they hope for. The only <q>flesh</q> that will be left in the +city will be the dead bodies of those who have been slain +within her walls by the very men who hope that their +lives will be given them for a prey. They themselves +shall be dragged forth to meet their fate far away from +Jerusalem on the <q>borders of Israel.</q> It is not unlikely +that these conspirators kept their word. Although the +king and all the men of war fled from the city as soon +as a breach was made, we read of certain high officials +who allowed themselves to be taken in the city (Jer. lii. 7). +Ezekiel's prophecy was in their case literally fulfilled; +for these men and many others were brought to the king +of Babylon at Riblah, <q>and he smote them and put them +to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath.</q> +</p> + +<p> +While Ezekiel was uttering this prophecy one of the +councillors, named Pelatiah, suddenly fell down dead. +Whether a man of this name had suddenly died in Jerusalem +under circumstances that had deeply impressed the +prophet's mind, or whether the death belongs to the vision, +it is impossible for us to tell. To Ezekiel the occurrence +seemed an earnest of the complete destruction of the remnant +of Israel by the wrath of God, and, as before, he fell +on his face to intercede for them. It is then that he +receives the message which seems to form the divine +answer to the perplexities which haunted the minds of the +exiles in Babylon. +</p> + +<p> +In their attitude towards the exiles the new leaders in +Jerusalem took up a position as highly privileged religious +persons, quite at variance with the scepticism which +<pb n='093'/><anchor id='Pg093'/> +governed their conduct at home. When they were following +the bent of their natural inclinations by practising +idolatry and perpetrating judicial murders in the city, +their cry was, <q>Jehovah hath forsaken the land; Jehovah +seeth it not.</q> When they were eager to justify their +claim to the places and possessions left vacant by their +banished countrymen, they said, <q>They are far from +Jehovah: to us the land is given in possession.</q> They +were probably equally sincere and equally insincere in +both professions. They had simply learned the art which +comes easily to men of the world of using religion as a +cloak for greed, and throwing it off when greed could be +best gratified without it. The idea which lay under their +religious attitude was that the exiles had gone into captivity +because their sins had incurred Jehovah's anger, and +that now His wrath was exhausted and the blessing of His +favour would rest on those who had been left in the land. +There was sufficient plausibility in the taunt to make it +peculiarly galling to the mind of the exiles, who had +hoped to exercise some influence over the government in +Jerusalem, and to find their places kept for them when +they should be permitted to return. It may well have +been the resentment produced by tidings of this hostility +towards them in Jerusalem that brought their elders to +the house of Ezekiel to see if he had not some message +from Jehovah to reassure them. +</p> + +<p> +In the mind of Ezekiel, however, the problem took +another form. To him a return to the old Jerusalem had +no meaning; neither buyer nor seller should have cause to +congratulate himself on his position. The possession of +the land of Israel belonged to those in whom Jehovah's +ideal of the new Israel was realised, and the only question +of religious importance was, Where is the germ of this new +Israel to be found? Amongst those who survive the +judgment in the old land, or amongst those who have +<pb n='094'/><anchor id='Pg094'/> +experienced it in the form of banishment? On this point +the prophet receives an explicit revelation in answer to +his intercession for <q>the remnant of Israel.</q> <q>Son of +man, thy brethren, thy brethren, thy fellow-captives, and +the whole house of Israel of whom the inhabitants of +Jerusalem have said, They are far from Jehovah: to us +it is given—the land for an inheritance!... Because I +have removed them far among the nations, and have +scattered them among the lands, and have been to them +but little of a sanctuary in the lands where they have +gone, therefore say, Thus saith Jehovah, so will I gather +you from the peoples, and bring you from the lands where +ye have been scattered, and will give you the land of +Israel.</q> The difficult expression <q>I have been but little +of a sanctuary</q> refers to the curtailment of religious +privileges and means of access to Jehovah which was +a necessary consequence of exile. It implies, however, +that Israel in banishment had learned in some measure +to preserve that separation from other peoples and that +peculiar relation to Jehovah which constituted its national +holiness. Religion perhaps perishes sooner from the overgrowth +of ritual than from its deficiency. It is an historical +fact that the very meagreness of the religion which could +be practised in exile was the means of strengthening the +more spiritual and permanent elements which constitute +the essence of religion. The observances which could be +maintained apart from the Temple acquired an importance +which they never afterwards lost; and although some +of these, such as circumcision, the Passover, the abstinence +from forbidden food, were purely ceremonial, others, such +as prayer, reading of the Scriptures, and the common +worship of the synagogue, represent the purest and most +indispensable forms in which communion with God can +find expression. That Jehovah Himself became even in +small measure what the word <q>sanctuary</q> denotes indicates +<pb n='095'/><anchor id='Pg095'/> +an enrichment of the religious consciousness of +which perhaps Ezekiel himself did not perceive the full +import. +</p> + +<p> +The great lesson which Ezekiel's message seeks to +impress on his hearers is that the tenure of the land +of Israel depends on religious conditions. The land is +Jehovah's, and He bestows it on those who are prepared +to use it as His holiness demands. A pure land inhabited +by a pure people is the ideal that underlies all Ezekiel's +visions of the future. It is evident that in such a conception +of the relation between God and His people ceremonial +conditions must occupy a conspicuous place. The +sanctity of the land is necessarily of a ceremonial order, +and so the sanctity of the people must consist partly in a +scrupulous regard for ceremonial requirements. But after +all the condition of the land with respect to purity or +uncleanness only reflects the character of the nation +whose home it is. The things that defile a land are such +things as idols and other emblems of heathenism, innocent +blood unavenged, and unnatural crimes of various kinds. +These things derive their whole significance from the state +of mind and heart which they embody; they are the plain +and palpable emblems of human sin. It is conceivable +that to some minds the outward emblems may have +seemed the true seat of evil, and their removal an end +in itself apart from the direction of the will by which it +was brought about. But it would be a mistake to charge +Ezekiel with any such obliquity of moral vision. Although +he conceives sin as a defilement that leaves its mark on +the material world, he clearly teaches that its essence lies +in the opposition of the human will to the will of God. The +ceremonial purity required of every Israelite is only the +expression of certain aspects of Jehovah's holy nature, the +bearing of which on man's spiritual life may have been +obscure to the prophet, and is still more obscure to us. And +<pb n='096'/><anchor id='Pg096'/> +the truly valuable element in compliance with such rules +was the obedience to Jehovah's expressed will which flowed +from a nature in sympathy with His. Hence in this +chapter, while the first thing that the restored exiles have +to do is to cleanse the land of its abominations, this act will +be the expression of a nature radically changed, doing the +will of God from the heart. As the emblems of idolatry +that defile the land were the outcome of an irresistible +national tendency to evil, so the new and sensitive spirit, +taking on the impress of Jehovah's holiness through the +law, shall lead to the purification of the land from those +things that had provoked the eyes of His glory. <q>They +shall come thither, and remove thence all its detestable +things and all its abominations. And I will give them +another heart, and put a new spirit within them. I will +take away the stony heart from their flesh, and give them +a heart of flesh: that they may walk in My statutes, and +keep My judgments, and do them: and so shall they be +My people, and I will be their God</q> (ch. xi. 18-20). +</p> + +<p> +Thus in the mind of the prophet Jerusalem and its +Temple are already virtually destroyed. He seemed to +linger in the Temple court until he saw the chariot of +Jehovah withdrawn from the city as a token that the +glory had departed from Israel. Then the ecstasy passed +away, and he found himself in the presence of the men +to whom the hope of the future had been offered, but who +were as yet unworthy to receive it. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='097'/><anchor id='Pg097'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter VII. The End Of The Monarchy. Chapters xii. 1-15, xvii., xix.</head> + +<p> +In spite of the interest excited by Ezekiel's prophetic +appearances, the exiles still received his prediction +of the fall of Jerusalem with the most stolid incredulity. +It proved to be an impossible task to disabuse their minds +of the prepossessions which made such an event absolutely +incredible. True to their character as a disobedient +house, they had <q>eyes to see, and saw not; and ears to +hear, but heard not</q> (ch. xii. 2). They were intensely +interested in the strange signs he performed, and listened +with pleasure to his fervid oratory; but the inner meaning +of it all never sank into their minds. Ezekiel was +well aware that the cause of this obtuseness lay in the +false ideals which nourished an overweening confidence +in the destiny of their nation. And these ideals were +the more difficult to destroy because they each contained +an element of truth, so interwoven with the falsehood +that to the mind of the people the true and the false stood +and fell together. If the great vision of chs. viii.-xi. had +accomplished its purpose, it would doubtless have taken +away the main support of these delusive imaginations. +But the belief in the indestructibility of the Temple was +only one of a number of roots through which the vain +confidence of the nation was fed; and so long as any of +these remained the people's sense of security was likely +<pb n='098'/><anchor id='Pg098'/> +to remain. These spurious ideals, therefore, Ezekiel sets +himself with characteristic thoroughness to demolish one +after another. +</p> + +<p> +This appears to be in the main the purpose of the +third subdivision of his prophecies on which we now enter. +It extends from ch. xii. to ch. xix.; and in so far as it +can be taken to represent a phase of his actual spoken +ministry, it must be assigned to the fifth year before the +capture of Jerusalem (August 591-August 590 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi>). But +since the passage is an exposition of ideas more than a +narrative of experiences we may expect to find that +chronological consistency has been even less observed +than in the earlier part of the book. Each idea is +presented in the completeness which it finally possessed +in the prophet's mind, and his allusions may anticipate +a state of things which had not actually arisen till a +somewhat later date. Beginning with a description and +interpretation of two symbolic actions intended to impress +more vividly on the people the certainty of the impending +catastrophe, the prophet proceeds in a series of set discourses +to expose the hollowness of the illusions which +his fellow-exiles cherished, such as disbelief in prophecies +of evil, faith in the destiny of Israel, veneration for the +Davidic kingdom, and reliance on the solidarity of the +nation in sin and in judgment. These are the principal +topics which the course of exposition will bring before +us, and in dealing with them it will be convenient to +depart from the order in which they stand in the book +and adopt an arrangement according to subject. By so +doing we run the risk of missing the order of the ideas +as it presented itself to the prophet's mind, and of ignoring +the remarkable skill with which the transition from one +theme to another is frequently effected. But if we have +rightly understood the scope of the passage as a whole, +this will not prevent us from grasping the substance of +<pb n='099'/><anchor id='Pg099'/> +his teaching or its bearing on the final message which he +had to deliver. In the present chapter we shall accordingly +group together three passages which deal with the fate +of the monarchy, and especially of Zedekiah, the last king +of Judah. +</p> + +<p> +That reverence for the royal house would form an +obstacle to the acceptance of such teaching as Ezekiel's +was to be expected from all we know of the popular +feeling on this subject. The fact that the few royal assassinations +which stain the annals of Judah were sooner +or later avenged by the people shows that the monarchy +was regarded as a pillar of the state, and that great +importance was attached to the possession of a dynasty +which perpetuated the glories of David's reign. And there +is one verse in the book of Lamentations which expresses +the anguish which the fall of the kingdom caused to godly +men in Israel, although its representative was so unworthy +of his office as Zedekiah: <q>The breath of our nostrils, +the anointed of Jehovah, was taken in their pits, of whom +we said, Under his shadow shall we live among the +nations</q> (Lam. iv. 20). So long therefore as a descendant +of David sat on the throne of Jerusalem it would seem +the duty of every patriotic Israelite to remain true to him. +The continuance of the monarchy would seem to guarantee +the existence of the state; the prestige of Zedekiah's +position as the anointed of Jehovah, and the heir of David's +covenant, would warrant the hope that even yet Jehovah +would intervene to save an institution of His own creating. +Indeed, we can see from Ezekiel's own pages that the +historic monarchy in Israel was to him an object of the +highest veneration and regard. He speaks of its dignity +in terms whose very exaggeration shows how largely the +fact bulked in his imagination. He compares it to the +noblest of the wild beasts of the earth and the most lordly +tree of the forest. But his contention is that this +<pb n='100'/><anchor id='Pg100'/> +monarchy no longer exists. Except in one doubtful +passage, he never applies the title king (<foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>melek</foreign>) to Zedekiah. +The kingdom came to an end with the deportation of +Jehoiachin, the last king who ascended the throne in +legitimate succession. The present holder of the office is +in no sense king by divine right; he is a creature and +vassal of Nebuchadnezzar, and has no rights against his +suzerain.<note place='foot'>It is noteworthy that in the dirge of ch. xix. Ezekiel ignores the +reign of Jehoiakim. Is this because he too owed his elevation to the +intervention of a foreign power?</note> His very name had been changed by the +caprice of his master. As a religious symbol, therefore, +the royal power is defunct; the glory has departed from +it as surely as from the Temple. The makeshift administration +organised under Zedekiah had a peaceful if inglorious +future before it, if it were content to recognise +facts and adapt itself to its humble position. But if it +should attempt to raise its head and assert itself as an +independent kingdom, it would only seal its own doom. +And for men in Chaldæa to transfer to this shadow of +kingly dignity the allegiance due to the heir of David's +house was a waste of devotion as little demanded by +patriotism as by prudence. +</p> + +<div> +<head>I</head> + +<p> +The first of the passages in which the fate of the +monarchy is foretold requires little to be said by way of +explanation. It is a symbolic action of the kind with +which we are now familiar, exhibiting the certainty of the +fate in store both for the people and the king. The +prophet again becomes a <q>sign</q> or portent to the people—this +time in a character which every one of his audience +understood from recent experience. He is seen by daylight +collecting <q>articles of captivity</q>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, such necessary +<pb n='101'/><anchor id='Pg101'/> +articles as a person going into exile would try to take +with him—and bringing them out to the door of his house. +Then at dusk he breaks through the wall with his goods +on his shoulder; and, with face muffled, he removes <q>to +another place.</q> In this sign we have again two different +facts indicated by a series of not entirely congruous +actions. The mere act of carrying out his most necessary +furniture and removing from one place to another suggests +quite unambiguously the captivity that awaits the +inhabitants of Jerusalem. But the accessories of the +action, such as breaking through the wall, the muffling +of the face, and the doing of all this by night, point to +quite a different event—viz., Zedekiah's attempt to break +through the Chaldæan lines by night, his capture, his +blindness, and his imprisonment in Babylon. The most +remarkable thing in the sign is the circumstantial manner +in which the details of the king's flight and capture are +anticipated so long before the event. Zedekiah, as we +read in the second book of Kings, as soon as a breach +was made in the walls by the Chaldæans, broke out with a +small party of horsemen, and succeeded in reaching the +plain of Jordan. There he was overtaken and caught, +and sent before Nebuchadnezzar's presence at Riblah. +The Babylonian king punished his perfidy with a cruelty +common enough amongst the Assyrian kings: he caused +his eyes to be put out, and sent him thus to end his days +in prison at Babylon. All this is so clearly hinted at in +the signs that the whole representation is often set aside +as a prophecy after the event. That is hardly probable, +because the sign does not bear the marks of having been +originally conceived with the view of exhibiting the details +of Zedekiah's punishment. But since we know that the +book was written after the event, it is a perfectly fair +question whether in the interpretation of the symbols +Ezekiel may not have read into it a fuller meaning than +<pb n='102'/><anchor id='Pg102'/> +was present to his own mind at the time. Thus the +covering of his head does not necessarily suggest anything +more than the king's attempt to disguise his +person.<note place='foot'>Especially if we read ver. 12, as in LXX., <q>That he may not be seen +by any eye, and he shall not see the earth.</q></note> Possibly this was all that Ezekiel originally +meant by it. When the event took place he perceived +a further meaning in it as an allusion to the blindness +inflicted on the king, and introduced this into the explanation +given of the symbol. The point of it lies in the +degradation of the king through his being reduced to such +an ignominious method of securing his personal safety. +<q>The prince that is among them shall bear upon his +shoulder in the darkness, and shall go forth: they shall +dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover +his face, that he may not be seen by any eye, and he +himself shall not see the earth</q> (ch. xii. 12). +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II</head> + +<p> +In ch. xvii. the fate of the monarchy is dealt with at +greater length under the form of an allegory. The kingdom +of Judah is represented as a cedar in Lebanon—a +comparison which shows how exalted were Ezekiel's +conceptions of the dignity of the old regime which had +now passed away. But the leading shoot of the tree has +been cropped off by a great, broad-winged, speckled eagle, +the king of Babylon, and carried away to a <q>land of +traffic, a city of merchants.</q><note place='foot'>By this name for Chaldæa Ezekiel seems to express his contempt +for the commercial activity which formed so large an element in the +greatness of Babylon (ch. xvi. 29 R.V.), perhaps also his sense of the +uncongenial environment in which the disinherited king and the nobility +of Judah now found themselves.</note> The insignificance of Zedekiah's +government is indicated by a harsh contrast which +<pb n='103'/><anchor id='Pg103'/> +almost breaks the consistency of the figure. In place of +the cedar which he has spoiled the eagle plants a low +vine trailing on the ground, such as may be seen in +Palestine at the present day. His intention was that +<q>its branches should extend towards him and its roots +be under him</q>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, that the new principality should derive +all its strength from Babylon and yield all its produce to +the power which nourished it. For a time all went well. +The vine answered the expectations of its owner, and +prospered under the favourable conditions which he had +provided for it. But another great eagle appeared on the +scene, the king of Egypt, and the ungrateful vine began +to send out its roots and turn its branches in his direction. +The meaning is obvious: Zedekiah had sent +presents to Egypt and sought its help, and by so doing +had violated the conditions of his tenure of royal power. +Such a policy could not prosper. <q>The bed where it was +planted</q> was in possession of Nebuchadnezzar, and he +could not tolerate there a state, however feeble, which +employed the resources with which he had endowed it +to further the interests of his rival, Hophra, the king +of Egypt. Its destruction shall come from the quarter +whence it derived its origin: <q>when the east wind smites +it, it shall wither in the furrow where it grew.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Throughout this passage Ezekiel shows that he possessed +in full measure that penetration and detachment +from local prejudices which all the prophets exhibit when +dealing with political affairs. The interpretation of the +riddle contains a statement of Nebuchadnezzar's policy in +his dealings with Judah, whose impartial accuracy could +not be improved on by the most disinterested historian. +The carrying away of the Judæan king and aristocracy +was a heavy blow to religious susceptibilities which +Ezekiel fully shared, and its severity was not mitigated +by the arrogant assumptions by which it was explained +<pb n='104'/><anchor id='Pg104'/> +in Jerusalem. Yet here he shows himself capable of +contemplating it as a measure of Babylonian statesmanship +and of doing absolute justice to the motives by which it +was dictated. Nebuchadnezzar's purpose was to establish +a petty state unable to raise itself to independence, and +one on whose fidelity to his empire he could rely. Ezekiel +lays great stress on the solemn formalities by which the +great king had bound his vassal to his allegiance: <q>He +took of the royal seed, and made a covenant with him, and +brought him under a curse; and the strong ones of the +land he took away: that it might be a lowly kingdom, +not able to lift itself up, to keep his covenant that it +might stand</q> (vv. 13, 14). In all this Nebuchadnezzar is +conceived as acting within his rights; and here lay the +difference between the clear vision of the prophet and the +infatuated policy of his contemporaries. The politicians +of Jerusalem were incapable of thus discerning the signs of +the times. They fell back on the time-honoured plan +of checkmating Babylon by means of an Egyptian alliance—a +policy which had been disastrous when attempted +against the ruthless tyrants of Assyria, and which was +doubly imbecile when it brought down on them the wrath +of a monarch who showed every desire to deal fairly with +his subject provinces. +</p> + +<p> +The period of intrigue with Egypt had already begun +when this prophecy was written. We have no means of +knowing how long the negotiations went on before the +overt act of rebellion; and hence we cannot say with +certainty that the appearance of the chapter in this part +of the book is an anachronism. It is possible that Ezekiel +may have known of a secret mission which was not discovered +by the spies of the Babylonian court; and there +is no difficulty in supposing that such a step may have +been taken as early as two and a half years before the +outbreak of hostilities. At whatever time it took place, +<pb n='105'/><anchor id='Pg105'/> +Ezekiel saw that it sealed the doom of the nation. He +knew that Nebuchadnezzar could not overlook such +flagrant perfidy as Zedekiah and his councillors had been +guilty of; he knew also that Egypt could render no +effectual help to Jerusalem in her death-struggle. <q>Not +with a strong army and a great host will Pharaoh act for +him in the war, when mounds are thrown up, and the +towers are built, to cut off many lives</q> (ver. 17). The +writer of the Lamentations again shows us how sadly the +prophet's anticipation was verified: <q>As for us, our eyes +as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have +watched for a nation that could not save us</q> (Lam. iv. 17). +</p> + +<p> +But Ezekiel will not allow it to be supposed that the +fate of Jerusalem is merely the result of a mistaken forecast +of political probabilities. Such a mistake had been +made by Zedekiah's advisers when they trusted to Egypt +to deliver them from Babylon, and ordinary prudence +might have warned them against it. But that was the +most excusable part of their folly. The thing that branded +their policy as infamous and put them absolutely in the +wrong before God and man alike was their violation of +the solemn oath by which they had bound themselves to +serve the king of Babylon. The prophet seizes on this +act of perjury as the determining fact of the situation, and +charges it home on the king as the cause of the ruin that +is to overtake him: <q>Thus saith Jehovah, As I live, surely +<emph>My</emph> oath which he hath despised, and <emph>My</emph> covenant which +he has broken, I will return on his head; and I will +spread My net over him, and in My snare shall he be +taken, ... and ye shall know that I Jehovah have +spoken it</q> (vv. 19-21). +</p> + +<p> +In the last three verses of the chapter the prophet +returns to the allegory with which he commenced, and +completes his oracle with a beautiful picture of the ideal +monarchy of the future. The ideas on which the picture +<pb n='106'/><anchor id='Pg106'/> +is framed are few and simple; but they are those which +distinguish the Messianic hope as cherished by the prophets +from the crude form which it assumed in the popular +imagination. In contrast to Zedekiah's kingdom, which +was a human institution without ideal significance, that +of the Messianic age will be a fresh creation of Jehovah's +power. A tender shoot shall be planted in the mountain +land of Israel, where it shall flourish and increase until +it overshadow the whole earth. Further, this shoot is +taken from the <q>top of the cedar</q>—that is, the section of +the royal house which had been carried away to Babylon—indicating +that the hope of the future lay not with the +king <hi rend='italic'>de facto</hi> Zedekiah, but with Jehoiachin and those +who shared his banishment. The passage leaves no doubt +that Ezekiel conceived the Israel of the future as a state +with a monarch at its head, although it may be doubtful +whether the shoot refers to a personal Messiah or to the +aristocracy, who, along with the king, formed the governing +body in an Eastern kingdom. This question, however, +can be better considered when we have to deal with +Ezekiel's Messianic conceptions in their fully developed +form in ch. xxxiv. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>III</head> + +<p> +Of the last four kings of Judah there were two whose +melancholy fate seems to have excited a profound feeling +of pity amongst their countrymen. Jehoahaz or Shallum, +according to the Chronicler the youngest of Josiah's sons, +appears to have been even during his father's lifetime a +popular favourite. It was he who after the fatal day of +Megiddo was raised to the throne by the <q>people of the +land</q> at the age of twenty-three years. He is said by +the historian of the books of Kings to have done <q>that +which was evil in the sight of the Lord</q>; but he had +<pb n='107'/><anchor id='Pg107'/> +hardly time to display his qualities as a ruler, when he +was deposed and carried to Egypt by Pharaoh Necho, +having worn the crown for only three months (608 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi>). +The deep attachment felt for him seems to have given rise +to an expectation that he would be restored to his kingdom, +a delusion against which the prophet Jeremiah found it +necessary to protest (Jer. xxii. 10-12). He was succeeded +by his elder brother, Eliakim,<note place='foot'>Jehoiakim.</note> the headstrong and selfish +tyrant, whose character stands revealed in some passages +of the books of Jeremiah and Habakkuk. His reign of +nine years gave little occasion to his subjects to cherish +a grateful memory of his administration. He died in the +crisis of the conflict he had provoked with the king of +Babylon, leaving his youthful son Jehoiachin to expiate +the folly of his rebellion. Jehoiachin is the second idol +of the populace to whom we have referred. He was only +eighteen years old when he was called to the throne, and +within three months he was doomed to exile in Babylon. +In his room Nebuchadnezzar appointed a third son of +Josiah—Mattaniah—whose name he changed to Zedekiah. +He was apparently a man of weak and vacillating character; +but he fell ultimately into the hands of the Egyptian and anti-prophetic +party, and so was the means of involving his +country in the hopeless struggle in which it perished. +</p> + +<p> +The fact that two of their native princes were languishing, +perhaps simultaneously, in foreign confinement, one +in Egypt and the other in Babylon, was fitted to evoke +in Judah a sympathy with the misfortunes of royalty +something like the feeling embalmed in the Jacobite songs +of Scotland. It seems to be an echo of this sentiment +that we find in the first part of the lament with which +Ezekiel closes his references to the fall of the monarchy +(ch. xix.). Many critics have indeed found it impossible +to suppose that Ezekiel should in any sense have yielded +<pb n='108'/><anchor id='Pg108'/> +to sympathy with the fate of two princes who are both +branded in the historical books as idolaters, and whose +calamities on Ezekiel's own view of individual retribution +proved them to be sinners against Jehovah. Yet it is +certainly unnatural to read the dirge in any other sense +than as an expression of genuine pity for the woes that +the nation suffered in the fate of her two exiled kings. +If Jeremiah, in pronouncing the doom of Shallum or +Jehoahaz, could say, <q>Weep ye sore for him that goeth +away; for he shall not return any more, nor see his +native country,</q> there is no reason why Ezekiel should +not have given lyrical expression to the universal feeling +of sadness which the blighted career of these two youths +naturally produced. The whole passage is highly poetical, +and represents a side of Ezekiel's nature which we +have not hitherto been led to study. But it is too much +to expect of even the most logical of prophets that he +should experience no personal emotion but what fitted +into his system, or that his poetic gift should be chained +to the wheels of his theological convictions. The dirge +expresses no moral judgment on the character or deserts +of the two kings to which it refers: it has but one +theme—the sorrow and disappointment of the <q>mother</q> +who nurtured and lost them, that is, the nation of Israel +personified according to a usual Hebrew figure of speech. +All attempts to go beyond this and to find in the poem an +allegorical portrait of Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin are irrelevant. +The mother is a lioness, the princes are young +lions and behave as stalwart young lions do, but whether +their exploits are praiseworthy or the reverse is a question +that was not present to the writer's mind. +</p> + +<p> +The chapter is entitled <q>A Dirge on the Princes of +Israel,</q> and embraces not only the fate of Jehoahaz and +Jehoiachin, but also of Zedekiah, with whom the old +monarchy expired. Strictly speaking, however, the name +<pb n='109'/><anchor id='Pg109'/> +<foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>qînah</foreign>, or dirge, is applicable only to the first part of the +chapter (vv. 2-9), where the rhythm characteristic of +the Hebrew elegy is clearly traceable.<note place='foot'>The long line is divided into two unequal parts by a cæsura over +the end.</note> With a few +slight changes of the text<note place='foot'>Mostly adopted from Cornill. The English reader may refer to +Dr. Davidson's commentary.</note> the passage may be translated +thus:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<lg> +<l>i. <hi rend='italic'>Jehoahaz.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>How was thy mother a lioness!—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 10'>Among the lions,</l> +<l>In the midst of young lions she couched—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 10'>She reared her cubs;</l> +<l>And she brought up one of her cubs—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 10'>A young lion he became,</l> +<l>And he learned to catch the prey—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 10'>He ate men.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>And nations raised a cry against him—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 12'>In their pit he was caught;</l> +<l>And they brought him with hooks—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 12'>To the land of Egypt (vv. 2-4).</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>ii. <hi rend='italic'>Jehoiachin.</hi></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>And when she saw that she was disappointed<note place='foot'>This word is uncertain.</note>—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 10'>Her hope was lost.</l> +<l>She took another of her cubs—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 10'>A young lion she made him;</l> +<l>And he walked in the midst of lions—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 10'>A young lion he became;</l> +<l>And he learned to catch prey—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 10'>He ate men.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>And he lurked in his lair—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 10'>The forests he ravaged;</l> +<l>Till the land was laid waste and its fulness—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 10'>With the noise of his roar.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>The nations arrayed themselves against him—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 10'>From the countries around;</l> +<pb n='110'/><anchor id='Pg110'/> +<l>And spread over him their net—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 12'>In their pit he was caught.</l> +<l>And they brought him with hooks—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 12'>To the king of Babylon;</l> +<l>And he put him in a cage, ...</l> +<l>That his voice might no more be heard—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 12'>On the mountains of Israel (vv. 5-9).</l> +</lg> + +</quote> + +<p> +The poetry here is simple and sincere. The mournful +cadence of the elegiac measure, which is maintained +throughout, is adapted to the tone of melancholy which +pervades the passage and culminates in the last beautiful +line. The dirge is a form of composition often employed +in songs of triumph over the calamities of enemies; but +there is no reason to doubt that here it is true to its +original purpose, and expresses genuine sorrow for the +accumulated misfortunes of the royal house of Israel. +</p> + +<p> +The closing part of the <q>dirge</q> dealing with Zedekiah +is of a somewhat different character. The theme is similar, +but the figure is abruptly changed, and the elegiac rhythm +is abandoned. The nation, the mother of the monarchy, +is here compared to a luxuriant vine planted beside great +waters; and the royal house is likened to a branch +towering above the rest and bearing rods which were +kingly sceptres. But she has been plucked up by the roots, +withered, scorched by the fire, and finally planted in an +arid region where she cannot thrive. The application of +the metaphor to the ruin of the nation is very obvious. +Israel, once a prosperous nation, richly endowed with all +the conditions of a vigorous national life, and glorying in +her race of native kings, is now humbled to the dust. +Misfortune after misfortune has destroyed her power and +blighted her prospects, till at last she has been removed +from her own land to a place where national life cannot +be maintained. But the point of the passage lies in the +closing words: fire went out from one of her twigs and +consumed her branches, so that she has no longer a proud +<pb n='111'/><anchor id='Pg111'/> +rod to be a ruler's sceptre (ver. 14). The monarchy, once +the glory and strength of Israel, has in its last degenerate +representative involved the nation in ruin. +</p> + +<p> +Such is Ezekiel's final answer to those of his hearers +who clung to the old Davidic kingdom as their hope in +the crisis of the people's fate. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='112'/><anchor id='Pg112'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter VIII. Prophecy And Its Abuses. Chapters xii. 21-xiv. 11.</head> + +<p> +There is perhaps nothing more perplexing to the +student of Old Testament history than the complicated +phenomena which may be classed under the +general name of <q>prophecy.</q> In Israel, as in every ancient +state, there was a body of men who sought to influence +public opinion by prognostications of the future. As a +rule the repute of all kinds of divination declined with +the advance of civilisation and general intelligence, so +that in the more enlightened communities matters of importance +came to be decided on broad grounds of reason +and political expediency. The peculiarity in the case of +Israel was that the very highest direction in politics, as +well as religion and morals, was given in a form capable +of being confounded with superstitious practices which +flourished alongside of it. The true prophets were not +merely profound moral thinkers, who announced a certain +issue as the probable result of a certain line of conduct. +In many cases their predictions are absolute, and their +political programme is an appeal to the nation to accept +the situation which they foresee, as the basis of its public +action. For this reason prophecy was readily brought +into competition with practices with which it had really nothing +in common. The ordinary individual who cared little +for principles and only wished to know what was likely +<pb n='113'/><anchor id='Pg113'/> +to happen might readily think that one way of arriving +at knowledge of the future was as good as another, and +when the spiritual prophet's anticipations displeased him +he was apt to try his luck with the sorcerer. It is not +improbable that in the last days of the monarchy spurious +prophecy of various kinds gained an additional vitality +from its rivalry with the great spiritual teachers who in +the name of Jehovah foretold the ruin of the state. +</p> + +<p> +This is not the place for an exhaustive account of the +varied developments in Israel of what may be broadly +termed prophetic manifestations. For the understanding +of the section of Ezekiel now before us it will be enough +to distinguish three classes of phenomena. At the lowest +end of the scale there was a rank growth of pure magic +or sorcery, the ruling idea of which is the attempt to +control or forecast the future by occult arts which are +believed to influence the supernatural powers which +govern human destiny. In the second place we have +prophecy in a stricter sense—that is, the supposed revelation +of the will of the deity in dreams or <q>visions</q> or +half-articulate words uttered in a state of frenzy. Last +of all there is the true prophet, who, though subject to +extraordinary mental experiences, yet had always a clear +and conscious grasp of moral principles, and possessed +an incommunicable certainty that what he spoke was not +his own word but the word of Jehovah. +</p> + +<p> +It is obvious that a people subjected to such influences +as these was exposed to temptations both intellectual +and moral from which modern life is exempt. One thing +is certain—the existence of prophecy did not tend to +simplify the problems of national life or individual conduct. +We are apt to think of the great prophets as +men so signally marked out by God as His witnesses +that it must have been impossible for any one with a +shred of sincerity to question their authority. In reality +<pb n='114'/><anchor id='Pg114'/> +it was quite otherwise. It was no more an easy thing +then than now to distinguish between truth and error, +between the voice of God and the speculations of men. +Then, as now, divine truth had no available credentials +at the moment of its utterance except its self-evidencing +power on hearts that were sincere in their desire to know +it. The fact that truth came in the guise of prophecy +only stimulated the growth of counterfeit prophecy, so +that only those who were <q>of the truth</q> could discern +the spirits, whether they were of God. +</p> + +<p> +The passage which forms the subject of this chapter +is one of the most important passages of the Old Testament +in its treatment of the errors and abuses incident +to a dispensation of prophecy. It consists of three parts: +the first deals with difficulties occasioned by the apparent +failure of prophecy (ch. xii. 21-28); the second with the +character and doom of the false prophets (ch. xiii.); and +the third with the state of mind which made a right use of +prophecy impossible (ch. xiv. 1-11). +</p> + +<div> +<head>I</head> + +<p> +It is one of Ezekiel's peculiarities that he pays close +attention to the proverbial sayings which indicated the +drift of the national mind. Such sayings were like +straws, showing how the stream flowed, and had a special +significance for Ezekiel, inasmuch as he was not in the +stream himself, but only observed its motions from a +distance. Here he quotes a current proverb, giving expression +to a sense of the futility of all prophetic warnings: +<q>The days are drawn out, and every vision faileth</q> +(ch. xii. 22). It is difficult to say what the feeling is +that lies behind it, whether it is one of disappointment +or of relief. If, as seems probable, ver. 27 is the application +of the general principle to the particular case of +<pb n='115'/><anchor id='Pg115'/> +Ezekiel, the proverb need not indicate absolute disbelief +in the truth of prophecy. <q>The vision which he sees +is for many days, and remote times does he prophesy</q>—that +is to say, The prophet's words are no doubt +perfectly true, and come from God; but no man can +ever tell when they are to be fulfilled: all experience +shows that they relate to a remote future which we are +not likely to see. For men whose concern was to find +direction in the present emergency, that was no doubt +equivalent to a renunciation of the guidance of prophecy. +</p> + +<p> +There are several things which may have tended to +give currency to this view and make it plausible. First +of all, of course, the fact that many of the <q>visions</q> that +were published had nothing in them; they were false +in their origin, and were bound to fail. Accordingly +one thing necessary to rescue prophecy from the discredit +into which it had fallen was the removal of those +who uttered false predictions in the name of Jehovah: +<q>There shall no more be any false vision or flattering +divination in the midst of the house of Israel</q> (ver. 24). +But besides the prevalence of false prophecy there were +features of true prophecy which partly explained the +common misgiving as to its trustworthiness. Even in +true prophecy there is an element of idealism, the future +being depicted in forms derived from the prophet's circumstances, +and represented as the immediate continuation +of the events of his own time. In support of the proverb +it might have been equally apt to instance the Messianic +oracles of Isaiah, or the confident predictions of Hananiah, +the opponent of Jeremiah. Further, there is a contingent +element in prophecy: the fulfilment of a threat or promise +is conditional on the moral effect of the prophecy itself +on the people. These things were perfectly understood by +thoughtful men in Israel. The principle of contingency +is clearly expounded in the eighteenth chapter of Jeremiah, +<pb n='116'/><anchor id='Pg116'/> +and it was acted on by the princes who on a memorable +occasion saved him from the doom of a false prophet +(Jer. xxvi.). Those who used prophecy to determine their +practical attitude towards Jehovah's purposes found it to +be an unerring guide to right thinking and action. But +those who only took a curious interest in questions of +external fulfilment found much to disconcert them; and it +is hardly surprising that many of them became utterly +sceptical of its divine origin. It must have been to this +turn of mind that the proverb with which Ezekiel is +dealing owed its origin. +</p> + +<p> +It is not on these lines, however, that Ezekiel vindicates +the truth of the prophetic word, but on lines adapted +to the needs of his own generation. After all, prophecy +is not wholly contingent. The bent of the popular character +is one of the elements which it takes into account, +and it foresees an issue which is not dependent on anything +that Israel might do. The prophets rise to a point +of view from which the destruction of the sinful people +and the establishment of a perfect kingdom of God are +seen to be facts unalterably decreed by Jehovah. And +the point of Ezekiel's answer to his contemporaries seems +to be that a final demonstration of the truth of prophecy +was at hand. As the fulfilment drew near, prophecy +would increase in distinctness and precision, so that when +the catastrophe came it would be impossible for any man +to deny the inspiration of those who had announced it: +<q>Thus saith Jehovah, I will suppress this proverb, and +it shall no more circulate in Israel; but say unto them, +The days are near, and the content [literally <emph>word</emph> or +<emph>matter</emph>] of every vision</q> (ver. 23). After the extinction +of every form of lying prophecy, Jehovah's words shall +still be heard, and the proclamation of them shall be +immediately followed by their accomplishment: <q>For I +Jehovah will speak My words; I will speak and perform, +<pb n='117'/><anchor id='Pg117'/> +it shall not be deferred any more: in your days, O house +of rebellion, I will speak a word and perform it, saith +Jehovah</q> (ver. 25). The immediate reference is to the +destruction of Jerusalem which the prophet saw to be one +of those events which were unconditionally decreed, and an +event which must bulk more and more largely in the vision +of the true prophet until it was accomplished. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II</head> + +<p> +The thirteenth chapter deals with what was undoubtedly +the greatest obstacle to the influence of prophecy—viz., +the existence of a division in the ranks of the prophets +themselves. That division had been of long standing. +The earliest indication of it is the story of the contest +between Micaiah and four hundred prophets of Jehovah, +in presence of Ahab and Jehoshaphat (1 Kings xxii. 5-28). +All the canonical prophets show in their writings that they +had to contend against the mass of the prophetic order—men +who claimed an authority equal to theirs, but used +it for diametrically opposite interests. It is not, however, +till we come to Jeremiah and Ezekiel that we find a formal +apologetic of true prophecy against false. The problem +was serious: where two sets of prophets systematically +and fundamentally contradicted each other, both might +be false, but both could not be true. The prophet who +was convinced of the truth of his own visions must be +prepared to account for the rise of false visions, and to +lay down some criterion by which men might discriminate +between the one and the other. Jeremiah's treatment of +the question is of the two perhaps the more profound +and interesting. It is thus summarised by Professor +Davidson: <q>In his encounters with the prophets of his +day Jeremiah opposes them in three spheres—that of +policy, that of morals, and that of personal experience. +<pb n='118'/><anchor id='Pg118'/> +In policy the genuine prophets had some fixed principles, +all arising out of the idea that the kingdom of the Lord +was not a kingdom of this world. Hence they opposed +military preparation, riding on horses, and building of +fenced cities, and counselled trust in Jehovah.... The +false prophets, on the other hand, desired their country +to be a military power among the powers around, they +advocated alliance with the eastern empires and with +Egypt, and relied on their national strength. Again, the +true prophets had a stringent personal and state morality. +In their view the true cause of the destruction of the +state was its immoralities. But the false prophets had +no such deep moral convictions, and seeing nothing +unwonted or alarming in the condition of things prophesied +of <q>peace.</q> They were not necessarily irreligious +men; but their religion had no truer insight into the +nature of the God of Israel than that of the common +people.... And finally Jeremiah expresses his conviction +that the prophets whom he opposed did not stand in the +same relation to the Lord as he did: they had not his +experiences of the word of the Lord, into whose counsel +they had not been admitted; and they were without that +fellowship of mind with the mind of Jehovah which was +the true source of prophecy. Hence he satirises their +pretended supernatural <q>dreams,</q> and charges them from +conscious want of any true prophetic word with stealing +words from one another.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ezekiel</hi>, p. 85.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The passages in Jeremiah on which this statement is +mainly founded may have been known to Ezekiel, who in +this matter, as in so many others, follows the lines laid +down by the elder prophet. +</p> + +<p> +The first thing, then, that deserves attention in Ezekiel's +judgment on false prophecy is his assertion of its purely +<pb n='119'/><anchor id='Pg119'/> +subjective or human origin. In the opening sentence he +pronounces a woe upon the prophets <q>who prophesy +<emph>from their own mind</emph> without having seen</q><note place='foot'>Translating with LXX.</note> (ver. 3). +The words put in italics sum up Ezekiel's theory of the +genesis of false prophecy. The visions these men see +and the oracles they utter simply reproduce the thoughts, +the emotions, the aspirations, natural to their own minds. +That the ideas came to them in a peculiar form, which +was mistaken for the direct action of Jehovah, Ezekiel +does not deny. He admits that the men were sincere in +their professions, for he describes them as <q>waiting for +the fulfilment of the word</q> (ver. 6). But in this belief +they were the victims of a delusion. Whatever there +might be in their prophetic experiences that resembled +those of a true prophet, there was nothing in their oracles +that did not belong to the sphere of worldly interests and +human speculation. +</p> + +<p> +If we ask how Ezekiel knew this, the only possible +answer is that he knew it because he was sure of the +source of his own inspiration. He possessed an inward +experience which certified to him the genuineness of the +communications which came to him, and he necessarily +inferred that those who held different beliefs about God +must lack that experience. Thus far his criticism of false +prophecy is purely subjective. The true prophet knew that +he had that within him which authenticated his inspiration, +but the false prophet could not know that he wanted it. +The difficulty is not peculiar to prophecy, but arises in connection +with religious belief as a whole. It is an interesting +question whether the assent to a truth is accompanied by +a feeling of certitude differing in quality from the confidence +which a man may have in giving his assent to a delusion. +But it is not possible to elevate this internal criterion to an +<pb n='120'/><anchor id='Pg120'/> +objective test of truth. A man who is awake may be +quite sure he is not dreaming, but a man in a dream may +readily enough fancy himself awake. +</p> + +<p> +But there were other and more obvious tests which +could be applied to the professional prophets, and which at +least showed them to be men of a different spirit from the +few who were <q>full of power by the spirit of the Lord, +and of judgment, and of might, to declare to Israel his sin</q> +(Mic. iii. 8). In two graphic figures Ezekiel sums up the +character and policy of these parasites who disgraced the +order to which they belonged. In the first place he compares +them to jackals burrowing in ruins and undermining +the fabric which it was their professed function to uphold +(vv. 4, 5). The existence of such a class of men is at once +a symptom of advanced social degeneration and a cause of +greater ruin to follow. A true prophet fearlessly speaking +the words of God is a defence to the state; he is like +a man who stands in the breach or builds a wall to ward +off the danger which he foresees. Such were all genuine +prophets whose names were held in honour in Israel—men +of moral courage, never hesitating to incur personal risk +for the welfare of the nation they loved. If Israel now was +like a heap of ruins, the fault lay with the selfish crowd +of hireling prophets who had cared more to find a hole in +which they could shelter themselves than to build up a +stable and righteous polity. +</p> + +<p> +The prophet's simile calls to mind the type of churchman +represented by Bishop Blougram in Browning's +powerful satire. He is one who is content if the corporation +to which he belongs can provide him with a comfortable +and dignified position in which he can spend good +days; he is triumphant if, in addition to this, he can defy +any one to prove him more of a fool or a hypocrite than +an average man of the world. Such utter abnegation of +intellectual sincerity may not be common in any Church; +<pb n='121'/><anchor id='Pg121'/> +but the temptation which leads to it is one to which +ecclesiastics are exposed in every age and every communion. +The tendency to shirk difficult problems, to shut one's +eyes to grave evils, to acquiesce in things as they are, and +calculate that the ruin will last one's own time, is what +Ezekiel calls playing the jackal; and it hardly needs a +prophet to tell us that there could not be a more fatal +symptom of the decay of religion than the prevalence of +such a spirit in its official representatives. +</p> + +<p> +The second image is equally suggestive. It exhibits +the false prophets as following where they pretended to +lead, as aiding and abetting the men into whose hands the +reins of government had fallen. The people build a wall +and the prophets cover it with plaster (ver. 10)—that is to +say, when any project or scheme of policy is being promoted +they stand by glozing it over with fine words, +flattering its promoters, and uttering profuse assurances of +its success. The uselessness of the whole activity of these +prophets could not be more vividly described. The white-washing +of the wall may hide its defects, but will not prevent +its destruction; and when the wall of Jerusalem's shaky +prosperity tumbles down, those who did so little to build +and so much to deceive shall be overwhelmed with confusion. +<q>Behold, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said to +them, Where is the plaster which ye plastered?</q> (ver. 12). +</p> + +<p> +This will be the beginning of the judgment on false +prophets in Israel. The overthrow of their vaticinations, +the collapse of the hopes they fostered, and the demolition +of the edifice in which they found a refuge shall leave +them no more a name or a place in the people of God. +<q>I will stretch out My hand against the prophets that see +vanity and divine falsely: in the council of My people they +shall not be, and in the register of the house of Israel they +shall not be written, and into the land of Israel they shall +not come</q> (ver. 9). +</p> + +<pb n='122'/><anchor id='Pg122'/> + +<p> +There was, however, a still more degraded type of +prophecy, practised chiefly by women, which must have +been exceedingly prevalent in Ezekiel's time. The prophets +spoken of in the first sixteen verses were public +functionaries who exerted their evil influence in the arena +of politics. The prophetesses spoken of in the latter part +of the chapter are private fortune-tellers who practised +on the credulity of individuals who consulted them. +Their art was evidently magical in the strict sense, a +trafficking with the dark powers which were supposed to +enter into alliance with men irrespective of moral considerations. +Then, as now, such courses were followed +for gain, and doubtless proved a lucrative means of +livelihood. The <q>fillets</q> and <q>veils</q> mentioned in +ver. 18 are either a professional garb worn by the women, +or else implements of divination whose precise significance +cannot now be ascertained. To the imagination of the +prophet they appear as the snares and weapons with +which these wretched creatures <q>hunted souls</q>; and the +extent of the evil which he attacks is indicated by his +speaking of the whole people as being entangled in their +meshes. Ezekiel naturally bestows special attention on +a class of practitioners whose whole influence tended to +efface moral landmarks and to deal out to men weal or +woe without regard to character. <q>They slew souls that +should not die, and saved alive souls that should not +live; they made sad the heart of the righteous, and +strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not +return from his wicked way and be saved alive</q> (ver. 22). +That is to say, while Ezekiel and all true prophets were +exhorting men to live resolutely in the light of clear +ethical conceptions of providence, the votaries of occult +superstitions seduced the ignorant into making private +compacts with the powers of darkness in order to secure +their personal safety. If the prevalence of sorcery and +<pb n='123'/><anchor id='Pg123'/> +witchcraft was at all times dangerous to the religion and +public order of the state, it was doubly so at a time when, +as Ezekiel perceived, everything depended on maintaining +the strict rectitude of God in His dealings with individual +men. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>III</head> + +<p> +Having thus disposed of the external manifestations of +false prophecy, Ezekiel proceeds in the fourteenth chapter +to deal with the state of mind amongst the people at +large which rendered such a condition of things possible. +The general import of the passage is clear, although the +precise connection of ideas is somewhat difficult to explain. +The following observations may suffice to bring +out all that is essential to the understanding of the +section. +</p> + +<p> +The oracle was occasioned by a particular incident, undoubtedly +historical—namely, a visit, such as was perhaps +now common, from the elders to inquire of the Lord +through Ezekiel. As they sit before him it is revealed +to the prophet that the minds of these men are preoccupied +with idolatry, and therefore it is not fitting that +any answer should be given to them by a prophet of +Jehovah. Apparently no answer <emph>was</emph> given by Ezekiel +to the particular question they had asked, whatever it may +have been. Generalising from the incident, however, +he is led to enunciate a principle regulating the intercourse +between Jehovah and Israel through the medium +of a prophet: <q>Whatever man of the house of Israel sets +his thoughts upon his idols, and puts his guilty stumbling-block +before him, and comes to the prophet, I Jehovah +will make Myself intelligible to him;<note place='foot'>The exact force of the reflexive form used (<foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>na' ănêthi</foreign>, niphal) is +doubtful. The translation given is that of Cornill, which is certainly +forcible.</note> that I may take +<pb n='124'/><anchor id='Pg124'/> +the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are +all estranged from Me by their idols</q> (vv. 4, 5). It seems +clear that one part of the threat here uttered is that the +very withholding of the answer will unmask the hypocrisy +of men who pretend to be worshippers of Jehovah, but in +heart are unfaithful to Him and servants of false gods. +The moral principle involved in the prophet's dictum is +clear and of lasting value. It is that for a false heart +there can be no fellowship with Jehovah, and therefore +no true and sure knowledge of His will. The prophet +occupies the point of view of Jehovah, and when consulted +by an idolater he finds it impossible to enter into the +point of view from which the question is put, and therefore +cannot answer it.<note place='foot'>The same rule is applied to direct communion with God in prayer +in Psalm lxvi. 18: <q>If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not +hear.</q></note> Ezekiel assumes for the most part +that the prophet consulted is a true prophet of Jehovah +like himself, who will give no answer to such questions +as he has before him. He must, however, allow for the +possibility that men of this stamp may receive answers +in the name of Jehovah from those reputed to be His +true prophets. In that case, says Ezekiel, the prophet is +<q>deceived</q> by God; he is allowed to give a response +which is not a true response at all, but only confirms the +people in their delusions and unbelief. But this deception +does not take place until the prophet has incurred the +guilt of deceiving himself in the first instance. It is his +fault that he has not perceived the bent of his questioners' +minds, that he has accommodated himself to their ways of +thought, has consented to occupy their standpoint in order +to be able to say something coinciding with the drift +of their wishes. Prophet and inquirers are involved in +a common guilt and share a common fate, both being +sentenced to exclusion from the commonwealth of Israel. +</p> + +<pb n='125'/><anchor id='Pg125'/> + +<p> +The purification of the institution of prophecy necessarily +appeared to Ezekiel as an indispensable feature in +the restoration of the theocracy. The ideal of Israel's +relation to Jehovah is <q>that they may be My people, and +that I may be their God</q> (ver. 11). That implies that +Jehovah shall be the source of infallible guidance in all +things needful for the religious life of the individual and +the guidance of the state. But it was impossible for +Jehovah to be to Israel all that a God should be, so long +as the regular channels of communication between Him +and the nation were choked by false conceptions in the +minds of the people and false men in the position of +prophets. Hence the constitution of a new Israel demands +such special judgments on false prophecy and the false +use of true prophecy as have been denounced in these +chapters. When these judgments have been executed, the +ideal will have become possible which is described in the +words of another prophet: <q>Thine eyes shall see thy +teachers: and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, +saying, This is the way, walk ye in it</q> (Isa. xxx. 20, 21). +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='126'/><anchor id='Pg126'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter IX. Jerusalem—An Ideal History. Chapter xvi.</head> + +<p> +In order to understand the place which the sixteenth +chapter occupies in this section<note place='foot'>See above, p. <ref target='Pg097'>97</ref> f.</note> of the book, we must +remember that a chief source of the antagonism between +Ezekiel and his hearers was the proud national consciousness +which sustained the courage of the people through +all their humiliations. There were, perhaps, few nations +of antiquity in which the flame of patriotic feeling burned +more brightly than in Israel. No people with a past such +as theirs could be indifferent to the many elements of +greatness embalmed in their history. The beauty and +fertility of their land, the martial exploits and signal +deliverances of the nation, the great kings and heroes +she had reared, her prophets and lawgivers—these and +many other stirring memories were witnesses to Jehovah's +peculiar love for Israel and His power to exalt and bless +His people. To cherish a deep sense of the unique +privileges which Jehovah had conferred on her in giving +her a distinct place among the nations of the earth was +thus a religious duty often insisted on in the Old Testament. +But in order that this sense might work for good +it was necessary that it should take the form of grateful +recognition of Jehovah as the source of the nation's greatness, +and be accompanied by a true knowledge of His +character. When allied with false conceptions of Jehovah's +<pb n='127'/><anchor id='Pg127'/> +nature, or entirely divorced from religion, patriotism +degenerated into racial prejudice and became a serious +moral and political danger. That this had actually taken +place is a common complaint of the prophets. They feel +that national vanity is a great obstacle to the acceptance +of their message, and pour forth bitter and scornful words +intended to humble the pride of Israel to the dust. No +prophet addresses himself to the task so remorselessly +as Ezekiel. The utter worthlessness of Israel, both +absolutely in the eyes of Jehovah and relatively in comparison +with other nations, is asserted by him with a +boldness and emphasis which at first startle us. From a +different point of view prophecy and its results might +have been regarded as fruits of the national life, under the +divine education vouchsafed to that people. But that is +not Ezekiel's standpoint. He seizes on the fact that +prophecy was in opposition to the natural genius of +the people, and was not to be regarded as in any +sense an expression of it. Accepting the final attitude +of Israel toward the word of Jehovah as the genuine +outcome of her natural proclivities, he reads her past +as an unbroken record of ingratitude and infidelity. +All that was good in Israel was Jehovah's gift, freely +bestowed and justly withdrawn; all that was Israel's own +was her weakness and her sin. It was reserved for a +later prophet to reconcile the condemnation of Israel's +actual history with the recognition of the divine power +working there and moulding a spiritual kernel of the +nation into a true <q>servant of the Lord</q> (Isa. xl. ff.). +</p> + +<p> +In chs. xv. and xvi., therefore, the prophet exposes +the hollowness of Israel's confidence in her national +destiny. The first of these appears to be directed against +the vain hopes cherished in Jerusalem at the time. It +is not necessary to dwell on it at length. The image is +simple and its application to Jerusalem obvious. Earlier +<pb n='128'/><anchor id='Pg128'/> +prophets had compared Israel to a vine, partly to set forth +the exceptional privileges she enjoyed, but chiefly to emphasise +the degeneration she had undergone, as shown by +the bad moral fruits which she had borne (cf. Isa. v. 1 ff.; +Jer. ii. 21; Hos. x. 1). The popular imagination had +laid hold of the thought that Israel was the vine of God's +planting, ignoring the question of the fruit. But Ezekiel +reminds his hearers that apart from its fruit the vine is +the most worthless of trees. Even at the best its wood +can be employed for no useful purpose; it is fit only +for fuel. Such was the people of Israel, considered +simply as a state among other states, without regard +to its religious vocation. Even in its pristine vigour, +when the national energies were fresh and unimpaired, +it was but a weak nation, incapable of attaining the dignity +of a great power. But now the strength of the nation +has been worn away by a long succession of disasters, +until only a shadow of her former glory remains. Israel +is no longer like a green and living vine, but like a branch +burned at both ends and charred in the middle, and therefore +doubly unfit for any worthy function in the affairs of +the world. By the help of this illustration men may read +in the present state of the nation the irrevocable sentence +of rejection which Jehovah has passed on His people. +</p> + +<p> +We now turn to the striking allegory of ch. xvi., where +the same subject is treated with far greater penetration +and depth of feeling. There is no passage in the book +of Ezekiel at once so powerful and so full of religious +significance as the picture of Jerusalem, the foundling +child, the unfaithful spouse, and the abandoned prostitute, +which is here presented. The general conception is one +that might have been presented in a form as beautiful as +it is spiritually true. But the features which offend our +sense of propriety are perhaps introduced with a stern +purpose. It is the deliberate intention of Ezekiel to +<pb n='129'/><anchor id='Pg129'/> +present Jerusalem's wickedness in the most repulsive +light, in order that if possible he might startle men into +abhorrence of their national sin. In his own mind the +feelings of moral indignation and physical disgust were +very close together, and here he seems to work on the +minds of his readers, so that the feeling excited by +the image may call forth the feeling appropriate to the +reality. +</p> + +<p> +The allegory is a highly idealised history of the city of +Jerusalem from its origin to its destruction, and then onward +to its future restoration. It falls naturally into four +divisions:— +</p> + +<p> +i. Vv. 1-14.—The first emergence of Jerusalem into +civic life is compared to a new-born female infant, exposed +to perish, after a cruel custom which is known to +have prevailed among some Semitic tribes. None of the +offices customary on the birth of a child were performed +in her case, whether those necessary to preserve life or +those which had a merely ceremonial significance. Unblessed +and unpitied she lay in the open field, weltering +in blood, exciting only repugnance in all who passed by, +until Jehovah Himself passed by, and pronounced over her +the decree that she should live. Thus saved from death, +she grew up and reached maturity, but still <q>naked and +bare,</q> destitute of wealth and the refinements of civilisation. +These were bestowed on her when a second +time Jehovah passed by and spread His skirt over her, +and claimed her for His own. Not till then had she been +treated as a human being, with the possibilities of honourable +life before her. But now she becomes the bride of +her protector, and is provided for as a high-born maiden +might be, with all the ornaments and luxuries befitting her +new rank. Lifted from the lowest depth of degradation, +she is now transcendently beautiful, and has <q>attained +to royal estate.</q> The fame of her loveliness went abroad +<pb n='130'/><anchor id='Pg130'/> +among the nations: <q>for it was perfect through My glory, +which I put upon thee, saith Jehovah</q> (ver. 14). +</p> + +<p> +It will be seen that the points of contact with actual +history are here extremely few as well as vague. It is +indeed doubtful whether the subject of the allegory be the +city of Jerusalem conceived as one through all its changes +of population, or the Hebrew nation of which Jerusalem +ultimately became the capital. The latter interpretation +is certainly favoured by ch. xxiii., where both Jerusalem +and Samaria are represented as having spent their youth +in Egypt. That parallel may not be decisive as to the +meaning of ch. xvi.; and the statement <q>thy father was +the Amorite and thy mother an Hittite</q> may be thought +to support the other alternative. Amorite and Hittite are +general names for the pre-Israelite population of Canaan, +and it is a well-known fact that Jerusalem was originally +a Canaanitish city. It is not necessary to suppose that +the prophet has any information about the early fortunes +of Jerusalem when he describes the stages of the process +by which she was raised to royal magnificence. The chief +question is whether these details can be fairly applied to +the history of the nation before it had Jerusalem as its +metropolis. It is usually held that the first <q>passing by</q> +of Jehovah refers to the preservation of the people in the +patriarchal period, and the second to the events of the +Exodus and the Sinaitic covenant. Against this it may +be urged that Ezekiel would hardly have presented the +patriarchal period in a hateful light, although he does go +further in discrediting antiquity than any other prophet. +Besides, the description of Jerusalem's betrothal to Jehovah +contains points which are more naturally understood of +the glories of the age of David and Solomon than of the +events of Sinai, which were not accompanied by an access +of material prosperity such as is suggested. It may be +necessary to leave the matter in the vagueness with which +<pb n='131'/><anchor id='Pg131'/> +the prophet has surrounded it, and accept as the teaching +of the allegory the simple truth that Jerusalem in herself +was nothing, but had been preserved in existence by +Jehovah's will, and owed all her splendour to her association +with His cause and His kingdom. +</p> + +<p> +ii. Vv. 15-34.—The dainties and rich attire enjoyed +by the highly favoured bride become a snare to her. +These represent blessings of a material order bestowed +by Jehovah on Jerusalem. Throughout the chapter nothing +is said of the imparting of spiritual privileges, or of a +moral change wrought in the heart of Jerusalem. The +gifts of Jehovah are conferred on one incapable of responding +to the care and affection that had been lavished on +her. The inborn taint of her nature, the hereditary +immorality of her heathen ancestors, breaks out in a +career of licentiousness in which all the advantages of her +proud position are prostituted to the vilest ends. <q>As is +the mother, so is her daughter</q> (ver. 44); and Jerusalem +betrayed her true origin by the readiness with which she +took to evil courses as soon as she had the opportunity. +The <q>whoredom</q> in which the prophet sums up his +indictment against his people is chiefly the sin of idolatry. +The figure may have been suggested by the fact that +actual lewdness of the most flagrant kind was a conspicuous +element in the form of idolatry to which Israel +first succumbed—the worship of the Canaanite Baals. But +in the hands of the prophets it has a deeper and more +spiritual import than this. It signified the violation of +all the sacred moral obligations which are enshrined in +human marriage, or, in other words, the abandonment of +an ethical religion for one in which the powers of nature +were regarded as the highest revelation of the divine. To +the mind of the prophet it made no difference whether +the object of worship was called by the name of Jehovah +or of Baal: the character of the worship determined the +<pb n='132'/><anchor id='Pg132'/> +quality of the religion; and in the one case, as in the other, +it was idolatry, or <q>whoredom.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Two stages in the idolatry of Israel appear to be distinguished +in this part of the chapter. The first is the +naïve, half-conscious heathenism which crept in insensibly +through contact with Phœnician and Canaanite neighbours +(vv. 15-25). The tokens of Jerusalem's implication +in this sin were everywhere. The <q>high places</q> with +their tents and clothed images (ver. 17), and the offerings +set forth before these objects of adoration, were undoubtedly +of Canaanitish origin, and their preservation +to the fall of the kingdom was a standing witness to +the source to which Israel owed her earliest and dearest +<q>abominations.</q> We learn that this phase of idolatry +culminated in the atrocious rite of human sacrifice (vv. 20, +21). The immolation of children to Baal or Molech was +a common practice amongst the nations surrounding +Israel, and when introduced there seems to have been +regarded as part of the worship of Jehovah.<note place='foot'>See below, pp. <ref target='Pg179'>179</ref> f.</note> What +Ezekiel here asserts is that the practice came through +Israel's illicit commerce with the gods of Canaan, and +there is no question that this is historically true. The +allegory exhibits the sin in its unnatural heinousness. +The idealised city is the mother of her citizens, the +children are Jehovah's children and her own, yet she has +taken them and offered them up to the false lovers she +so madly pursued. Such was her feverish passion for +idolatry that the dearest and most sacred ties of nature +were ruthlessly severed at the bidding of a perverted +religious sense. +</p> + +<p> +The second form of idolatry in Israel was of a more +deliberate and politic kind (vv. 23-34). It consisted in +the introduction of the deities and religious practices of the +<pb n='133'/><anchor id='Pg133'/> +great world-powers—Egypt, Assyria, and Chaldæa. The +attraction of these foreign rites did not lie in the fascination +of a sensuous type of religion, but rather in +the impression of power produced by the gods of the +conquering peoples. The foreign gods came in mostly +in consequence of a political alliance with the nations +whose patrons they were; in other cases a god was +worshipped simply because he had shown himself able to +do great things for his servants. Jerusalem as Ezekiel +knew it was full of monuments of this comparatively recent +type of idolatry. In every street and at the head of +every way there were erections (here called <q>arches</q> or +<q>heights</q>) which, from the connection in which they are +mentioned, must have been shrines devoted to the strange +gods from abroad. It is characteristic of the political +idolatry here referred to that its monuments were found +in the capital, while the more ancient and rustic worship +was typified by the <q>high places</q> throughout the provinces. +It is probable that the description applies mainly +to the later period of the monarchy, when Israel, and +especially Judah, began to lean for support on one or +other of the great empires on either side of her. At the +same time it must be remembered that Ezekiel elsewhere +teaches distinctly that the influence of Egyptian religion had +been continuous from the days of the Exodus (ch. xxiii.). +There may, however, have been a revival of Egyptian +influence, due to the political exigencies which arose in the +eighth century. +</p> + +<p> +Thus Jerusalem has <q>played the harlot</q>; nay, she has +done worse—<q>she has been as a wife that committeth +adultery, who though under her husband taketh strangers.</q><note place='foot'>Ver. 33 may, however, be an interpolation (Cornill).</note> +And the result has been simply the impoverishment of +the land. The heavy exactions levied on the country by +<pb n='134'/><anchor id='Pg134'/> +Egypt and Assyria were the hire she had paid to her +lovers to come to her. If false religion had resulted in +an increase of wealth or material prosperity, there might +have been some excuse for the eagerness with which she +plunged into it. But certainly Israel's history bore the +lesson that false religion means waste and ruin. Strangers +had devoured her strength from her youth, yet she never +would heed the voice of her prophets when they sought +to guide her into the ways of peace. Her infatuation +was unnatural; it goes almost beyond the bounds of the +allegory to exhibit it: <q>The contrary is in thee from +other women, in that thou committest whoredoms, and +none goeth awhoring after thee: and in that thou givest +hire, and no hire is given to thee, therefore thou art +contrary</q> (ver. 34). +</p> + +<p> +iii. Vv. 35-58.—Having thus made Jerusalem to <q>know +her abominations</q> (ver. 2), the prophet proceeds to announce +the doom which must inevitably follow such a +career of wickedness. The figures under which the judgment +is set forth appear to be taken from the punishment +meted out to profligate women in ancient Israel. The +public exposure of the adulteress and her death by stoning +in the presence of <q>many women</q> supply images terribly +appropriate of the fate in store for Jerusalem.<note place='foot'>In ver. 41 the Syriac Version reads, with a slight alteration of the +text, <q>they shall burn thee in the midst of the fire.</q> The reading has +something to recommend it. Death by burning was an ancient punishment +of harlotry (Gen. xxxviii. 24), although it is not likely that it was +still inflicted in the time of Ezekiel.</note> Her +punishment is to be a warning to all surrounding nations, +and an exhibition of the jealous wrath of Jehovah against +her infidelity. These nations, some of them hereditary +enemies, others old allies, are represented as assembled to +witness and to execute the judgment of the city. The +remorseless realism of the prophet spares no detail which +<pb n='135'/><anchor id='Pg135'/> +could enhance the horror of the situation. Abandoned to +the ruthless violence of her former lovers, Jerusalem is +stripped of her royal attire, the emblems of her idolatry +are destroyed, and so, left naked to her enemies, she +suffers the ignominious death of a city that has been false +to her religion. The root of her sin had been the forgetfulness +of what she owed to the goodness of Jehovah, and +the essence of her punishment lies in the withdrawal of +the gifts He had lavished upon her and the protection +which amid all her apostasies she had never ceased to +expect. +</p> + +<p> +At this point (ver. 44 ff.) the allegory takes a new turn +through the introduction of the sister cities of Samaria +and Sodom. Samaria, although as a city much younger +than Jerusalem, is considered the elder sister because she +had once been the centre of a greater political power than +Jerusalem, and Sodom, which was probably older than +either, is treated as the youngest because of her relative +insignificance. The order, however, is of no importance. +The point of the comparison is that all three had manifested +in different degrees the same hereditary tendency +to immorality (ver. 45). All three were of heathen origin—their +mother a Hittite and their father an Amorite—a +description which it is even more difficult to understand +in the case of Samaria than in that of Jerusalem. But +Ezekiel is not concerned about history. What is prominent +in his mind is the family likeness observed in their +characters, which gave point to the proverb <q>Like mother, +like daughter</q> when applied to Jerusalem. The prophet +affirms that the wickedness of Jerusalem had so far exceeded +that of Samaria and Sodom that she had <q>justified</q> +her sisters—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, she had made their moral condition +appear pardonable by comparison with hers. He knows +that he is saying a bold thing in ranking the iniquity of +Jerusalem as greater than that of Sodom, and so he +<pb n='136'/><anchor id='Pg136'/> +explains his judgment on Sodom by an analysis of the +cause of her notorious corruptness. The name of Sodom +lived in tradition as that of the foulest city of the old +world, a <foreign rend='italic'>ne plus ultra</foreign> of wickedness. Yet Ezekiel dares +to raise the question, What <emph>was</emph> the sin of Sodom? +<q>This was the sin of Sodom thy sister, pride, superabundance +of food, and careless ease was the lot of her +and her daughters, but they did not succour the poor and +needy. But they became proud, and committed abominations +before Me: therefore I took them away as thou hast +seen</q> (vv. 49, 50). The meaning seems to be that the +corruptions of Sodom were the natural outcome of the +evil principle in the Canaanitish nature, favoured by easy +circumstances and unchecked by the saving influences of +a pure religion. Ezekiel's judgment is like an anticipation +of the more solemn sentence uttered by One who +knew what was in man when He said, <q>If the mighty +works which have been done in you had been done in +Sodom and Gomorrha, they would have remained until +this day.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is remarkable to observe how some of the profoundest +ideas in this chapter attach themselves to the strange conception +of these two vanished cities as still capable of +being restored to their place in the world. In the ideal +future of the prophet's vision Sodom and Samaria shall +rise from their ruins through the same power which +restores Jerusalem to her ancient glory. The promise of +a renewed existence to Sodom and Samaria is perhaps +connected with the fact that they lay within the sacred +territory of which Jerusalem is the centre. Hence Sodom +and Samaria are no longer sisters, but daughters of +Jerusalem, receiving through her the blessings of the true +religion. And it is her relation to these her sisters that +opens the eyes of Jerusalem to the true nature of her own +relation to Jehovah. Formerly she had been proud and +<pb n='137'/><anchor id='Pg137'/> +self-sufficient, and counted her exceptional prerogatives +the natural reward of some excellence to which she could +lay claim. The name of Sodom, the disgraced sister of +the family, was not heard in her mouth in the days of +her pride, when her wickedness had not been disclosed as +it is now (ver. 57). But when she realises that her conduct +has justified and comforted her sister, and when she has +to take guilty Sodom to her heart as a daughter, she will +understand that she owes all her greatness to the same +sovereign grace of Jehovah which is manifested in the +restoration of the most abandoned community known to +history. And out of this new consciousness of grace will +spring the chastened and penitent temper of mind which +makes possible the continuance of the bond which unites +her to Jehovah. +</p> + +<p> +iv. Vv. 59-63.—The way is thus prepared for the final +promise of forgiveness with which the chapter closes. +The reconciliation between Jehovah and Jerusalem will +be effected by an act of recollection on both sides: <q><emph>I</emph> +will remember My covenant with thee.... <emph>Thou</emph> shalt +remember thy ways</q> (vv. 60, 61). The mind of Jehovah +and the mind of Jerusalem both go back on the past; but +while Jehovah thinks only of the purpose of love which +he had entertained towards Jerusalem in the days of +her youth and the indissoluble bond between them, Jerusalem +retains the memory of her own sinful history, and +finds in the remembrance the source of abiding contrition +and shame. It does not fall within the scope of the +prophet's purpose to set forth in this place the blessed +consequences which flow from this renewal of loving +intercourse between Israel and her God. He has accomplished +his object when he has shown how the electing +love of Jehovah reaches its end in spite of human sin and +rebellion, and how through the crushing power of divine +grace the failures and transgressions of the past are +<pb n='138'/><anchor id='Pg138'/> +made to issue in a relation of perfect harmony between +Jehovah and His people. The permanence of that relation +is expressed by an idea borrowed from Jeremiah—the +idea of an everlasting covenant, which cannot be broken +because based on the forgiveness of sin and a renewal of +heart. The prophet knows that when once the power +of evil has been broken by a full disclosure of redeeming +love it cannot resume its old ascendency in human life. +So he leaves us on the threshold of the new dispensation +with the picture of Jerusalem humbled and bearing her +shame, yet in the abjectness of her self-accusation realising +the end towards which the love of Jehovah had guided +her from the beginning: <q>I will establish My covenant +with thee; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah: that +thou mayest remember, and be ashamed, and not open +thy mouth any more for very shame, when I expiate for +thee all that thou hast done, saith the Lord Jehovah</q> +(vv. 62, 63). +</p> + +<p> +Throughout this chapter we see that the prophet moves +in the region of national religious ideas which are distinctive +of the Old Testament. Of the influences that formed +his conceptions that of Hosea is perhaps most discernible. +The fundamental thoughts embodied in the allegory are +the same as those by which the older prophet learned to +interpret the nature of God and the sin of Israel through +the bitter experiences of his family life. These thoughts +are developed by Ezekiel with a fertility of imagination +and a grasp of theological principles which were adapted +to the more complex situation with which he had to deal. +But the conception of Israel as the unfaithful wife of +Jehovah, of the false gods and the world-powers as her +lovers, of her conversion through affliction, and her final +restoration by a new betrothal which is eternal, are all +expressed in the first three chapters of Hosea. And the +freedom with which Ezekiel handles and expands these +<pb n='139'/><anchor id='Pg139'/> +conceptions shows how thoroughly he was at home in that +national view of religion which he did much to break +through. In the next lecture we shall have occasion to +examine his treatment of the problem of the individual's +relation to God, and we cannot fail to be struck by the +contrast. The analysis of individual religion may seem +meagre by the side of this most profound and suggestive +chapter. This arises from the fact that the full meaning +of religion could not then be expressed as an experience +of the individual soul. The subject of religion being the +nation of Israel, the human side of it could only be +unfolded in terms of what we should call the national +consciousness. The time was not yet come when the +great truths which the prophets and psalmists saw +embodied in the history of their people could be translated +in terms of individual fellowship with God. Yet the God +who spake to the fathers by the prophets is the same who +has spoken to us in His Son; and when from the standpoint +of a higher revelation we turn back to the Old Testament, +it is to find in the form of a nation's history the very same +truths which we realise as matters of personal experience. +</p> + +<p> +From this point of view the chapter we have considered +is one of the most evangelical passages in the writings of +Ezekiel. The prophet's conception of sin, for example, is +singularly profound and true. He has been charged with +a somewhat superficial conception of sin, as if he saw +nothing more in it than the transgression of a law arbitrarily +imposed by divine authority. There are aspects of +Ezekiel's teaching which give some plausibility to that +charge, especially those which deal with the duties of the +individual. But we see that to Ezekiel the real nature of +sin could not possibly be manifested except as a factor in +the national life. Now in this allegory it is obvious that he +sees something far deeper in it than the mere transgression +of positive commandments. Behind all the outward +<pb n='140'/><anchor id='Pg140'/> +offences of which Israel had been guilty there plainly lies +the spiritual fact of national selfishness, unfaithfulness to +Jehovah, insensibility to His love, and ingratitude for His +benefits. Moreover, the prophet, like Jeremiah before him, +has a strong sense of sin as a tendency in human life, a +power which is ineradicable save by the mingled severity +and goodness of God. Through the whole history of +Israel it is one evil disposition which he sees asserting +itself, breaking out now in one form and then in another, +but continually gaining strength, until at last the spirit of +repentance is created by the experience of God's forgiveness. +It is not the case, therefore, that Ezekiel failed to +comprehend the nature of sin, or that in this respect he +falls below the most spiritual of the prophets who had +gone before him. +</p> + +<p> +In order that this tendency to sin may be destroyed, +Ezekiel sees that the consciousness of guilt must take its +place. In the same way the apostle Paul teaches that +<q>every mouth must be stopped, and all the world become +guilty before God.</q> Whether the subject be a nation or +an individual, the dominion of sin is not broken till the +sinner has taken home to himself the full responsibility +for his acts and felt himself to be <q>without excuse.</q> +But the most striking thing in Ezekiel's representation +of the process of conversion is the thought that this +saving sense of sin is produced less by judgment than +by free and undeserved forgiveness. Punishment he +conceives to be necessary, being demanded alike by the +righteousness of God and the good of the sinful people. +But the heart of Jerusalem is not changed till she finds +herself restored to her former relation to God, with all the +sin of her past blotted out and a new life before her. It +is through the grace of forgiveness that she is overwhelmed +with shame and sorrow for sin, and learns the humility +which is the germ of a new hope towards God. Here the +<pb n='141'/><anchor id='Pg141'/> +prophet strikes one of the deepest notes of evangelical +doctrine. All experience confirms the lesson that true +repentance is not produced by the terrors of the law, but +by the view of God's love in Christ going forth to meet +the sinner and bring him back to the Father's heart and +home. +</p> + +<p> +Another question of great interest and difficulty is the +attitude towards the heathen world assumed by Ezekiel. +The prophecy of the restoration of Sodom is certainly one +of the most remarkable things in the book. It is true +that Ezekiel as a rule concerns himself very little with the +religious state of the outlying world under the Messianic +dispensation. Where he speaks of foreign nations it is +only to announce the manifestation of Jehovah's glory in +the judgments He executes upon them. The effect of +these judgments is that <q>they shall know that I am +Jehovah</q>; but how much is included in the expression as +applied to the heathen it is impossible to say. This, however, +may be due to the peculiar limitation of view which +leads him to concentrate his attention on the Holy Land +in his visions of the perfect kingdom of God. We can +hardly suppose that he conceived all the rest of the +world as a blank or filled with a seething mass of +humanity outside the government of the true God. It +is rather to be supposed that Canaan itself appeared to +his mind as an epitome of the world such as it must +be when the latter-day glory was ushered in. And in +Canaan he finds room for Sodom, but Sodom turned to +the knowledge of the true God and sharing in the blessings +bestowed on Jerusalem. It is surely allowable to see +in this the symptom of a more hopeful view of the future +of the world at large than we should gather from the rest +of the prophecy. If Ezekiel could think of Sodom as +raised from the dead and sharing the glories of the people +of God, the idea of the conversion of heathen nations +<pb n='142'/><anchor id='Pg142'/> +could not have been altogether foreign to his mind. It is +at all events significant that when he meditates most profoundly +on the nature of sin and God's method of dealing +with it, he is led to the thought of a divine mercy which +embraces in its sweep those communities which had +reached the lowest depths of moral corruption. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='143'/><anchor id='Pg143'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter X. The Religion Of The Individual. Chapter xviii.</head> + +<p> +In the sixteenth chapter, as we have seen, Ezekiel +has asserted in the most unqualified terms the +validity of the principle of national retribution. The +nation is dealt with as a moral unity, and the catastrophe +which closes its history is the punishment for the accumulated +guilt incurred by the past generations. In the +eighteenth chapter he teaches still more explicitly the +freedom and the independent responsibility of each individual +before God. No attempt is made to reconcile +the two principles as methods of the divine government; +from the prophet's standpoint they do not require to be +reconciled. They belong to different dispensations. So +long as the Jewish state existed the principle of solidarity +remained in force. Men suffered for the sins of their +ancestors; individuals shared the punishment incurred +by the nation as a whole. But as soon as the nation is +dead, when the bonds that unite men in the organism +of national life are dissolved, then the idea of individual +responsibility comes into immediate operation. Each +Israelite stands isolated before Jehovah, the burden of +hereditary guilt falls away from him, and he is free to +determine his own relation to God. He need not fear +that the iniquity of his fathers will be reckoned against +him; he is held accountable only for his own sins, and +<pb n='144'/><anchor id='Pg144'/> +these can be forgiven on the condition of his own +repentance. +</p> + +<p> +The doctrine of this chapter is generally regarded as +Ezekiel's most characteristic contribution to theology. It +might be nearer the truth to say that he is dealing +with one of the great religious problems of the age in +which he lived. The difficulty was perceived by Jeremiah, +and treated in a manner which shows that his +thoughts were being led in the same direction as those +of Ezekiel (Jer. xxxi. 29, 30). If in any respect the +teaching of Ezekiel makes an advance on that of Jeremiah, +it is in his application of the new truth to the duty of +the present: and even here the difference is more apparent +than real. Jeremiah postpones the introduction of +personal religion to the future, regarding it as an ideal +to be realised in the Messianic age. His own life and +that of his contemporaries was bound up with the old +dispensation which was passing away, and he knew that +he was destined to share the fate of his people. Ezekiel, +on the other hand, lives already under the powers of +the world to come. The one hindrance to the perfect +manifestation of Jehovah's righteousness has been removed +by the destruction of Jerusalem, and henceforward it +will be made apparent in the correspondence between +the desert and the fate of each individual. The new +Israel must be organised on the basis of personal religion, +and the time has already come when the task of preparing +the religious community of the future must be earnestly +taken up. Hence the doctrine of individual responsibility +has a peculiar and practical importance in the mission +of Ezekiel. The call to repentance, which is the keynote +of his ministry, is addressed to individual men, and in +order that it may take effect their minds must be disabused +of all fatalistic preconceptions which would induce +paralysis of the moral faculties. It was necessary to +<pb n='145'/><anchor id='Pg145'/> +affirm in all their breadth and fulness the two fundamental +truths of personal religion—the absolute righteousness +of God's dealings with individual men, and His +readiness to welcome and pardon the penitent. +</p> + +<p> +The eighteenth chapter falls accordingly into two +divisions. In the first the prophet sets the individual's +immediate relation to God against the idea that guilt is +transmitted from father to children (vv. 2-20). In the +second he tries to dispel the notion that a man's fate is +so determined by his own past life as to make a change +of moral condition impossible (vv. 21-32). +</p> + +<div> +<head>I</head> + +<p> +It is noteworthy that both Jeremiah and Ezekiel, in +dealing with the question of retribution, start from a +popular proverb which had gained currency in the later +years of the kingdom of Judah: <q>The fathers have +eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on +edge.</q> In whatever spirit this saying may have been +first coined, there is no doubt that it had come to be +used as a witticism at the expense of Providence. It +indicates that influences were at work besides the word +of prophecy which tended to undermine men's faith in +the current conception of the divine government. The +doctrine of transmitted guilt was accepted as a fact of +experience, but it no longer satisfied the deeper moral +instincts of men. In early Israel it was otherwise. +There the idea that the son should bear the iniquity of +the father was received without challenge and applied +without misgiving in judicial procedure. The whole +family of Achan perished for the sin of their father; the +sons of Saul expiated their father's crime long after he +was dead. These are indeed but isolated facts, yet they +are sufficient to prove the ascendency of the antique +<pb n='146'/><anchor id='Pg146'/> +conception of the tribe or family as a unity whose individual +members are involved in the guilt of the head. +With the spread of purer ethical ideas among the people +there came a deeper sense of the value of the individual +life, and at a later time the principle of vicarious punishment +was banished from the administration of human +justice (cf. 2 Kings xiv. 6 with Deut. xxiv. 16). Within +that sphere the principle was firmly established that each +man shall be put to death for his own sin. But the +motives which made this change intelligible and necessary +in purely human relations could not be brought to bear +immediately on the question of divine retribution. The +righteousness of God was thought to act on different lines +from the righteousness of man. The experience of the +last generation of the state seemed to furnish fresh +evidence of the operation of a law of providence by which +men were made to inherit the iniquity of their fathers. +The literature of the period is filled with the conviction +that it was the sins of Manasseh that had sealed the +doom of the nation. These sins had never been adequately +punished, and subsequent events showed that they were +not forgiven. The reforming zeal of Josiah had postponed +for a time the final visitation of Jehovah's anger; +but no reformation and no repentance could avail to roll +back the flood of judgment that had been set in motion +by the crimes of the reign of Manasseh. <q>Notwithstanding +Jehovah turned not from the fierceness of His +great wrath, wherewith His anger was kindled against +Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had +provoked Him withal</q> (2 Kings xxiii. 26). +</p> + +<p> +The proverb about the sour grapes shows the effect of +this interpretation of providence on a large section of the +people. It means no doubt that there is an irrational element +in God's method of dealing with men, something not +in harmony with natural laws. In the natural sphere if a +<pb n='147'/><anchor id='Pg147'/> +man eats sour grapes his own teeth are blunted or set +on edge; the consequences are immediate, and they are +transitory. But in the moral sphere a man may eat sour +grapes all his life and suffer no evil consequences whatever; +the consequences, however, appear in his children +who have committed no such indiscretion. There is +nothing there which answers to the ordinary sense of +justice. Yet the proverb appears to be less an arraignment +of the divine righteousness than a mode of self-exculpation +on the part of the people. It expresses the +fatalism and despair which settled down on the minds of +that generation when they realised the full extent of the +calamity that had overtaken them: <q>If our transgressions +and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how +then should we live?</q> (ch. xxxiii. 10). So the exiles +reasoned in Babylon, where they were in no mood for +quoting facetious proverbs about the ways of Providence; +but they accurately expressed the sense of the adage that +had been current in Jerusalem before its fall. The sins +for which they suffered were not their own, and the judgment +that lay on them was no summons to repentance, for +it was caused by sins of which they were not guilty and +for which they could not in any real sense repent. +</p> + +<p> +Ezekiel attacks this popular theory of retribution at what +must have been regarded as its strongest point—the relation +between the father and son. <q>Why should the son +<emph>not</emph> bear the iniquity of his father?</q> the people asked in +astonishment (ver. 19). <q>It is good traditional theology, +and it has been confirmed by our own experience.</q> Now +Ezekiel would probably not have admitted that in any +circumstances a son suffers because his father has sinned. +With that notion he appears to have absolutely broken. +He did not deny that the Exile was the punishment for all +the sins of the past as well as for those of the present; +but that was because the nation was treated as a moral +<pb n='148'/><anchor id='Pg148'/> +unity, and not because of any law of heredity which bound +up the fate of the child with that of the father. It was +essential to his purpose to show that the principle of +social guilt or collective retribution came to an end with +the fall of the state; whereas in the form in which the +people held to it, it could never come to an end so long as +there are parents to sin and children to suffer. But the +important point in the prophet's teaching is that whether +in one form or in another the principle of solidarity is now +superseded. God will no longer deal with men in the +mass, but as individuals; and facts which gave plausibility +and a relative justification to cynical views of God's +providence shall no more occur. There will be no more +occasion to use that objectionable proverb in Israel. On +the contrary, it will be manifest in the case of each separate +individual that God's righteousness is discriminating, and +that each man's destiny corresponds with his own character. +And the new principle is embodied in words which +may be called the charter of the individual soul—words +whose significance is fully revealed only in Christianity: +<q>All souls are Mine.... The soul that sinneth, it shall +die.</q> +</p> + +<p> +What is here asserted is of course not a distinction +between the soul or spiritual part of man's being and +another part of his being which is subject to physical +necessity, but one between the individual and his moral +environment. The former distinction is real, and it may be +necessary for us in our day to insist on it, but it was +certainly not thought of by Ezekiel or perhaps by any +other Old Testament writer. The word <q>soul</q> denotes +simply the principle of individual life. <q>All persons are +Mine</q> expresses the whole meaning which Ezekiel meant +to convey. Consequently the death threatened to the +sinner is not what we call spiritual death, but death in the +literal sense—the death of the individual. The truth taught +<pb n='149'/><anchor id='Pg149'/> +is the independence and freedom of the individual, or +his moral personality. And that truth involves two things. +First, each individual belongs to God, stands in immediate +personal relation to Him. In the old economy the +individual belonged to the nation or the family, and was +related to God only as a member of a larger whole. Now +he has to deal with God directly—possesses independent +personal worth in the eye of God. Secondly, as a result +of this, each man is responsible for his own acts, and for +these alone. So long as his religious relations are determined +by circumstances outside of his own life his +personality is incomplete. The ideal relation to God must +be one in which the destiny of every man depends on his +own free actions. These are the fundamental postulates +of personal religion as formulated by Ezekiel. +</p> + +<p> +The first part of the chapter is nothing more than an +illustration of the second of these truths in a sufficient +number of instances to show both sides of its operation. +There is first the case of a man perfectly righteous, who +as a matter of course lives by his righteousness, the state +of his father not being taken into account. Then this +good man is supposed to bear a son who is in all respects +the opposite of his father, who answers none of the tests +of a righteous man; he must die for his own sins, and his +father's righteousness avails him nothing. Lastly, if the +son of this wicked man takes warning by his father's fate +and leads a good life, he lives just as the first man did +because of his own righteousness, and suffers no diminution +of his reward because his father was a sinner. In all +this argument there is a tacit appeal to the conscience of +the hearers, as if the case only required to be put clearly +before them to command their assent. This is what shall +be, the prophet says; and it is what ought to be. It is +contrary to the idea of perfect justice to conceive of +Jehovah as acting otherwise than as here represented. +<pb n='150'/><anchor id='Pg150'/> +To cling to the idea of collective retribution as a permanent +truth of religion, as the exiles were disposed to do, +destroys belief in the divine righteousness by making it +different from the righteousness which expresses itself in +the moral judgments of men. +</p> + +<p> +Before we pass from this part of the chapter we may +take note of some characteristics of the moral ideal by +which Ezekiel tests the conduct of the individual man. +It is given in the form of a catalogue of virtues, the +presence or absence of which determines a man's fitness +or unfitness to enter the future kingdom of God. Most +of these virtues are defined negatively; the code specifies +sins to be avoided rather than duties to be performed or +graces to be cultivated. Nevertheless they are such as +to cover a large section of human life, and the arrangement +of them embodies distinctions of permanent ethical +significance. They may be classed under the three heads +of piety, chastity, and beneficence. Under the first head, +that of directly religious duties, two offences are mentioned +which are closely connected with each other, although to +our minds they may seem to involve different degrees of +guilt (ver. 6). One is the acknowledgment of other gods +than Jehovah, and the other is participation in ceremonies +which denoted fellowship with idols.<note place='foot'><q>To eat upon the mountains</q> (if that reading can be retained) +must mean to take part in the sacrificial feasts which were held on the +high places in honour of idols. But if with W. R. Smith and others we +substitute the phrase <q>eat with the blood,</q> assimilating the reading to +that of ch. xxxiii. 25, the offence is still of the same nature. In the +time of Ezekiel to eat with the blood probably meant not merely to eat +that which had not been sacrificed to Jehovah, but to engage in a rite +of distinctly heathenish character. Cf. Lev. xix. 20, and see the note in +Smith's <hi rend='italic'>Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia</hi>, p. 310.</note> To us who <q>know +that an idol is nothing in the world</q> the mere act of eating +with the blood has no religious significance. But in +Ezekiel's time it was impossible to divest it of heathen +<pb n='151'/><anchor id='Pg151'/> +associations, and the man who performed it stood convicted +of a sin against Jehovah. Similarly the idea of sexual +purity is illustrated by two outstanding and prevalent +offences (ver. 6). The third head, which includes by far +the greater number of particulars, deals with the duties +which we regard as moral in a stricter sense. They are +embodiments of the love which <q>worketh no ill to his +neighbour,</q> and is therefore <q>the fulfilling of the law.</q> +It is manifest that the list is not meant to be an exhaustive +enumeration of all the virtues that a good man must +practise, or all the vices he must shun. The prophet has +before his mind two broad classes of men—those who +feared God, and those who did not; and what he does +is to lay down outward marks which were practically +sufficient to discriminate between the one class and the +other. +</p> + +<p> +The supreme moral category is Righteousness, and this +includes the two ideas of right character and a right +relation to God. The distinction between an active +righteousness manifested in the life and a <q>righteousness +which is by faith</q> is not explicitly drawn in the Old +Testament. Hence the passage contains no teaching on +the question whether a man's relation to God is determined +by his good works, or whether good works are the fruit +and outcome of a right relation to God. The essence +of morality, according to the Old Testament, is loyalty +to God, expressed by obedience to His will; and from that +point of view it is self-evident that the man who is loyal +to Jehovah stands accepted in His sight. In other connections +Ezekiel makes it abundantly clear that the state +of grace does not depend on any merit which man can +have towards God. +</p> + +<p> +The fact that Ezekiel defines righteousness in terms of +outward conduct has led to his being accused of the +error of legalism in his moral conceptions. He has been +<pb n='152'/><anchor id='Pg152'/> +charged with resolving righteousness into <q>a sum of +separate <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>tzedāqôth</foreign>,</q> or virtues. But this view strains +his language unduly, and seems moreover to be negatived +by the presuppositions of his argument. As a man must +either live or die at the day of judgment, so he must at +any moment be either righteous or wicked. The problematic +case of a man who should conscientiously +observe some of these requirements and deliberately +violate others would have been dismissed by Ezekiel as +an idle speculation: <q>Whosoever shall keep the whole +law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all</q> (James +ii. 10). The very fact that former good deeds are not +remembered to a man in the day when he turns from +his righteousness shows that the state of righteousness +is something different from an average struck from the +statistics of his moral career. The bent of the character +towards or away from goodness is no doubt spoken of as +subject to sudden fluctuations, but for the time being each +man is conceived as dominated by the one tendency or +the other; and it is the bent of the whole nature towards +the good that constitutes the righteousness by which a +man shall live. It is at all events a mistake to suppose +that the prophet is concerned only about the external act +and indifferent to the state of heart from which it proceeds. +It is true that he does not attempt to penetrate beneath +the surface of the outward life. He does not analyse +motives. But this is because he assumes that if a man +keeps God's law he does it from a sincere desire to please +God and with a sense of the rightness of the law to which +he subjects his life. When we recognise this the charge +of externalism amounts to very little. We can never get +behind the principle that <q>he that doeth righteousness is +righteous</q> (1 John iii. 7), and that principle covers all +that Ezekiel really teaches. Compared with the more +spiritual teaching of the New Testament his moral ideal +<pb n='153'/><anchor id='Pg153'/> +is no doubt defective in many directions, but his insistence +on action as a test of character is hardly one of them. +We must remember that the New Testament itself contains +as many warnings against a false spirituality as it +does against the opposite error of reliance on good works. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II</head> + +<p> +The second great truth of personal religion is the moral +freedom of the individual to determine his own destiny +in the day of judgment. This is illustrated in the +latter part of the chapter by the two opposite cases of +a wicked man turning from his wickedness (vv. 21, 22) +and a righteous man turning from his righteousness (ver. +24). And the teaching of the passage is that the effect of +such a change of mind, as regards a man's relation to +God, is absolute. The good life subsequent to conversion +is not weighed against the sins of past years; it is the +index of a new state of heart in which the guilt of former +transgressions is entirely blotted out: <q>All his transgressions +that he hath committed shall not be remembered +in regard to him; in his righteousness that he hath done +he shall live.</q> But in like manner the act of apostasy +effaces the remembrance of good deeds done in an earlier +period of the man's life. The standing of each soul +before God, its righteousness or its wickedness, is thus +wholly determined by its final choice of good or evil, and +is revealed by the conduct which follows that great moral +decision. There can be no doubt that Ezekiel regards +these two possibilities as equally real, falling away from +righteousness being as much a fact of experience as +repentance. In the light of the New Testament we should +perhaps interpret both cases somewhat differently. In +genuine conversion we must recognise the imparting of a +new spiritual principle which is ineradicable, containing +<pb n='154'/><anchor id='Pg154'/> +the pledge of perseverance in the state of grace to the end. +In the case of final apostasy we are compelled to judge +that the righteousness which is renounced was only +apparent, that it was no true indication of the man's +character or of his condition in the sight of God. But +these are not the questions with which the prophet is +directly dealing. The essential truth which he inculcates +is the emancipation of the individual, through repentance, +from his own past. In virtue of his immediate personal +relation to God each man has the power to accept the +offer of salvation, to break away from his sinful life and +escape the doom which hangs over the impenitent. To +this one point the whole argument of the chapter tends. +It is a demonstration of the possibility and efficacy of +individual repentance, culminating in the declaration +which lies at the very foundation of evangelical religion, +that God has no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, +but will have all men to repent and live (ver. 32). +</p> + +<p> +It is not easy for us to conceive the effect of this revelation +on the minds of people so utterly unprepared for it as +the generation in which Ezekiel lived. Accustomed as +they were to think of their individual fate as bound up in +that of their nation, they could not at once adjust themselves +to a doctrine which had never previously been +enunciated with such incisive clearness. And it is not +surprising that one effect of Ezekiel's teaching was to +create fresh doubts of the rectitude of the divine government. +<q>The way of the Lord is not equal,</q> it was said +(vv. 25, 29). So long as it was admitted that men +suffered for the sins of their ancestors or that God dealt +with them in the mass, there was at least an appearance +of consistency in the methods of Providence. The justice +of God might not be visible in the life of the individual, +but it could be roughly traced in the history of the nation as +a whole. But when that principle was discarded, then the +<pb n='155'/><anchor id='Pg155'/> +question of the divine righteousness was raised in the case +of each separate Israelite, and there immediately appeared +all those perplexities about the lot of the individual which +so sorely exercised the faith of Old Testament believers. +Experience did not show that correspondence between a +man's attitude towards God and his earthly fortunes +which the doctrine of individual freedom seemed to imply; +and even in Ezekiel's time it must have been evident that +the calamities which overtook the state fell indiscriminately +on the righteous and the wicked. The prophet's +purpose, however, is a practical one, and he does not +attempt to offer a theoretical solution of the difficulties +which thus arose. There were several considerations in +his mind which turned aside the edge of the people's +complaint against the righteousness of Jehovah. One +was the imminence of the final judgment, in which the +absolute rectitude of the divine procedure would be clearly +manifested. Another seems to be the irresolute and +unstable attitude of the people themselves towards the +great moral issues which were set before them. While +they professed to be more righteous than their fathers, +they showed no settled purpose of amendment in their +lives. A man might be apparently righteous to-day and +a sinner to-morrow; the <q>inequality</q> of which they complained +was in their own ways, and not in the way of the +Lord (vv. 25, 29). But the most important element in the +case was the prophet's conception of the character of God +as one who, though strictly just, yet desired that men +should live. The Lord is longsuffering, not willing that +any should perish; and He postpones the day of decision +that His goodness may lead men to repentance. <q>Have +I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? saith the Lord: +and not that he should turn from his ways, and live?</q> +(ver. 23). And all these considerations lead up to the +urgent call to repentance with which the chapter closes. +</p> + +<pb n='156'/><anchor id='Pg156'/> + +<p> +The importance of the questions dealt with in this +eighteenth chapter is shown clearly enough by the hold +which they have over the minds of men in the present +day. The very same difficulties which Ezekiel had to +encounter in his time confront us still in a somewhat +altered form, and are often keenly felt as obstacles to +faith in God. The scientific doctrine of heredity, for +example, seems to be but a more precise modern rendering +of the old proverb about the eating of sour grapes. The +biological controversy over the possibility of the transmission +of acquired characteristics scarcely touches the +moral problem. In whatever way that controversy may +be ultimately settled, it is certain that in all cases a man's +life is affected both for good and evil by influences which +descend upon him from his ancestry. Similarly within +the sphere of the individual life the law of habit seems to +exclude the possibility of complete emancipation from the +penalty due to past transgressions. Hardly anything, in +short, is better established by experience than that the +consequences of past actions persist through all changes +of spiritual condition, and, further, that children do suffer +from the consequences of their parents' sin. +</p> + +<p> +Do not these facts, it may be asked, amount practically +to a vindication of the theory of retribution against which +the prophet's argument is directed? How can we reconcile +them with the great principles enunciated in this chapter? +Dictates of morality, fundamental truths of religion, these +may be; but can we say in the face of experience that +they are true? +</p> + +<p> +It must be admitted that a complete answer to these +questions is not given in the chapter before us, nor perhaps +anywhere in the Old Testament. So long as God dealt with +men mainly by temporal rewards and punishments, it was +impossible to realise fully the separateness of the soul in +its spiritual relations to God; the fate of the individual +<pb n='157'/><anchor id='Pg157'/> +is necessarily merged in that of the community, and +Ezekiel's doctrine remains a prophecy of better things to +be revealed. This indeed is the light in which he himself +teaches us to regard it; although he applies it in all its +strictness to the men of his own generation, it is nevertheless +essentially a feature of the ideal kingdom of God, +and is to be exhibited in the judgment by which that +kingdom is introduced. The great value of his teaching +therefore lies in his having formulated with unrivalled +clearness principles which are eternally true of the +spiritual life, although the perfect manifestation of these +principles in the experience of believers was reserved for +the final revelation of salvation in Christ. +</p> + +<p> +The solution of the contradiction referred to lies in the +separation between the natural and the penal consequences +of sin. There is a sphere within which natural +laws have their course, modified, it may be, but not wholly +suspended by the law of the spirit of life in Christ. The +physical effects of vicious indulgence are not turned aside +by repentance, and a man may carry the scars of sin upon +him to the grave. But there is also a sphere into which +natural law does not enter. In his immediate personal +relation to God a believer is raised above the evil +consequences which flow from his past life, so that they +have no power to separate him from the love of God. +And within that sphere his moral freedom and independence +are as much matter of experience as is his subjection +to law in another sphere. He knows that all things work +together for his good, and that tribulation itself is a means +of bringing him nearer to God. Amongst those tribulations +which work out his salvation there may be the evil conditions +imposed on him by the sin of others, or even the +natural consequences of his own former transgressions. +But tribulations no longer bear the aspect of penalty, and +are no longer a token of the wrath of God. They are +<pb n='158'/><anchor id='Pg158'/> +transformed into chastisements by which the Father of +spirits makes His children perfect in holiness. The +hardest cross to bear will always be that which is the +result of one's own sin; but He who has borne the guilt of +it can strengthen us to bear even this and follow Him.<note place='foot'>In the striking passage ch. xiv. 12-23 the application of the +doctrine of individual retribution to the destruction of Jerusalem is +discussed. It is treated as <q>an exception to the rule</q> (Smend)—perhaps +the exception which proves the rule. The rule is that in a +national judgment the most eminent saints save neither son nor +daughter by their righteousness, but only their own lives (vv. 13-20). +At the fall of Jerusalem, however, a remnant escapes and goes into +captivity with sons and daughters, in order that their corrupt lives may +prove to the earlier exiles how necessary the destruction of the city was +(vv. 21-23). The argument is an admission that the judgment on Israel +was not carried out in accordance with the strict principle laid down in +ch. xviii. It is difficult, indeed, to reconcile the various utterances of +Ezekiel on this subject. In ch. xxi. 3, 4 he expressly announces that in +the downfall of the state righteous and wicked shall perish together. In +the vision of ch. ix., on the other hand, the righteous are marked for +exemption from the fate of the city. The truth appears to be that the +prophet is conscious of standing between two dispensations, and does +not hold a consistent view regarding the time when the law proper +to the perfect dispensation comes into operation. The point on which +there is no ambiguity is that in the final judgment which ushers in +the Messianic age the principle of individual retribution shall be fully +manifested.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='159'/><anchor id='Pg159'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XI. The Sword Unsheathed. Chapter xxi.</head> + +<p> +The date at the beginning of ch. xx. introduces the +fourth and last section of the prophecies delivered +before the destruction of Jerusalem. It also divides the +first period of Ezekiel's ministry into two equal parts. +The time is the month of August, 590 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi>, two years +after his prophetic inauguration and two years before the +investment of Jerusalem. It follows that if the book of +Ezekiel presents anything like a faithful picture of his +actual work, by far his most productive year was that +which had just closed. It embraces the long and varied +series of discourses from ch. viii. to ch. xix.; whereas five +chapters are all that remain as a record of his activity +during the next two years. This result is not so improbable +as at first sight it might appear. From the character +of Ezekiel's prophecy, which consists largely of homiletic +amplifications of one great theme, it is quite intelligible +that the main lines of his teaching should have taken +shape in his mind at an early period of his ministry. +The discourses in the earlier part of the book may have +been expanded in the act of committing them to writing; +but there is no reason to doubt that the ideas they contain +were present to the prophet's mind and were actually +delivered by him within the period to which they are +assigned. We may therefore suppose that Ezekiel's +public exhortations became less frequent during the two +<pb n='160'/><anchor id='Pg160'/> +years that preceded the siege, just as we know that for two +years after that event they were altogether discontinued. +</p> + +<p> +In this last division of the prophecies relating to the +destruction of Jerusalem we can easily distinguish two +different classes of oracles. On the one hand we have two +chapters dealing with contemporary incidents—the march +of Nebuchadnezzar's army against Jerusalem (ch. xxi.), +and the commencement of the siege of the city (ch. xxiv.). +In spite of the confident opinion of some critics that these +prophecies could not have been composed till after the +fall of Jerusalem, they seem to me to bear the marks of +having been written under the immediate influence of the +events they describe. It is difficult otherwise to account +for the excitement under which the prophet labours, +especially in ch. xxi., which stands by the side of ch. vii. +as the most agitated utterance in the whole book. On the +other hand we have three discourses of the nature of formal +indictments—one directed against the exiles (ch. xx.), +one against Jerusalem (ch. xxii.), and one against the +whole nation of Israel (ch. xxiii.). It is impossible in these +chapters to discover any advance in thought upon similar +passages that have already been before us. Two of them +(chs. xx. and xxiii.) are historical retrospects after the +manner of ch. xvi., and there is no obvious reason why +they should be placed in a different section of the book. +The key to the unity of the section must therefore be +sought in the two historical prophecies and in the situation +created by the events they describe.<note place='foot'>This is true whether (as some expositors think) the date in ch. xx. +is merely an external mark introducing a new division of the book, or +whether (as seems more natural) it is due to the fact that here Ezekiel +recognised a turning-point of his ministry. Such visits of the elders as +that here recorded must have been of frequent occurrence. Two others +are mentioned, and of these one is undated (ch. xiv. 1); the other at +least admits the supposition that it was connected with a very definite +change of opinion among the exiles (ch. viii. 1: see above, p. <ref target='Pg080'>80</ref>). We +may therefore reasonably suppose that the precise note of time here +introduced marks this particular incident as having possessed a peculiar +significance in the relations between the prophet and his fellow-exiles. +What its significance may have been we shall consider in the next lecture, +see p. <ref target='Pg174'>174</ref>.</note> It will therefore +help to clear the ground if we commence with the oracle +<pb n='161'/><anchor id='Pg161'/> +which throws most light on the historical background of +this group of prophecies—the oracle of Jehovah's sword +against Jerusalem in ch. xxi.<note place='foot'>The verses xx. 45-49 of the English Version really belong to ch. xxi., +and are so placed in the Hebrew. In what follows the verses will be +numbered according to the Hebrew text.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The long-projected rebellion has at length broken out. +Zedekiah has renounced his allegiance to the king of +Babylon, and the army of the Chaldæans is on its way +to suppress the insurrection. The precise date of these +events is not known. For some reason the conspiracy +of the Palestinian states had hung fire; many years had +been allowed to slip away since the time when their envoys +had met in Jerusalem to concert measures of united +resistance (Jer. xxvii.). This procrastination was, as +usual, a sure presage of disaster. In the interval the +league had dissolved. Some of its members had made +terms with Nebuchadnezzar; and it would appear that only +Tyre, Judah, and Ammon ventured on open defiance of +his power. The hope was cherished in Jerusalem, and +probably also among the Jews in Babylon, that the first +assault of the Chaldæans would be directed against the +Ammonites, and that time would thus be gained to complete +the defences of Jerusalem. To dispel this illusion +is one obvious purpose of the prophecy before us. The +movements of Nebuchadnezzar's army are directed by a +wisdom higher than his own; he is the unconscious instrument +by which Jehovah is executing His own purpose. +The real object of his expedition is not to punish a few +<pb n='162'/><anchor id='Pg162'/> +refractory tribes for an act of disloyalty, but to vindicate +the righteousness of Jehovah in the destruction of the city +which had profaned His holiness. No human calculations +will be allowed even for a moment to turn aside the blow +which is aimed directly at Jerusalem's sins, or to obscure +the lesson taught by its sure and unerring aim. +</p> + +<p> +We can imagine the restless suspense and anxiety with +which the final struggle for the national cause was watched +by the exiles in Babylon. In imagination they would +follow the long march of the Chaldæan hosts by the +Euphrates and their descent by the valleys of the Orontes +and Leontes upon the city. Eagerly would they wait +for some tidings of a reverse which would revive their +drooping hope of a speedy collapse of the great world-empire +and a restoration of Israel to its ancient freedom. +And when at length they heard that Jerusalem was +enclosed in the iron grip of these victorious legions, from +which no human deliverance was possible, their mood +would harden into one in which fanatical hope and sullen +despair contended for the mastery. Into an atmosphere +charged with such excitement Ezekiel hurls the series of +predictions comprised in chs. xxi. and xxiv. With far +other feelings than his fellows, but with as keen an +interest as theirs, he follows the development of what he +knows to be the last act in the long controversy between +Jehovah and Israel. It is his duty to repeat once more +the irrevocable decree—the divine <foreign rend='italic'>delenda est</foreign> against +the guilty Jerusalem. But he does so in this instance in +language whose vehemence betrays the agitation of his +mind, and perhaps also the restlessness of the society in +which he lived. The twenty-first chapter is a series of +rhapsodies, the product of a state bordering on ecstasy, +where different aspects of the impending judgment are +set forth by the help of vivid images which pass in quick +succession through the prophet's mind. +</p> + +<pb n='163'/><anchor id='Pg163'/> + +<div> +<head>I</head> + +<p> +The first vision which the prophet sees of the approaching +catastrophe (vv. 1-4) is that of a forest conflagration, an +occurrence which must have been as frequent in Palestine +as a prairie fire in America. He sees a fire break out +in the <q>forest of the south,</q> and rage with such fierceness +that <q>every green tree and every dry tree</q> is burned +up; the faces of all who are near it are scorched, and all +men are convinced that so terrible a calamity must be the +work of Jehovah Himself. This we may suppose to have +been the form in which the truth first laid hold of Ezekiel's +imagination; but he appears to have hesitated to proclaim +his message in this form. His figurative manner of speech +had become notorious among the exiles (ver. 5), and he +was conscious that a <q>parable</q> so vague and general +as this would be dismissed as an ingenious riddle +which might mean anything or nothing. What follows +(vv. 7-10) gives the key to the original vision. Although it +is in form an independent oracle, it is closely parallel to +the preceding and elucidates each feature in detail. The +<q>forest of the south</q> is explained to mean the land of +Israel; and the mention of the sword of Jehovah instead +of the fire intimates less obscurely that the instrument of +the threatened calamity is the Babylonian army. It is +interesting to observe that Ezekiel expressly admits that +there were righteous men even in the doomed Israel. +Contrary to his conception of the normal methods of the +divine righteousness, he conceives of <emph>this</emph> judgment as one +which involves righteous and wicked in a common ruin. +Not that God is less than righteous in this crowning act of +vengeance, but His justice is not brought to bear on the fate +of individuals. He is dealing with the nation as a whole, +and in the exterminating judgment of the nation good men +<pb n='164'/><anchor id='Pg164'/> +will no more be spared than the green tree of the forest +escapes the fate of the dry. It was the fact that righteous +men perished in the fall of Jerusalem; and Ezekiel does +not shut his eyes to it, firmly as he believed that the time +was come when God would reward every man according +to his own character. The indiscriminateness of the +judgment in its bearing on different classes of persons is +obviously a feature which Ezekiel here seeks to emphasise. +</p> + +<p> +But the idea of the sword of Jehovah drawn from its +scabbard, to return no more till it has accomplished its +mission, is the one that has fixed itself most deeply +in the prophet's imagination, and forms the connecting +link between this vision and the other amplifications of +the same theme which follow. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II</head> + +<p> +Passing over the symbolic action of vv. 11-13, representing +the horror and astonishment with which the +dire tidings of Jerusalem's fall will be received, we come +to the point where the prophet breaks into the wild strain +of dithyrambic poetry, which has been called the <q>Song +of the Sword</q> (vv. 14-22). The following translation, +although necessarily imperfect and in some places uncertain, +may convey some idea both of the structure and +the rugged vigour of the original. It will be seen that +there is a clear division into four stanzas:<note place='foot'>At three places the meaning is entirely lost, through corruption of +the text.</note>— +</p> + +<p> +(i) Vv. 14-16. +</p> + +<lg> +<l>A sword, a sword! It is sharpened and burnished withal.</l> +<l>For a work of slaughter is it sharpened!</l> +<l>To gleam like lightning burnished!</l> +</lg> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<lg> +<l>And 'twas given to be smoothed for the grip of the hand,</l> +<l>—Sharpened is it, and furbished—</l> +<l>To put in the hand of the slayer.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='165'/><anchor id='Pg165'/> + +<p> +(ii) Vv. 17, 18. +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Cry and howl, son of man!</l> +<l>For it has come among my people;</l> +<l>Come among all the princes of Israel!</l> +<l>Victims of the sword are they, they and my people;</l> +<l>Therefore smite upon thy thigh!</l> +</lg> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<p> +It shall not be, saith Jehovah the Lord. +</p> + +<p> +(iii) Vv. 19, 20. +</p> + +<lg> +<l>But, thou son of man, prophesy, and smite hand on hand;</l> +<l>Let the sword be doubled and tripled (?).</l> +<l>A sword of the slain is it, the great sword of the slain whirling around them,—</l> +<l>That hearts may fail, and many be the fallen in all their gates.</l> +</lg> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<p> +It is made like lightning, furbished for slaughter! +</p> + +<p> +(iv) Vv. 21, 22. +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Gather thee together! Smite to the right, to the left,</l> +<l>Whithersoever thine edge is appointed!</l> +<l>And I also will smite hand on hand,</l> +<l>And appease My wrath:</l> +<l>I Jehovah have spoken it.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +In spite of its obscurity, its abrupt transitions, and its +strange blending of the divine with the human personality, +the ode exhibits a definite poetic form and a real progress +of thought from the beginning to the close. Throughout +the passage we observe that the prophet's gaze is fascinated +by the glittering sword which symbolised the instrument +of Jehovah's vengeance. In the opening stanza (i) +he describes the <emph>preparation</emph> of the sword; he notes the +keenness of its edge and its glittering sheen with an awful +presentiment that an implement so elaborately fashioned is +destined for some terrible day of slaughter. Then (ii) he +announces the <emph>purpose</emph> for which the sword is prepared, +and breaks into loud lamentation as he realises that its +doomed victims are his own people and the princes of Israel. +<pb n='166'/><anchor id='Pg166'/> +In the next stanza (iii) he sees the sword <emph>in action</emph>; +wielded by an invisible hand, it flashes hither and thither, +circling round its hapless victims as if two or three swords +were at work instead of one. All hearts are paralysed +with fear, but the sword does not cease its ravages until +it has filled the ground with slain. Then at length the +sword is <emph>at rest</emph> (iv), having accomplished its work. The +divine Speaker calls on it in a closing apostrophe <q>to +gather itself together</q> as if for a final sweep to right and +left, indicating the thoroughness with which the judgment +has been executed. In the last verse the vision of the +sword fades away, and the poem closes with an announcement, +in the usual prophetic manner, of Jehovah's fixed +purpose to <q>assuage</q> His wrath against Israel by the +crowning act of retribution. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>III</head> + +<p> +If any doubt still remained as to what the sword of +Jehovah meant, it is removed in the next section (vv. +23-32), where the prophet indicates the way by which the +sword is to come on the kingdom of Judah. The Chaldæan +monarch is represented as pausing on his march, perhaps +at Riblah or some place to the north of Palestine, and +deliberating whether he shall advance first against Judah +or the Ammonites. He stands at the parting of the ways—on +the left hand is the road to Rabbath-ammon, on +the right that to Jerusalem. In his perplexity he invokes +supernatural guidance, resorting to various expedients +then in use for ascertaining the will of the gods and the +path of good fortune. He <q>rattles the arrows</q> (two of +them in some kind of vessel, one for Jerusalem and the +other for Riblah); he consults the teraphim and inspects +the entrails of a sacrificial victim. This consulting of the +omens was no doubt an invariable preliminary to every +<pb n='167'/><anchor id='Pg167'/> +campaign, and was resorted to whenever an important +military decision had to be made. It might seem a matter +of indifference to a powerful monarch like Nebuchadnezzar +which of two petty opponents he determined to crush first. +But the kings of Babylon were religious men in their way, +and never doubted that success depended on their following +the indications that were given by the higher powers. +In this case Nebuchadnezzar gets a true answer, but not +from the deities whose aid he had invoked. In his right +hand he finds the arrow marked <q>Jerusalem.</q> The die +is cast, his resolution is taken, but it is Jehovah's sentence +sealing the fate of Jerusalem that has been uttered. +</p> + +<p> +Such is the situation which Ezekiel in Babylon is +directed to represent through a piece of obvious symbolism. +A road diverging into two is drawn on the +ground, and at the meeting-point a sign-post is erected +indicating that the one leads to Ammon and the other to +Judah. It is of course not necessary to suppose that the +incident so graphically described actually occurred. The +divination scene may only be imaginary, although it is +certainly a true reflection of Babylonian ideas and customs. +The truth conveyed is that the Babylonian army is moving +under the immediate guidance of Jehovah, and that not +only the political projects of the king, but his secret +thoughts and even his superstitious reliance on signs and +omens, are all overruled for the furtherance of the one +purpose for which Jehovah has raised him up. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Ezekiel is well aware that in Jerusalem a +very different interpretation is put on the course of events. +When the news of the great king's decision reaches the +men at the head of affairs they are not dismayed. They +view the decision as the result of <q>false divination</q>; they +laugh to scorn the superstitious rites which have determined +the course of the campaign,—not that they suppose +the king will not act on his omens, but they do not +<pb n='168'/><anchor id='Pg168'/> +believe they are an augury of success. They had hoped +for a short breathing space while Nebuchadnezzar was +engaged on the east of the Jordan, but they will not +shrink from the conflict whether it be to-day or to-morrow. +Addressing himself to this state of mind, Ezekiel once +more<note place='foot'>Cf. ch. xvii.</note> reminds those who hear him that these men are +fighting against the moral laws of the universe. The +existing kingdom of Judah occupies a false position before +God and in the eyes of just men. It has no religious +foundation; for the hope of the Messiah does not lie with +that wearer of a dishonoured crown, the king Zedekiah, +but with the legitimate heir of David now in exile. The +state has no right to be except as part of the Chaldæan +empire, and this right it has forfeited by renouncing its +allegiance to its earthly superior. These men forget that +in this quarrel the just cause is that of Nebuchadnezzar, +whose enterprise only seems to <q>call to mind their +iniquity</q> (ver. 28)—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, their political crime. In provoking +this conflict, therefore, they have put themselves in +the wrong; they shall be caught in the toils of their own +villainy. +</p> + +<p> +The heaviest censure is reserved for Zedekiah, the +<q>wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day is coming +in the time of final retribution.</q> This part of the prophecy +has a close resemblance to the latter part of ch. xvii. +The prophet's sympathies are still with the exiled king, or +at least with that branch of the royal family which he +represents. And the sentence of rejection on Zedekiah +is again accompanied by a promise of the restoration of +the kingdom in the person of the Messiah. The crown +which has been dishonoured by the last king of Judah +shall be taken from his head; that which is low shall be +exalted (the exiled branch of the Davidic house), and that +<pb n='169'/><anchor id='Pg169'/> +which is high shall be abased (the reigning king); the +whole existing order of things shall be overturned <q>until +<emph>He</emph> comes who has the right.</q><note place='foot'>The reference is to the Messiah, and seems to be based on the +ancient prophecy of Gen. xlix. 10, reading there שֶׁלּה instead of +שִׁלה.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>IV</head> + +<p> +The last oracle is directed against the children of +Ammon. By Nebuchadnezzar's decision to subdue Jerusalem +first the Ammonites had gained a short respite. +They even exulted in the humiliation of their former ally, +and had apparently drawn the sword in order to seize +part of the land of Judah. Misled by false diviners, they +had dared to seek their own advantage in the calamities +which Jehovah had brought on His own people. The +prophet threatens the complete annihilation of Ammon, +even in its own land, and the blotting out of its remembrance +among the nations. That is the substance of the +prophecy; but its form presents several points of difficulty. +It begins with what appears to be an echo of the <q>Song of +the Sword</q> in the earlier part of the chapter:— +</p> + +<lg> +<l>A sword! a sword!</l> +<l>It is drawn for slaughter; it is furbished to shine like lightning (ver. 33).</l> +</lg> + +<p> +But as we proceed we find that it is the sword of the +Ammonites that is meant, and they are ordered to return +it to its sheath. If this be so, the tone of the passage +must be ironical. It is in mockery that the prophet uses +such magnificent language of the puny pretensions of +Ammon to take a share in the work for which Jehovah +has fashioned the mighty weapon of the Chaldæan army. +There are other reminiscences of the earlier part of the +chapter, such as the <q>lying divination</q> of ver. 34, and the +<pb n='170'/><anchor id='Pg170'/> +<q>time of final retribution</q> in the same verse. The allusion +to the <q>reproach</q> of Ammon and its aggressive attitude +seems to point to the time after the destruction of Jerusalem +and the withdrawal of the army of Nebuchadnezzar. +Whether the Ammonites had previously made their submission +or not we cannot tell; but the fortieth and forty-first +chapters of Jeremiah show that Ammon was still a +hotbed of conspiracy against the Babylonian interest in the +days after the fall of Jerusalem. These appearances make +it probable that this part of the chapter is an appendix, +added at a later time, and dealing with a situation which +was developed after the destruction of the city. Its +insertion in its present place is easily accounted for by +the circumstance that the fate of Ammon had been linked +with that of Jerusalem in the previous part of the chapter. +The vindictive little nationality had used its respite to +gratify its hereditary hatred of Israel, and now the judgment, +suspended for a time, shall return with redoubled +fury and sweep it from the earth. +</p> + +<p> +Looking back over this series of prophecies, there seems +reason to believe that, with the exception of the last, +they are really contemporaneous with the events they +deal with. It is true that they do not illuminate the +historical situation to the same degree as those in which +Isaiah depicts the advance of another invader and the +development of another crisis in the people's history. +This is due partly to the bent of Ezekiel's genius, but partly +also to the very peculiar circumstances in which he was +placed. The events which form the theme of his prophecy +were transacted on a distant stage; neither he nor his immediate +hearers were actors in the drama. He addresses +himself to an audience wrought to the highest pitch of +excitement, but swayed by hopes and rumours and vague +surmises as to the probable issue of events. It was +inevitable in these circumstances that his prophecy, even +<pb n='171'/><anchor id='Pg171'/> +in those passages which deal with contemporary facts, +should present but a pale reflection of the actual situation. +In the case before us the one historical event which stands +out clearly is the departure of Nebuchadnezzar with his +army to Jerusalem. But what we read is genuine +prophecy; not the artifice of a man using prophetic speech +as a literary form, but the utterance of one who discerns +the finger of God in the present, and interprets His purpose +beforehand to the men of his day. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='172'/><anchor id='Pg172'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XII. Jehovah's Controversy With Israel. Chapter xx.</head> + +<p> +By far the hardest trial of Ezekiel's faith must have +been the conduct of his fellow-exiles. It was +amongst them that he looked for the great spiritual change +which must precede the establishment of the kingdom of +God; and he had already addressed to them words of +consolation based on the knowledge that the hope of the +future was theirs (ch. xi. 18). Yet the time passed on +without bringing any indications that the promise was +about to be fulfilled. There were no symptoms of national +repentance; there was nothing even to show that the +lessons of the Exile as interpreted by the prophet were +beginning to be laid to heart. For these men, among +whom he lived, were still inveterately addicted to idolatry. +Strange as it must seem to us, the very men who cherished +a fanatical faith in Jehovah's power to save His people +were assiduously practising the worship of other gods. It +is too readily assumed by some writers that the idolatry +of the exiles was of the ambiguous kind which had prevailed +so long in the land of Israel, that it was the worship +of Jehovah under the form of images—a breach of the +second commandment, but not of the first. The people +who carried Jeremiah down to Egypt were as eager as +Ezekiel's companions to hear a word from Jehovah; yet +they were devoted to the worship of the <q>Queen of +Heaven,</q> and dated all their misfortunes from the time +<pb n='173'/><anchor id='Pg173'/> +when their women had ceased to pay court to her. +There is no reason to believe that the Jews in Babylon +were less catholic in their superstitions than those of +Judæa; and indeed the whole drift of Ezekiel's expostulations +goes to show that he has the worship of false gods +in view. The ancient belief that the worship of Jehovah +was specially associated with the land of Canaan is not +likely to have been without influence on the minds of +those who felt the fascination of idolatry, and must have +strengthened the tendency to seek the aid of foreign gods +in a foreign land. +</p> + +<p> +The twentieth chapter deals with this matter of idolatry; +and the fact that this important discourse was called forth +by a visit from the elders of Israel shows how heavily +the subject weighed on the prophet's mind. Whatever +the purpose of the deputation may have been (and of that +we have no information), it was certainly not to consult +Ezekiel about the propriety of worshipping false gods. +It is only because this great question dominates all his +thoughts concerning them and their destiny that he connects +the warning against idolatry with a casual inquiry +addressed to him by the elders. The circumstances are +so similar to those of ch. xiv. that Ewald was led to +conjecture that both oracles originated in one and the +same incident, and were separated from each other in +writing because of the difference of their subjects. Ch. xiv. +on that view justifies the refusal of an answer from +a consideration of the true function of prophecy, while +ch. xx. expands the admonition of the sixth verse of +ch. xiv. into an elaborate review of the religious history +of Israel. But there is really no good reason for identifying +the two incidents. In neither passage does the +prophet think it worth while to record the object of the +inquiry addressed to him, and therefore conjecture is +useless. +</p> + +<pb n='174'/><anchor id='Pg174'/> + +<p> +But the very fact that a definite date is given for this +visit leads us to consider whether it had not some peculiar +significance to lodge it so firmly in Ezekiel's mind. Now +the most suggestive hint which the chapter affords is the +idea put into the lips of the exiles in ver. 32: <q>And as +for the thought which arises in your mind, it shall not be, +in that ye are thinking, We will become like the heathen, +like the families of the lands, in worshipping wood and +stone.</q> These words contain the key to the whole discourse. +It is difficult, no doubt, to decide how much +exactly is implied in them. They may mean no more +than the determination to keep up the external conformity +to heathen customs which already existed in matters of +worship—as, for example, in the use of images. But the +form of expression used, <q>that which is coming up in +your mind,</q> almost suggests that the prophet was face +to face with an incipient tendency among the exiles, a +deliberate resolve to apostatise and assimilate themselves +for all religious purposes to the surrounding heathen. It +is by no means improbable that, amidst the many conflicting +tendencies that distracted the exiled community, this +idea of a complete abandonment of the national religion +should have crystallised into a settled purpose in the event +of their last hope being disappointed. If this was the +situation with which Ezekiel had to deal, we should be +able to understand how his denunciation takes the precise +form which it assumes in this chapter. +</p> + +<p> +For what is, in the main, the purport of the chapter? +Briefly stated the argument is as follows. The religion of +Jehovah had never been the true expression of the national +genius of Israel. Not now for the first time has the +purpose of Israel come into conflict with the immutable +purpose of Jehovah; but from the very beginning the +history had been one long struggle between the natural +inclinations of the people and the destiny which was +<pb n='175'/><anchor id='Pg175'/> +forced on it by the will of God. The love of idols had +been the distinguishing feature of the national character +from the beginning; and if it had been suffered to prevail, +Israel would never have been known as Jehovah's people. +Why had it not been suffered to prevail? Because of +Jehovah's regard for the honour of His name; because +in the eyes of the heathen His glory was identified with +the fortunes of this particular people, to whom He had +once revealed Himself. And as it has been in the past, +so it will be in the future. The time has come for the +age-long controversy to be brought to an issue, and it +cannot be doubtful what the issue will be. <q>That which +comes up in their mind</q>—this new resolve to live like +the heathen—cannot turn aside the purpose of Jehovah +to make of Israel a people for His own glory. Whatever +further judgments may be necessary for that end, the +land of Israel shall yet be the seat of a pure and acceptable +worship of the true God, and the people shall +recognise with shame and contrition that the goal of all +its history has been accomplished in spite of its perversity +by the <q>irresistible grace</q> of its divine King. +</p> + +<div> +<head>I</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>The Lesson of History</hi> (vv. 5-29).—It is a magnificent +conception of national election which the prophet here +unfolds. It takes the form of a parallel between two +desert scenes, one at the beginning and the other at the +close of Israel's history. The first part of the chapter +deals with the religious significance of the transactions +in the wilderness of Sinai and the events in Egypt which +were introductory to them. It starts from Jehovah's free +choice of the people while they were still living as idolaters +in Egypt. Jehovah there revealed Himself to them as +their God, and entered into a covenant<note place='foot'>The word <q>covenant</q> is not here used.</note> with them; and +<pb n='176'/><anchor id='Pg176'/> +the covenant included on the one hand the promise of +the land of Canaan, and on the other hand a requirement +that the people should separate themselves from all forms +of idolatry whether native or Egyptian. <q>In the day that +I chose Israel, ... and made Myself known to them in +the land of Egypt, ... saying, I am Jehovah your God; +in that day I lifted up My hand to them, to bring them +out of the land of Egypt, into a land which I had sought +out for them. And I said to them, Cast away each man +the abomination of his eyes, and defile not yourselves +with the block-gods of Egypt. I am Jehovah your God</q> +(vv. 5-7). The point which Ezekiel specially emphasises +is that this vocation to be the people of the true God +was thrust on Israel without its consent, and that the +revelation of Jehovah's purpose evoked no response in +the heart of the people. By persistence in idolatry they +had virtually renounced the kingship of Jehovah and +forfeited their right to the fulfilment of the promise He +had given them. And only from regard to His name, +that it might not be profaned in the sight of the nations, +before whose eyes He had made Himself known to them, +did He turn from the purpose He had formed to destroy +them in the land of Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +In several respects this account of the occurrences in +Egypt goes beyond what we learn from any other source. +The historical books contain no reference to the prevalence +of specifically Egyptian forms of idolatry among +the Hebrews, nor do they mention any threat to exterminate +the people for their rebellion. It is not to be +supposed, however, that Ezekiel possessed other records +of the period before the Exodus than those preserved in +the Pentateuch. The fundamental conceptions are those +attested by the history, that God first revealed Himself to +Israel by the name Jehovah through Moses, and that the +revelation was accompanied by a promise of deliverance +<pb n='177'/><anchor id='Pg177'/> +from Egypt. That the people in spite of this revelation +continued to worship idols is an inference from the whole +of their subsequent history. And the conflict in the mind +of Jehovah between anger against the people's sin and +jealousy for His own name is not a matter of history at all, +but is an inspired interpretation of the history in the light +of the divine holiness, which embraces both these elements. +</p> + +<p> +In the wilderness Israel entered on the second and +decisive stage of its probation which falls into two acts, +and whose determining factor was the legislation. To +the generation of the Exodus Jehovah made known the +way of life in a code of law which on its own intrinsic +merits ought to have commended itself to their moral +sense. The statutes and judgments that were then given +were such that <q>if a man do them he shall live by them</q> +(ver. 11). This thought of the essential goodness of the +law as originally given reveals Ezekiel's view of God's +relation to men. It derives its significance no doubt from +the contrast with legislation of an opposite character +afterwards mentioned. Yet even that contrast expresses +a conviction in the prophet's mind that morality is not +constituted by arbitrary enactments on the part of God, +but that there are eternal conditions of ethical fellowship +between God and man, and that the law first offered for +Israel's acceptance was the embodiment of those ethical +relations which flow from the nature of Jehovah. It is +probable that Ezekiel has in view the moral precepts of +the Decalogue. If so, it is instructive to notice that the +Sabbath law is separately mentioned, not as one of the +laws by which a man lives, but as a sign of the covenant +between Jehovah and Israel. The divine purpose was +again defeated by the idolatrous proclivities of the people: +<q>They despised My judgments, and they did not walk in +My statutes, and they profaned My Sabbaths, <emph>because</emph> their +heart went after their idols</q> (ver. 16). +</p> + +<pb n='178'/><anchor id='Pg178'/> + +<p> +To the second generation in the wilderness the offer +of the covenant was renewed, with the same result +(vv. 18-24). It should be observed that in both cases the +disobedience of the people is answered by two distinct +utterances of Jehovah's wrath. The first is a threat of +immediate extermination, which is expressed as a momentary +purpose of Jehovah, no sooner formed than withdrawn +for the sake of His honour (vv. 14, 21). The +other is a judgment of a more limited character, uttered +in the form of an oath, and in the first case at least +actually carried out. For the threat of exclusion from +the Promised Land (ver. 15) was enforced so far as +the first generation was concerned. Now the parallelism +between the two sections leads us to expect that the +similar threat of dispersion in ver. 23 is meant to be +understood of a judgment actually inflicted. We may +conclude, therefore, that ver. 23 refers to the Babylonian +exile and the dispersion among the nations, which hung +like a doom over the nation during its whole history in +Canaan, and is represented as a direct consequence of their +transgressions in the wilderness. There seems reason to +believe that the particular allusion is to the twenty-eighth +chapter of Deuteronomy, where the threat of a dispersion +among the nations concludes the long list of curses which +will follow disobedience to the law (Deut. xxviii. 64-68). +It is true that in that chapter the threat is only conditional; +but in the time of Ezekiel it had already been fulfilled, +and it is in accordance with his whole conception of the +history to read the final issue back into the early period +when the national character was determined. +</p> + +<p> +But in addition to this, as if effectually to <q>conclude +them under sin,</q> Jehovah met the hardness of their +hearts by imposing on them laws of an opposite character +to those first given, and laws which accorded only +too well with their baser inclinations: <q>And I also gave +<pb n='179'/><anchor id='Pg179'/> +them statutes that were not good, and judgments by +which they should not live; and I rendered them unclean +in their offerings, by making over all that opened the +womb, that I might horrify them</q> (vv. 25, 26). +</p> + +<p> +This division of the wilderness legislation into two +kinds, one good and life-giving and the other not good, +presents difficulties both moral and critical which cannot +perhaps be altogether removed. The general direction in +which the solution must be sought is indeed tolerably +clear. The reference is to the law which required the +consecration of the firstborn of all animals to Jehovah. +This was interpreted in the most rigorous sense as +dedication in sacrifice; and then the principle was extended +to the case of human beings. The divine purpose +in appearing to sanction this atrocious practice was to +<q>horrify</q> the people—that is to say, the punishment of +their idolatry consisted in the shock to their natural +instincts and affections caused by the worst development +of the idolatrous spirit to which they were delivered. +We are not to infer from this that human sacrifice was +an element of the original Hebrew religion, and that it +was actually based on legislative enactment. The truth +appears to be that the sacrifice of children was originally +a feature of Canaanitish worship, particularly of the god +Melek or Molech, and was only introduced into the religion +of Israel in the evil days which preceded the fall of the +state.<note place='foot'>Apart from the case of Jephthah, which is entirely exceptional, the +first historical instance is that of Ahaz (2 Kings xvi. 3).</note> The idea took hold of men's minds that this +terrible rite alone revealed the full potency of the sacrificial +act; and when the ordinary means of propitiation seemed +to fail, it was resorted to as the last desperate expedient +for appeasing an offended deity. All that Ezekiel's words +warrant us in assuming is that when once the practice +<pb n='180'/><anchor id='Pg180'/> +was established it was defended by an appeal to the +ancient law of the firstborn, the principle of which was +held to cover the case of human sacrifices. These laws, +relating to the consecration of firstborn animals, are +therefore the statutes referred to by Ezekiel; and their +defect lies in their being open to such an immoral misinterpretation. +This view is in accordance with the +probabilities of the case. When we consider the tendency +of the Old Testament writers to refer all actual events +immediately to the will of God, we can partly understand +the form in which Ezekiel expresses the facts; +and this is perhaps all that can be said on the moral +aspect of the difficulty. It is but an application of the +principle that sin is punished by moral obliquity, and +precepts which are accommodated to the hardness of +men's hearts are by that same hardness perverted to +fatal issues. It cannot even be said that there is a +radical divergence of view between Ezekiel and Jeremiah +on this subject. For when the older prophet, speaking +of child-sacrifice, says that Jehovah <q>commanded it not, +neither came it into His mind</q> (ch. vii. 31 and ch. xix. 5), +he must have in view men who justified the custom by +an appeal to ancient legislation. And although Jeremiah +indignantly repudiates the suggestion that such horrors +were contemplated by the law of Jehovah, he hardly in +this goes beyond Ezekiel, who declares that the ordinance +in question does not represent the true mind of Jehovah, +but belongs to a part of the law which was intended to +punish sin by delusion.<note place='foot'><p>There still remain the critical difficulties. What are the ambiguous +laws to which the prophet refers? It is of course not to be assumed +as certain that they are to be found in the Pentateuch, at least in the +exact form which Ezekiel has in view. There may have been at that +time a considerable amount of uncodified legislative material which +passed vaguely as the law of Jehovah. The <q>lying pen of the scribes</q> +seems to have been busy in the multiplication of such enactments +(Jer. viii. 8). Still, it is a legitimate inquiry whether any of the extant +laws of the Pentateuch are open to the interpretation which Ezekiel +seems to have in view. The parts of the Pentateuch in which the +regulation about the dedication of the firstborn occurs are the so-called +Book of the Covenant (Exod. xxii. 29, 30), the short code of Exod. xxxiv. +17-26 (vv. 19 f.), the enactment connected with the institution of the +Passover (Exod. xiii. 12 f.), and the priestly ordinance (Numb. xviii. 15). +Now, in three of these four passages, the inference to which Ezekiel refers +is expressly excluded by the provision that the firstborn of men shall +be redeemed. The only one which bears the appearance of ambiguity +is that in the Book of the Covenant, where we read: <q>The firstborn of +thy sons shalt thou give unto Me; likewise shalt thou do with thine +oxen and thy sheep: seven days it shall be with its dam, on the eighth +day thou shalt give it to Me.</q> Here the firstborn children and the +firstlings of animals are put on a level; and if any passage in our present +Pentateuch would lend itself to the false construction which the later +Israelites favoured, it would be this. On the other hand this passage +does not contain the particular technical word (<foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>he'ebîr</foreign>) used by +Ezekiel. The word probably means simply <q>dedicate,</q> although this +was understood in the sense of dedication by sacrifice. The only passage +of the four where the verb occurs is Exod. xiii. 12; and this accordingly +is the one generally fixed on by critics as having sanctioned the +abuse in question. But apart from its express exemption of firstborn +children from the rule, the passage fails in another respect to meet the +requirements of the case. The prophet appears to speak here of +legislation addressed to the second generation in the wilderness, and +this could not refer to the Passover ordinance in its present setting. On +the whole we seem to be driven to the conclusion that Ezekiel is not +thinking of any part of our present Pentateuch, but to some other law +similar in its terms to that of Exod. xiii. 12 f., although equivocal in the +same way as Exod. xxii. 29 f. +</p> +<p> +In the text above I have given what appears to me the most natural +interpretation of the passage, without referring to the numerous other +views which have been put forward. Van Hoonacker, in <hi rend='italic'>Le Museon</hi> +(1893), subjects the various theories to a searching criticism, and arrives +himself at the nebulous conclusion that the <q>statutes which were not +good</q> are not statutes at all, but providential chastisements. That cuts +the knot, it does not untie it.</p></note> +</p> + +<pb n='181'/><anchor id='Pg181'/> + +<p> +In consequence of these transactions in the desert +Israel entered the land of Canaan under the threat of +eventual exile and under the curse of a polluted worship. +The subsequent history has little significance from the +<pb n='182'/><anchor id='Pg182'/> +point of view occupied throughout this discourse; and +accordingly Ezekiel disposes of it in three verses (27-29). +The entrance on the Promised Land, he says, furnished +the opportunity for a new manifestation of disloyalty to +Jehovah. He refers to the multiplication of heathen or +semi-heathen sanctuaries throughout the land. Wherever +they saw a high hill or a leafy tree, they made it a +place of sacrifice, and there they practised the impure +rites which were the outcome of their false conception of +the Deity. To the mind of Ezekiel the unity of Jehovah +and the unity of the sanctuary were inseparable ideas: +the offence here alluded to is therefore of the same kind +as the abominations practised in Egypt and the desert; +it is a violation of the holiness of Jehovah. The prophet +condenses his scorn for the whole system of religion +which led to a multiplication of sanctuaries into a play +on the etymology of the word <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>bāmah</foreign> (high places), the +point of which, however, is obscure.<note place='foot'>None of the interpretations of ver. 29 gives a satisfactory sense. +Cornill rejects it as <q>absonderlich und aus dem Tenor des ganzen Cap. +herausfallend.</q></note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>The Application</hi> (vv. 30-44).—Having thus described +the origin of idolatry in Israel, and having shown that the +destiny of the nation had been determined neither by its +deserts nor by its inclinations, but by Jehovah's consistent +regard for the honour of His name, the prophet proceeds +to bring the lesson of the history to bear on his contemporaries. +The Captivity has as yet produced no change +in their spiritual condition; in Babylon they still defile +themselves with the same abominations as their ancestors, +even to the crowning atrocity of child-sacrifice. Their +idolatry is if anything more conscious than before, for it +takes the shape of a deliberate intention to be as other +<pb n='183'/><anchor id='Pg183'/> +nations, worshipping wood and stone. It is necessary +therefore that once for all Jehovah should assert His +sovereignty over Israel, and bend their stubborn will to +the accomplishment of His purpose. <q>As I live, saith the +Lord Jehovah, surely with a strong hand, and with an +outstretched arm, and wrath poured out, will I be king +over you</q> (ver. 33). But how was this to be done? A +heavier chastisement than that which had been inflicted +on the exiles could hardly be conceived, yet it had effected +nothing for the regeneration of Israel. Surely the time +is come when the divine method must be changed, when +those who have hardened themselves against the severity +of God must be won by His goodness? Such, however, +is not the thought expressed in Ezekiel's delineation of +the future. It is possible that the description which +follows (vv. 34-38) may only be meant as an ideal picture +of spiritual processes to be effected by ordinary providential +agencies. But certain it is that what Ezekiel is chiefly +convinced of is the necessity for further acts of judgment—judgment +which shall be decisive, because discriminating, +and issuing in the annihilation of all who cling to the +evil traditions of the past. This idea, indeed, of further +chastisement in store for the exiles is a fixed element of +Ezekiel's prophecy. It appears in his earliest public +utterance (ch. v.), although it is perhaps only in this +chapter that we perceive its full significance. +</p> + +<p> +The scene of God's final dealings with Israel's sin is +to be the <q>desert of the nations.</q> That great barren +plateau which stretches between the Jordan and the +Euphrates valley, round which lay the nations chiefly +concerned in Israel's history, occupies a place in the +restoration analogous to that of the wilderness of Sinai +(here called the <q>wilderness of Egypt</q>) at the time of +the Exodus. Into that vast solitude Jehovah will gather +His people from the lands of their exile, and there He will +<pb n='184'/><anchor id='Pg184'/> +once more judge them face to face. This judgment will +be conducted on the principle laid down in ch. xviii. +Each individual shall be dealt with according to his own +character as a righteous man or a wicked. They shall +be made to <q>pass under the rod,</q> like sheep when they +are counted by the shepherd.<note place='foot'>See Dillmann's note on Lev. xxvii. 32, quoted by Davidson.</note> The rebels and transgressors +shall perish in the wilderness; for <q>out of the +land of their sojournings will I bring them, and into the +land of Israel they shall not come</q> (ver. 38). Those that +emerge from the trial are the righteous remnant, who are +to be brought into the land by number:<note place='foot'>Reading במספר for במסרת with the LXX.</note> these constitute +the new Israel, for whom is reserved the glory of the +latter days. +</p> + +<p> +The idea that the spiritual transformation of Israel was +to be effected <emph>during a second sojourn in the wilderness</emph>, +although a very striking one, occurs only here in the book +of Ezekiel, and it can hardly be considered as one of the +cardinal ideas of his eschatology. It is in all probability +derived from the prophecies of Hosea, although it is +modified in accordance with the very different estimate +of the nation's history represented by Ezekiel. It is instructive +to compare the teaching of these two prophets +on this point. To Hosea the idea of a return to the +desert presents itself naturally as an element of the process +by which Israel is to be brought back to its allegiance to +Jehovah. The return to the desert restores the conditions +under which the nation had first known and followed +Jehovah. He looks back to the sojourn in the wilderness +of Sinai as the time of uninterrupted communion between +Jehovah and Israel—a time of youthful innocence, when +the sinful tendencies which may have been latent in +the nation had not developed into actual infidelity. The +<pb n='185'/><anchor id='Pg185'/> +decay of religion and morality dates from the possession +of the land of Canaan, and is traced to the corrupting influence +of Canaanitish idolatry and civilisation. It was at +Baal-peor that they first succumbed to the attractions of a +false religion and became contaminated with the spirit of +heathenism. Then the rich produce of the land came to be +regarded as the gift of the deities who were worshipped at +the local sanctuaries, and this worship with its sensuous +accompaniments was the means of estranging the people +more and more from the knowledge of Jehovah. Hence +the first step towards a renewal of the relation between +God and Israel is the withdrawal of the gifts of nature, +the suppression of religious ordinances and political institutions; +and this is represented as effected by a return to +the primitive life of the desert. Then in her desolation +and affliction the heart of Israel shall respond once more +to the love of Jehovah, who has never ceased to yearn after +His unfaithful people. <q>I will allure her, and bring her into +the wilderness, and speak to her heart: ... and she shall +make answer there, as in the days of her youth, and as +in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt</q> +(Hos. ii. 14, 15). Here there may be a doubt whether the +wilderness is to be taken literally or as a figure for exile, +but in either case the image naturally arises out of Hosea's +profoundly simple conception of religion. +</p> + +<p> +To Ezekiel, on the other hand, the <q>wilderness</q> is a +synonym for contention and judgment. It is the scene +where the meanness and perversity of man stand out in +unrelieved contrast with the majesty and purity of God. +He recognises no glad springtime of promise and hope in +the history of Israel, no <q>kindness of her youth</q> or <q>love +of her espousals</q> when she went after Jehovah in the +land that was not sown (Jer. ii. 2). The difference between +Hosea's conception and Ezekiel's is that in the view of +the exilic prophet there never has been any true response +<pb n='186'/><anchor id='Pg186'/> +on the part of Israel to the call of God. Hence a return +to the desert can only mean a repetition of the judgments +that had marked the first sojourn of the people in the +wilderness of Sinai, and the carrying of them to the +point of a final decision between the claims of Jehovah +and the stubbornness of His people. +</p> + +<p> +If it be asked which of these representations of the +past is the true one, the only answer possible is that +from the standpoint from which the prophets viewed +history both are true. Israel did follow Jehovah through +the wilderness, and took possession of the land of +Canaan animated by an ardent faith in His power. It +is equally true that the religious condition of the people +had its dark side, and that they were far from understanding +the nature of the God whose name they bore. +And a prophet might emphasise the one truth or the +other according to the idea of God which it was given +him to teach. Hosea, reading the religious symptoms of +his own time, sees in it a contrast to the happier period +when life was simple and religion comparatively pure, and +finds in the desert sojourn an image of the purifying +process by which the national life must be renewed. +Ezekiel had to do with a more difficult problem. He saw +that there was a power of evil which could not be eradicated +merely by banishment from the land of Israel—a +hard bed-rock of unbelief and superstition in the national +character which had never yielded to the influence of +revelation; and he dwells on all the manifestations of this +which he read in the past. His hope for the future of the +cause of God rests no longer on the moral influence of +the divine love on the heart of man, but on the power of +Jehovah to accomplish His purpose in spite of the resistance +of human sin. That was not the whole truth about +God's relation to Israel, but it was the truth that needed +to be impressed on the generation of the Exile. +</p> + +<pb n='187'/><anchor id='Pg187'/> + +<p> +Of the final issue at all events Ezekiel is not doubtful. +He is a man who is <q>very sure of God</q> and sure of +nothing else. In man he finds nothing to inspire him +with confidence in the ultimate victory of the true religion +over polytheism and superstition. His own generation +has shown itself fit only to perpetuate the evils of the +past—the love of sensuous worship, the insensibility to +the claims and nature of Jehovah, which had marked the +whole history of Israel. He is compelled for the present +to abandon them to their corrupt inclinations,<note place='foot'>The transition ver. 39 is, however, very difficult. As it stands in +the Hebrew text it contains an ironical concession (a good-natured one, +Smend thinks) to the persistent advocates of idolatry, the only tolerable +translation being, <q>So serve ye every man his idols, but hereafter ye +shall surely hearken to Me, and My holy name ye shall no longer profane +with your gifts and your idols.</q> But this sense is not in itself very +natural, and the Hebrew construction by which it is expressed would be +somewhat strained. The most satisfactory rendering is perhaps that +given in the Syriac Version, where two clauses of our Hebrew text are +transposed: <q>But as for you, O house of Israel, if ye will not hearken +to Me, go serve every man his idols! Yet hereafter ye shall no more +profane My holy name in you,</q> etc.</note> expecting +no signs of amendment until his appeal is enforced by +signal acts of judgment. +</p> + +<p> +But all this does not shake his sublime faith in the +fulfilment of Israel's destiny. Despairing of men, he +falls back on what St. Paul calls the <q>purpose of God +according to election</q> (Rom. ix. 11). And with an insight +akin to that of the apostle of the Gentiles, he discerns +through all Jehovah's dealings with Israel a principle and +an ideal which must in the end prevail over the sin of +men. The goal to which the history points stands out +clear before the mind of the prophet; and already he sees +in vision the restored Israel—a holy people in a renovated +land—rendering acceptable worship to the one God of +heaven and earth. <q>For in My holy mountain, in the +<pb n='188'/><anchor id='Pg188'/> +mountain heights of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah, <emph>there</emph> +shall serve Me the whole house of Israel: there will I be +gracious to them, and there will I require your oblations, +and the firstfruits of your offerings, in all your holy +things</q> (ver. 40). +</p> + +<p> +There we have the thought which is expanded in the +vision of the purified theocracy which occupies the closing +chapters of the book. And it is important to notice this +indication that the idea of that vision was present to +Ezekiel during the earlier part of his ministry. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='189'/><anchor id='Pg189'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XIII. Ohola And Oholibah. Chapter xxiii.</head> + +<p> +The allegory of ch. xxiii. adds hardly any new thought +to those which have already been expounded in +connection with ch. xvi. and ch. xx. The ideas which +enter into it are all such as we are now familiar with. +They are: the idolatry of Israel, learned in Egypt and +persisted in to the end of her history; her fondness for +alliances with the great Oriental empires, which was the +occasion of new developments of idolatry; the corruption +of religion by the introduction of human sacrifice into the +service of Jehovah; and, finally, the destruction of Israel +by the hands of the nations whose friendship she had so +eagerly courted. The figure under which these facts are +presented is the same as in ch. xvi., and many of the +details of the earlier prophecy are reproduced here with +little variation. But along with these resemblances we +find certain characteristic features in this chapter which +require attention, and perhaps some explanation. +</p> + +<p> +In its treatment of the history this passage is distinguished +from the other two by the recognition of the +separate existence of the northern and southern kingdoms. +In the previous retrospects Israel has either been treated +as a unity (as in ch. xx.), or attention has been wholly +concentrated on the fortunes of Judah, Samaria being +regarded as on a level with a purely heathen city like +Sodom (ch. xvi.). Ezekiel may have felt that he has not +<pb n='190'/><anchor id='Pg190'/> +yet done justice to the truth that the history of Israel ran +in two parallel lines, and that the full significance of God's +dealings with the nation can only be understood when the +fate of Samaria is placed alongside of that of Jerusalem. +He did not forget that he was sent as a prophet to the +<q>whole house of Israel,</q> and indeed all the great pre-exilic +prophets realised that their message concerned <q>the +whole family which Jehovah had brought up out of Egypt</q> +(Amos iii. 1). Besides this the chapter affords in many +ways an interesting illustration of the workings of the +prophet's mind in the effort to realise vividly the nature +of his people's sin and the meaning of its fate. In this +respect it is perhaps the most finished and comprehensive +product of his imagination, although it may not reveal the +depth of religious insight exhibited in the sixteenth chapter. +</p> + +<p> +The main idea of the allegory is no doubt borrowed +from a prophecy of Jeremiah belonging to the earlier part +of his ministry (Jer. iii. 6-13). The fall of Samaria was +even then a somewhat distant memory, but the use which +Jeremiah makes of it seems to show that the lesson of it +had not altogether ceased to impress the mind of the +southern kingdom. In the third chapter he reproaches +Judah the <q>treacherous</q> for not having taken warning +from the fate of her sister the <q>apostate</q> Israel, who has +long since received the reward of her infidelities. The +same lesson is implied in the representation of Ezekiel +(ver. 11); but as is usual with our prophet, the simple +image suggested by Jeremiah is drawn out in an elaborate +allegory, into which as many details are crowded as it will +bear. In place of the epithets by which Jeremiah characterises +the moral condition of Israel and Judah, Ezekiel +coins two new and somewhat obscure names—<hi rend='italic'>Ohola</hi> for +Samaria, and <hi rend='italic'>Oholibah</hi> for Jerusalem.<note place='foot'>It is not certain what is the exact meaning wrapped up in these +designations. A very slight change in the pointing of the Hebrew would +give the sense <q><emph>her</emph> tent</q> for Ohola and <q><emph>my</emph> tent in her</q> for Oholibah. +This is the interpretation adopted by most commentators, the idea being +that while the tent or temple of Jehovah was in Judah, Samaria's <q>tent</q> +(religious system) was of her own making. It is not likely, however, +that Ezekiel has any such sharp contrast in his mind, since the whole of +the argument proceeds on the similarity of the course pursued by the two +kingdoms. It is simpler to take the word Ohola as meaning <q>tent,</q> +and Oholibah as <q>tent in her,</q> the signification of the names being +practically identical. The allusion is supposed to be to the tents of the +high places which formed a marked feature of the idolatrous worship +practised in both divisions of the country (cf. ch. xvi. 16). This is better, +though not entirely convincing, since it does not explain how Ezekiel +came to fix on this particular emblem as a mark of the religious condition +of Israel. It may be worth noting that the word אהלה contains the +same number of consonants as שׂמרן (= Samaria, although the word is +always written שׂמרון in the Old Testament), and אהליבה the same +number as ירושלם. The Eastern custom of giving similar names to +children of the same family (like Hasan and Husein) is aptly instanced +by Smend and Davidson.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='191'/><anchor id='Pg191'/> + +<p> +These women are children of one mother, and afterwards +become wives of one husband—Jehovah. This +need occasion no surprise in an allegorical representation, +although it is contrary to a law which Ezekiel doubtless +knew (Lev. xviii. 18). Nor is it strange, considering the +freedom with which he handles the facts of history, that +the division between Israel and Judah is carried back to +the time of the oppression in Egypt. We have indeed no +certainty that this view is not historical. The cleavage +between the north and the south did not originate with +the revolt of Jeroboam. That great schism only brought +out elements of antagonism which were latent in the +relations of the tribe of Judah to the northern tribes. Of +this there are many indications in the earlier history, and +for what we know the separation might have existed among +the Hebrews in Goshen. Still, it is not probable that +Ezekiel was thinking of any such thing. He is bound +by the limits of his allegory; and there was no other way +<pb n='192'/><anchor id='Pg192'/> +by which he could combine the presentation of the two +essential elements of his conception—that Samaria and +Jerusalem were branches of the one people of Jehovah, +and that the idolatry which marked their history had +been learned in the youth of the nation in the land of +Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +That neither Israel nor Judah ever shook off the spell +of their adulterous connection with Egypt, but returned +to it again and again down to the close of their history, is +certainly one point which the prophet means to impress +on the minds of his readers (vv. 8, 19, 27). With this +exception the earlier part of the chapter (to ver. 35) deals +exclusively with the later developments of idolatry from +the eighth century and onwards. And one of the most +remarkable things in it is the description of the manner +in which first Israel and then Judah was entangled in +political relations with the Oriental empires. There +seems to be a vein of sarcasm in the sketch of the gallant +Assyrian officers who turned the heads of the giddy and +frivolous sisters and seduced them from their allegiance +to Jehovah: <q>Ohola doted on her lovers, on the Assyrian +warriors<note place='foot'>This word is of doubtful meaning.</note> clad in purple, governors and satraps, charming +youths all of them, horsemen riding on horses; and she +lavished on them her fornications, the <foreign rend='italic'>élite</foreign> of the sons of +Asshur all of them, and with all the idols of all on whom +she doted she defiled herself</q> (vv. 6, 7). The first intimate +contact of North Israel with Assyria was in the reign of +Menahem (2 Kings xv. 19), and the explanation of it +given in these words of Ezekiel must be historically true. +It was the magnificent equipment of the Assyrian armies, +the imposing display of military power which their appearance +suggested, that impressed the politicians of Samaria +with a sense of the value of their alliance. The passage +<pb n='193'/><anchor id='Pg193'/> +therefore throws light on what Ezekiel and the prophets +generally mean by the figure of <q>whoredom.</q> What he +chiefly deplores is the introduction of Assyrian idolatry, +which was the inevitable sequel to a political union. But +that was a secondary consideration in the intention of +those who were responsible for the alliance. The real +motive of their policy was undoubtedly the desire of one +party in the state to secure the powerful aid of the king +of Assyria against the rival party. None the less it was +an act of infidelity and rebellion against Jehovah. +</p> + +<p> +Still more striking is the account of the first approaches +of the southern kingdom to Babylon. After Samaria had +been destroyed by the lovers whom she had gathered to her +side, Jerusalem still kept up the illicit connection with the +Assyrian empire. After Assyria had vanished from the +stage of history, she eagerly sought an opportunity to enter +into friendly relations with the new Babylonian empire. +She did not even wait till she had made their acquaintance, +but <q>when she saw men portrayed on the wall, pictures +of Chaldæans portrayed in vermilion, girt with waist-cloths +on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, +all of them champions to look upon, the likeness of the +sons of Babel whose native land is Chaldæa—then she +doted upon them when she saw them with her eyes, and +sent messengers to them to Chaldæa</q> (vv. 14-16). The +brilliant pictures referred to are those with which Ezekiel +must have been familiar on the walls of the temples and +palaces of Babylon. The representation, however, cannot +be understood literally, since the Jews could have had no +opportunity of even seeing the Babylonian pictures <q>on +the wall</q> until they had sent ambassadors there.<note place='foot'>Smend thinks that the illustration is explained by the secluded life +of females in the East, which makes it quite intelligible that a woman +might be captivated by the picture of a man she had never seen, and try +to induce him to visit her.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='194'/><anchor id='Pg194'/> + +<p> +The meaning of the prophet is clear. The mere report +of the greatness of Babylon was sufficient to excite the +passions of Oholibah, and she began with blind infatuation +to court the advances of the distant strangers who were +to be her ruin. The exact historic reference, however, is +uncertain. It cannot be to the compact between Merodach-baladan +and Hezekiah, since at that time the initiative seems +to have been taken by the rebel prince, whose sovereignty +over Babylon proved to be of short duration. It may +rather be some transaction about the time of the battle +of Carchemish (604) that Ezekiel is thinking of; but we +have not as yet sufficient knowledge of the circumstances +to clear up the allusion. +</p> + +<p> +Before the end came the soul of Jerusalem was alienated +from her latest lovers—another touch of fidelity to the +historical situation. But it was now too late. The soul +of Jehovah is alienated from Oholibah (vv. 17, 18), and +she is already handed over to the fate which had overtaken +her less guilty sister Ohola. The principal agents +of her punishment are the Babylonians and all the Chaldæans; +but under their banner marches a host of other +nations—Pekod and Shoa and Koa,<note place='foot'>On these names of nations see Davidson's Commentary, p. 168, and +the reference there to Delitzsch.</note> and, somewhat +strangely, the sons of Asshur. In the pomp and circumstance +of war which had formerly fascinated her imagination, +they shall come against her, and after their cruel +manner execute upon her the judgment meted out to +adulterous women: <q>Thou hast walked in the way of +thy sister, and I will put her cup into thy hand. Thus +saith the Lord Jehovah, The cup of thy sister shalt thou +drink,—deep and wide, and of large content,—filled with +drunkenness and anguish—the cup of horror and desolation, +the cup of thy sister Samaria. And thou shalt drink +<pb n='195'/><anchor id='Pg195'/> +it and drain it out,<note place='foot'>The words rendered in E.V., <q>thou shalt be laughed to scorn and +had in derision</q> (ver. 32), <q>and pluck off thy own breasts</q> (ver. 34), +are wanting in the LXX. The passage gains in force by the omission. +The words translated <q>break the sherds thereof</q> (ver. 34) are unintelligible.</note> ... for I have spoken it, saith the +Lord Jehovah</q> (vv. 31-34). +</p> + +<p> +Up to this point the allegory has closely followed the +actual history of the two kingdoms. The remainder of +the chapter (vv. 36-49) forms a pendant to the principal +picture, and works out the central theme from a different +point of view. Here Samaria and Jerusalem are regarded +as still existent, and judgment is pronounced on both +as if it were still future. This is thoroughly in keeping +with Ezekiel's ideal delineations. The limitations of space +and time are alike transcended. The image, once clearly +conceived, fixes itself in the writer's mind, and must be +allowed to exhaust its meaning before it is finally dismissed. +The distinctions of far and near, of past and +present and future, are apt to disappear in the intensity +of his reverie. It is so here. The figures of Ohola +and Oholibah are so real to the prophet that they are +summoned once more to the tribunal to hear the recital of +their <q>abominations</q> and receive the sentence which has +in fact been already partly executed. Whether he is thinking +at all of the ten tribes then in exile and awaiting further +punishment it would be difficult to say. We see, however, +that the picture is enriched with many features for which +there was no room in the more historic form of the +allegory, and perhaps the desire for completeness was the +chief motive for thus amplifying the figure. The description +of the conduct of the two harlots (vv. 40-44) is exceedingly +graphic,<note place='foot'>Although the text in parts of vv. 42, 43 is very imperfect.</note> and is no doubt a piece of realism drawn +from life. Otherwise the section contains nothing that +<pb n='196'/><anchor id='Pg196'/> +calls for elucidation. The ideas are those which we have +already met with in other connections, and even the setting +in which they are placed presents no element of novelty. +</p> + +<p> +Thus with words of judgment, and without a ray of hope +to lighten the darkness of the picture, the prophet closes +this last survey of his people's history. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='197'/><anchor id='Pg197'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XIV. Final Oracles Against Jerusalem. Chapters xxii., xxiv.</head> + +<p> +The close of the first period of Ezekiel's work was +marked by two dramatic incidents, which made the +day memorable both in the private life of the prophet and +in the history of the nation. In the first place it coincided +exactly with the commencement of the siege of Jerusalem. +The prophet's mysterious knowledge of what was happening +at a distance was duly recorded, in order that its +subsequent confirmation through the ordinary channels +of intelligence might prove the divine origin of his +message (ch. xxiv. 1, 2). That Ezekiel actually did this +we have no reason to doubt. Then the sudden death of +his wife on the evening of the same day, and his unusual +behaviour under the bereavement, caused a sensation +among the exiles which the prophet was instructed to +utilise as a means of driving home the appeal just made +to them. These transactions must have had a profound +effect on Ezekiel's fellow-captives. They made his +personality the centre of absorbing interest to the Jews +in Babylon; and the two years of silence on his part +which ensued were to them years of anxious foreboding +about the result of the siege. +</p> + +<p> +At this juncture the prophet's thoughts naturally are +occupied with the subject which hitherto formed the +principal burden of his prophecy. The first part of his +career accordingly closes, as it had begun, with a symbol +<pb n='198'/><anchor id='Pg198'/> +of the fall of Jerusalem. Before this, however, he had +drawn out the solemn indictment against Jerusalem which +is given in ch. xxii., although the finishing touches were +probably added after the destruction of the city. The +substance of that chapter is so closely related to the +symbolic representation in the first part of ch. xxiv. that +it will be convenient to consider it here as an introduction +to the concluding oracles addressed more directly to the +exiles of Tel-abib. +</p> + +<div> +<head>I</head> + +<p> +The purpose of this arraignment—the most stately of +Ezekiel's orations—is to exhibit Jerusalem in her true +character as a city whose social condition is incurably +corrupt. It begins with an enumeration of the prevalent +sins of the capital (vv. 2-16); it ends with a denunciation +of the various classes into which society was divided +(vv. 23-31); while the short intervening passage is a +figurative description of the judgment which is now inevitable +(vv. 17-22). +</p> + +<p> +1. The first part of the chapter, then, is a catalogue +of the <q>abominations</q> which called down the vengeance +of Heaven upon the city of Jerusalem. The offences +enumerated are nearly the same as those mentioned in +the definitions of personal righteousness and wickedness +given in ch. xviii. It is not necessary to repeat what +was there said about the characteristics of the moral +ideal which had been formed in the mind of Ezekiel. +Although he is dealing now with a society, his point of +view is quite different from that represented by purely +allegorical passages like chs. xvi. and xxiii. The city is +not idealised and treated as a moral individual, whose +relations to Jehovah have to be set forth in symbolic and +figurative language. It is conceived as an aggregate of +<pb n='199'/><anchor id='Pg199'/> +individuals bound together in social relations; and the +sins charged against it are the actual transgressions of +the men who are members of the community. Hence +the standard of public morality is precisely the same as +that which is elsewhere applied to the individual in his +personal relation to God; and the sins enumerated are +attributed to the city merely because they are tolerated +and encouraged in individuals by laxity of public opinion +and the force of evil example. Jerusalem is a community +in which these different crimes are perpetrated: <q>Father +and mother are despised <emph>in thee</emph>; the stranger is oppressed +<emph>in the midst of thee</emph>; orphan and widow are wronged <emph>in +thee</emph>; slanderous men seeking blood have been <emph>in thee</emph>; +flesh with the blood is eaten <emph>in thee</emph>; lewdness is committed +<emph>in the midst of thee</emph>; the father's shame is uncovered <emph>in +thee</emph>; she that was unclean in her separation hath been +humbled <emph>in thee</emph>.</q> So the grave and measured indictment +runs on. It is because of these things that Jerusalem +as a whole is <q>guilty</q> and <q>unclean</q> and has brought +near her day of retribution (ver. 4). Such a conception +of corporate guilt undoubtedly appeals more directly to +our ordinary conscience of public morality than the more +poetic representations where Jerusalem is compared to a +faithless and treacherous woman. We have no difficulty +in judging of any modern city in the very same way as +Ezekiel here judges Jerusalem; and in this respect it is +interesting to notice the social evils which he regards as +marking out that city as ripe for destruction. +</p> + +<p> +There are three features of the state of things in Jerusalem +in which the prophet recognises the symptoms of an +incurable social condition. The first is the loss of a true +conception of God. In ancient Israel this defect necessarily +assumed the form of idolatry. Hence the multiplication +of idols appropriately finds a place among the +marks of the <q>uncleanness</q> which made Jerusalem hateful +<pb n='200'/><anchor id='Pg200'/> +in the eyes of Jehovah (ver. 3). But the root of idolatry +in Israel was the incapacity or the unwillingness of the +people to live up to the lofty conception of the divine +nature which was taught by the prophets. Throughout +the ancient world religion was felt to be the indispensable +bond of society, and the gods that were worshipped reflected +more or less fully the ideals that swayed the life of +the community. To Israel the religion of Jehovah represented +the highest social ideal that was then known on +earth. It meant righteousness, and purity, and brotherhood, +and compassion for the poor and distressed. When +these virtues decayed she forgot Jehovah (ver. 12)—forgot +His character even if she remembered His name—and the +service of false gods was the natural and obvious expression +of the fact. There is therefore a profound truth in +Ezekiel's mind when he numbers the idols of Jerusalem +amongst the indications of a degenerate society. They +were the evidence that she had lost the sense of God as +a holy and righteous spiritual presence in her midst, and +that loss was at once the source and the symptom of widespread +moral declension. It is one of the chief lessons of +the Old Testament that a religion which was neither the +product of national genius nor the embodiment of national +aspiration, but was based on supernatural revelation, +proved itself in the history of Israel to be the only possible +safeguard against the tendencies which made for social +disintegration. +</p> + +<p> +A second mark of depravity which Ezekiel discovers in +the capital is the perversion of certain moral instincts +which are just as essential to the preservation of society +as a true conception of God. For if society rests at one +end on religion, it rests at the other on instinct. The +closest and most fundamental of human relations depend +on innate perceptions which may be easily destroyed, but +which when destroyed can scarcely be recovered. The +<pb n='201'/><anchor id='Pg201'/> +sanctities of marriage and the family will hardly bear the +coarse scrutiny of utilitarian ethics; yet they are the +foundation on which the whole social fabric is built. And +there is no part of Ezekiel's indictment of Jerusalem which +conveys to our minds a more vivid sense of utter corruption +than where he speaks of the loss of filial piety and revolting +forms of sexual impurity as prevalent sins in the city. +Here at least he carries the conviction of every moralist +with him. He instances no offence of this kind which +would not be branded as unnatural by any system of ethics +as heartily as it is by the Old Testament. It is possible, +on the other hand, that he ranks on the same level with +these sins ceremonial impurities appealing to feelings of a +different order, to which no permanent moral value can +be attached. When, for example, he instances eating with +the blood<note place='foot'>On the reading here see above, p. <ref target='Pg150'>150</ref>.</note> as an <q>abomination,</q> he appeals to a law which +is no longer binding on us. But even that regulation was +not so worthless, from a moral point of view, at that time +as we are apt to suppose. The abhorrence of eating blood +was connected with certain sacrificial ideas which attributed +a mystic significance to the blood as the seat of animal +life. So long as these ideas existed no man could commit +this offence without injuring his moral nature and loosening +the divine sanctions of morality as a whole. It is a +false illuminism which seeks to disparage the moral insight +of the prophet on the ground that he did not teach an +abstract system of ethics in which ceremonial precepts +were sharply distinguished from duties which we consider +moral.<note place='foot'>The eighth verse, referring to the Sabbath and the sanctuary, is +rejected by Cornill on internal grounds, but for that there is no justification. +If the verse is retained, it will be seen that the enumeration of +sins corresponds pretty closely in substance, though not in arrangement, +with the precepts of the Decalogue.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='202'/><anchor id='Pg202'/> + +<p> +The third feature of Jerusalem's guilty condition is lawless +violation of human rights. Neither life nor property +was secure. Judicial murders were frequent in the city, +and minor forms of oppression, such as usury, spoliation +of the unprotected, and robbery, were of daily occurrence. +The administration of justice was corrupted by systematic +bribery and perjury, and the lives of innocent men were +ruthlessly sacrificed under the forms of law. This after +all is the aspect of things which bulks most largely in the +prophet's indictment. Jerusalem is addressed as a <q>city +shedding blood in her midst,</q> and throughout the accusation +the charge of bloodshed is that which constantly +recurs. Misgovernment and party strife, and perhaps +religious persecution, had converted the city into a vast +human shambles, and the blood of the innocent slain cried +aloud to heaven for vengeance. <q>Of what avail,</q> asks the +prophet, <q>are the stores of wealth piled up in the hands of +a few against this damning witness of blood? Jehovah +smites His hand [in derision] against her gains that she +has made, and against her blood which is in her midst. +How can her heart stand or her hands be strong in the +days when He deals with her?</q> (vv. 13, 14). Drained of +her best blood, given over to internecine strife, and stricken +with the cowardice of conscious guilt, Jerusalem, already +disgraced among the nations, must fall an easy victim to +the Chaldæan invaders, who are the agents of Jehovah's +judgments. +</p> + +<p> +2. But the most serious aspect of the situation is that +which is dealt with in the peroration of the chapter +(vv. 23-31). Outbursts of vice and lawlessness such as +has been described may occur in any society, but they +are not necessarily fatal to a community so long as it +possesses a conscience which can be roused to effective +protest against them. Now the worst thing about +Jerusalem was that she lacked this indispensable condition +<pb n='203'/><anchor id='Pg203'/> +of recovery. No voice was raised on the side of +righteousness, no man dared to stem the tide of wickedness +that swept through her streets. Not merely that +she harboured within her walls men guilty of incest and +robbery and murder, but that her leading classes were +demoralised, that public spirit had decayed among her +citizens, marked her as incapable of reformation. She +was <q>a land not watered,</q><note place='foot'>Read with the LXX. מטּרה, instead of מטהרה, <q>purified.</q></note> <q>and not rained upon in a +day of indignation</q> (ver. 24); the springs of her civic virtue +were dried up, and a blight spread through all sections of +her population.<note place='foot'>This appears to be the meaning of the simile in ver. 24; the judgment +is conceived as a parching drought, and the point of the comparison is +that its severity is not tempered by the fertilising streams which should +have descended on the people in the shape of sound political and religious +guidance.</note> Ezekiel's impeachment of different classes +of society brings out this fact with great force. First of +all the ancient institutions of social order, government, +priesthood, and prophecy were in the hands of men who +had lost the spirit of their office and abused their position +for the advancement of private interests. Her princes<note place='foot'>Following the LXX. we should read <q>whose princes</q> (אשר נשיאיה) +for <q>the conspiracy of her prophets</q> (קשר נביאיה) in ver. 25.</note> +have been, instead of humane rulers and examples of +noble living, cruel and rapacious tyrants, enriching themselves +at the cost of their subjects (ver. 25). The priests, +whose function was to maintain the outward ordinances of +religion and foster the spirit of reverence, have done their +utmost, by falsification of the <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>Torah</foreign>, to bring religion into +contempt and obliterate the distinction between the holy +and the profane (ver. 26). The nobles had been a pack +of ravening wolves, imitating the rapacity of the court, +and hunting down prey which the royal lion would have +disdained to touch (ver. 27). As for the professional +<pb n='204'/><anchor id='Pg204'/> +prophets—those degenerate representatives of the old +champions of truth and mercy—we have already seen +what they were worth (ch. xiii.). They who should have +been foremost to denounce civil wrong are fit for nothing +but to stand by and bolster up with lying oracles in the +name of Jehovah a constitution which sheltered crimes +like these (ver. 28). +</p> + +<p> +From the ruling classes the prophet's glance turns for +a moment to the <q>people of the land,</q> the dim common +population, where virtue might have been expected to find +its last retreat. It is characteristic of the age of Ezekiel +that the prophets begin to deal more particularly with the +sins of the masses as distinct from the classes. This was +due partly perhaps to a real increase of ungodliness in +the body of the people, but partly also to a deeper sense +of the importance of the individual apart from his position +in the state. These prophets seem to feel that if there +had been anywhere among rich or poor an honest +response to the will of Jehovah it would have been a +token that God had not altogether rejected Israel. Jeremiah +puts this view very strongly when in the fifth +chapter he says that if one man could be found in +Jerusalem who did justice and sought truth the Lord +would pardon her; and his vain search for that man +begins among the poor. It is this same motive that +leads Ezekiel to include the humble citizen in his survey +of the moral condition of Jerusalem. It is little wonder +that under such leaders they had cast off the restraints +of humanity, and oppressed those who were still more +defenceless than themselves. But it showed nevertheless +that real religion had no longer a foothold in the city. +It proved that the greed of gain had eaten into the very +heart of the people and destroyed the ties of kindred +and mutual sympathy, through which alone the will of +Jehovah could be realised. No matter although they +<pb n='205'/><anchor id='Pg205'/> +were obscure householders, without political power or +responsibility; if they had been good men in their private +relations, Jerusalem would have been a better place to +live in. Ezekiel indeed does not go so far as to say that +a single good life would have saved the city. He expects +of a good man that he be a man in the full sense—a +man who speaks boldly on behalf of righteousness and +resists the prevalent evils with all his strength: <q>I sought +among them a man to build up a fence, and to stand in +the breach before Me on behalf of the land, that it might +not be destroyed; and I found none. So I poured out +My indignation upon them; with the fire of My wrath I +consumed them: I have returned their way upon their +head, saith the Lord Jehovah</q> (vv. 30, 31). +</p> + +<p> +3. But we should misunderstand Ezekiel's position if +we supposed that his prediction of the speedy destruction +of Jerusalem was merely an inference from his clear insight +into the necessary conditions of social welfare which +were being violated by her rulers and her citizens. That +is one part of his message, but it could not stand alone. +The purpose of the indictment we have considered is +simply to explain the moral reasonableness of Jehovah's +action in the great act of judgment which the prophet +knows to be approaching. It is no doubt a general law +of history that moribund communities are not allowed to +die a natural death. Their usual fate is to perish in the +struggle for existence before some other and sounder +nation. But no human sagacity can foresee how that +law will be verified in any particular case. It may seem +clear to us now that Israel must have fallen sooner or +later before the advance of the great Eastern empires, +but an ordinary observer could not have foretold with +the confidence and precision which mark the predictions +of Ezekiel in what manner and within what time the +end would come. Of that aspect of the prophet's mind +<pb n='206'/><anchor id='Pg206'/> +no explanation can be given save that God revealed His +secret to His servants the prophets. +</p> + +<p> +Now this element of the prophecy seems to be brought +out by the image of Jerusalem's fate which occupies the +middle verses of the chapter (vv. 17-22). The city is +compared to the crucible in which all the refuse of Israel's +national life is to undergo its final trial by fire. The +prophet sees in imagination the terror-stricken provincial +population swept into the capital before the approach of the +Chaldæans; and he says, <q>Thus does Jehovah cast His +ore into the furnace—the silver, the brass, the iron, the +lead, and the tin; and He will kindle the fire with His +anger, and blow upon it till He have consumed the +impurities of the land.</q> The image of the smelting-pot +had been used by Isaiah as an emblem of purifying judgment, +the object of which was the removal of injustice and +the restoration of the state to its former splendour: <q>I +will again bring My hand upon thee, smelting out thy dross +with lye and taking away all thine alloy; and I will make +thy judges to be again as aforetime, and thy counsellors +as at the beginning: thereafter thou shalt be called the +city of righteousness, the faithful city</q> (Isa. i. 25, 26). +Ezekiel, however, can hardly have contemplated such a +happy result of the operation. The whole house of Israel +has become dross, from which no precious metal can be +extracted; and the object of the smelting is only the +demonstration of the utter worthlessness of the people +for the ends of God's kingdom. The more refractory the +material to be dealt with the fiercer must be the fire that +tests it; and the severity of the exterminating judgment +is the only thing symbolised by the metaphor as used by +Ezekiel. In this he follows Jeremiah, who applies the +figure in precisely the same sense: <q>The bellows snort, +the lead is consumed of the fire; in vain he smelts and +smelts: but the wicked are not taken away. Refuse silver +<pb n='207'/><anchor id='Pg207'/> +shall men call them, for the Lord hath rejected them</q> +(Jer. vi. 29, 30). In this way the section supplements +the teaching of the rest of the chapter. Jerusalem is full +of dross—that has been proved by the enumeration of +her crimes and the estimate of her social condition. But +the fire which consumes the dross represents a special +providential intervention bringing the history of the state +to a summary and decisive conclusion. And the Refiner +who superintends the process is Jehovah, the Holy One +of Israel, whose righteous will is executed by the march +of conquering hosts, and revealed to men in His dealings +with the people whom He had known of all the families +of the earth. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II</head> + +<p> +The chapter we have just studied was evidently not +composed with a view to immediate publication. It +records the view of Jerusalem's guilt and punishment +which was borne in upon the mind of the prophet in the +solitude of his chamber, but it was not destined to see +the light until the whole of his teaching could be submitted +in its final form to a wider and more receptive audience. +It is equally obvious that the scenes described in ch. xxiv. +were really enacted in the full view of the exiled community. +We have reached the crisis of Ezekiel's ministry. +For the last time until his warnings of doom shall be +fulfilled he emerges from his partial seclusion, and in +symbolism whose vivid force could not have failed to impress +the most listless hearer he announces once more +the destruction of the Hebrew nation. The burden of his +message is that that day—the tenth day of the tenth month +of the ninth year—marked the beginning of the end. +<q>On that very day</q>—a day to be commemorated for +seventy long years by a national fast (Zech. viii. 19; +<pb n='208'/><anchor id='Pg208'/> +cf. vii. 5)—Nebuchadnezzar was drawing his lines round +Jerusalem. The bare announcement to men who knew +what a Chaldæan siege meant must have sent a thrill of +consternation through their minds. If this vision of what +was happening in a distant land should prove true, they +must have felt that all hope of deliverance was now cut +off. Sceptical as they may have been of the moral +principles that lay behind Ezekiel's prediction, they could +not deny that the issue he foresaw was only the natural +sequel to the fact he so confidently announced. +</p> + +<p> +The image here used of the fate of Jerusalem would +recall to the minds of the exiles the ill-omened saying +which expressed the reckless spirit prevalent in the city: +<q>This city is the pot, and we are the flesh</q> (ch. xi. 3). +It was well understood in Babylon that these men were +playing a desperate game, and did not shrink from the +horrors of a siege. <q>Set on the pot,</q> then, cries the +prophet to his listeners, <q>set it on, and pour in water +also, and gather the pieces into it, every good joint, leg +and shoulder; fill it with the choicest bones. Take them +from the best of the flock, and then pile up the wood<note place='foot'>Read עצים, <q>wood,</q> instead of עצמים, <q>bones</q> (Boettcher and +others).</note> +under it; let its pieces be boiled and its bones cooked +within it</q> (vv. 3-5). This part of the parable required no +explanation; it simply represents the terrible miseries +endured by the population of Jerusalem during the siege +now commencing. But then by a sudden transition the +speaker turns the thoughts of his hearers to another +aspect of the judgment (vv. 6-8). The city itself is like a +rusty caldron, unfit for any useful purpose until by some +means it has been cleansed from its impurity. It is as +if the crimes that had been perpetrated in Jerusalem +had stained her very stones with blood. She had not +<pb n='209'/><anchor id='Pg209'/> +even taken steps to conceal the traces of her wickedness; +they lie like blood on the bare rock, an open witness +to her guilt. Often Jehovah had sought to purify her +by more measured chastisements, but it has now been +proved that <q>her much rust will not go from her except +by fire</q><note place='foot'>The words <q>except by fire</q> represent an emendation proposed by +Cornill, which may be somewhat bold, but certainly expresses an idea +in the passage.</note> (ver. 12). Hence the end of the siege will be +twofold. First of all the contents of the caldron will be +indiscriminately thrown out—a figure for the dispersion +and captivity of the inhabitants; and then the pot must be +set empty on the glowing coals till its rust is thoroughly +burned out—a symbol of the burning of the city and +its subsequent desolation (ver. 11). The idea that the +material world may contract defilement through the sins +of those who live in it is one that is hard for us to +realise, but it is in keeping with the view of sin presented +by Ezekiel, and indeed by the Old Testament generally. +There are certain natural emblems of sin, such as uncleanness +or disease or uncovered blood, etc., which had +to be largely used in order to educate men's moral +perceptions. Partly these rest on the analogy between +physical defect and moral evil; but partly, as here, they +result from a strong sense of association between human +deeds and their effects or circumstances. Jerusalem is +unclean as a place where wicked deeds have been done, +and even the destruction of the sinners cannot in the +mind of Ezekiel clear her from the unhallowed associations +of her history. She must lie empty and dreary for +a generation, swept by the winds of heaven before devout +Israelites can again twine their affections round the hope +of her glorious future.<note place='foot'>Cf. Jer. xiii. 27: <q>Thou shalt not be pronounced clean, for how long +a time yet!</q></note> +</p> + +<pb n='210'/><anchor id='Pg210'/> + +<p> +Even while delivering this message of doom to the +people the prophet's heart was burdened by the presentiment +of a great personal sorrow. He had received +an intimation that his wife was to be taken from him +by a sudden stroke, and along with the intimation a +command to refrain from all the usual signs of mourning. +<q>So I spake to the people</q> (as recorded in vv. 1-14) <q>in +the morning, and my wife died in the evening</q> (ver. 18). +Just one touch of tenderness escapes him in relating this +mysterious occurrence. She was the <q>delight of his +eyes</q>: that phrase alone reveals that there was a fountain +of tears sealed up within the breast of this stern preacher. +How the course of his life may have been influenced by +a bereavement so strangely coincident with a change in +his whole attitude to his people we cannot even surmise. +Nor is it possible to say how far he merely used the +incident to convey a lesson to the exiles, or how far his +private grief was really swallowed up in concern for the +calamity of his country. All we are told is that <q>in the +morning he did as he was commanded.</q> He neither +uttered loud lamentations, nor disarranged his raiment, +nor covered his head, nor ate the <q>bread of men,</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>I.e.</hi>, as generally explained, bread brought by sympathising friends, +to be shared with the mourning household: cf. Jer. xvi. 7; 2 Sam. iii. 35. +Wellhausen, however, proposes to read <q>bread of mourners</q> (אֲנִשֻׁים +for אֲנָשִׁים).</note> nor +adopted any of the customary signs of mourning for the +dead. When the astonished neighbours inquire the +meaning of his strange demeanour, he assures them that +his conduct <emph>now</emph> is a sign of what theirs will be when his +words have come true. When the tidings reach them +that Jerusalem has actually fallen, when they realise how +many interests dear to them have perished—the desolation +of the sanctuary, the loss of their own sons and daughters—they +will experience a sense of calamity which will +<pb n='211'/><anchor id='Pg211'/> +instinctively discard all the conventional and even the +natural expressions of grief. They shall neither mourn +nor weep, but sit in dumb bewilderment, haunted by a +dull consciousness of guilt which yet is far removed from +genuine contrition of heart. They shall pine away in +their iniquities. For while their sorrow will be too deep +for words, it will not yet be the godly sorrow that worketh +repentance. It will be the sullen despair and apathy of +men disenchanted of the illusions on which their national +life was based, of men left without hope and without God +in the world. +</p> + +<p> +Here the curtain falls on the first act of Ezekiel's +ministry. He appears to have retired for the space of +two years into complete privacy, ceasing entirely his +public appeals to the people, and waiting for the time +of his vindication as a prophet. The sense of restraint +under which he has hitherto exercised the function of a +public teacher cannot be removed until the tidings have +reached Babylon that the city has fallen. Meanwhile, +with the delivery of this message, his contest with the +unbelief of his fellow-captives comes to an end. But +when that day arrives <q>his mouth shall be open, and he +shall be no more dumb.</q> A new career will open out +before him, in which he can devote all his powers of mind +and heart to the inspiring work of reviving faith in the +promises of God, and so building up a new Israel out of +the ruins of the old. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='215'/><anchor id='Pg215'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Part III. Prophecies Against Foreign Nations.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XV. Ammon, Moab, Edom, And Philistia. Chapter xxv.</head> + +<p> +The next eight chapters (xxv.-xxxii.) form an intermezzo +in the book of Ezekiel. They are inserted +in this place with the obvious intention of separating the +two sharply contrasted situations in which our prophet +found himself before and after the siege of Jerusalem. +The subject with which they deal is indeed an essential +part of the prophet's message to his time, but it is separate +from the central interest of the narrative, which lies in +the conflict between the word of Jehovah in the hands +of Ezekiel and the unbelief of the exiles among whom +he lived. The perusal of this group of chapters is intended +to prepare the reader for the completely altered +conditions under which Ezekiel was to resume his public +ministrations. The cycle of prophecies on foreign peoples +is thus a sort of literary analogue of the period of +suspense which interrupted the continuity of Ezekiel's +work in the way we have seen. It marks the shifting of +the scenes behind the curtain before the principal actors +again step on the stage. +</p> + +<p> +It is natural enough to suppose that the prophet's mind +was really occupied during this time with the fate of +Israel's heathen neighbours; but that alone does not +account for the grouping of the oracles before us in this +particular section of the book. Not only do some of the +chronological notices carry us far past the limit of the time +<pb n='216'/><anchor id='Pg216'/> +of silence referred to, but it will be found that nearly +all these prophecies assume that the fall of Jerusalem is +already known to the nations addressed. It is therefore a +mistaken view which holds that in these chapters we have +simply the result of Ezekiel's meditations during his period +of enforced seclusion from public duty. Whatever the +nature of his activity at this time may have been, the +principle of arrangement here is not chronological, but +literary; and no better motive for it can be suggested +than the writer's sense of dramatic propriety in unfolding +the significance of his prophetic life. +</p> + +<p> +In uttering a series of oracles against heathen nations, +Ezekiel follows the example set by some of his greatest +predecessors. The book of Amos, for example, opens with +an impressive chapter of judgments on the peoples lying +immediately round the borders of Palestine. The thundercloud +of Jehovah's anger is represented as moving over +the petty states of Syria before it finally breaks in all its +fury over the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel. Similarly +the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah contain continuous +sections dealing with various heathen powers, while the +book of Nahum is wholly occupied with a prediction of +the ruin of the Assyrian empire. And these are but a few +of the more striking instances of a phenomenon which is +apt to cause perplexity to close and earnest students of +the Old Testament. We have here to do, therefore, with +a standing theme of Hebrew prophecy; and it may help us +better to understand the attitude of Ezekiel if we consider +for a moment some of the principles involved in this constant +preoccupation of the prophets with the affairs of +the outer world. +</p> + +<p> +At the outset it must be understood that prophecies +of this kind form part of Jehovah's message to Israel. +Although they are usually cast in the form of direct +address to foreign peoples, this must not lead us to +<pb n='217'/><anchor id='Pg217'/> +imagine that they were intended for actual publication +in the countries to which they refer. A prophet's real +audience always consisted of his own countrymen, whether +his discourse was about themselves or about their neighbours. +And it is easy to see that it was impossible to +declare the purpose of God concerning Israel in words +that came home to men's business and bosoms, without +taking account of the state and the destiny of other nations. +Just as it would not be possible nowadays to forecast +the future of Egypt without alluding to the fate of the +Ottoman empire, so it was not possible then to describe +the future of Israel in the concrete manner characteristic +of the prophets without indicating the place reserved for +those peoples with whom it had close intercourse. Besides +this, a large part of the national consciousness of Israel +was made up of interests, friendly or the reverse, in neighbouring +states. The Hebrews had a keen eye for national +idiosyncrasies, and the simple international relations of +those days were almost as vivid and personal as of neighbours +living in the same village. To be an Israelite was +to be something characteristically different from a Moabite, +and that again from an Edomite or a Philistine, and every +patriotic Israelite had a shrewd sense of what the difference +was. We cannot read the utterances of the prophets +with regard to any of these nationalities without seeing +that they often appeal to perceptions deeply lodged in +the popular mind, which could be utilised to convey the +spiritual lessons which the prophets desired to teach. +</p> + +<p> +It must not be supposed, however, that such prophecies +are in any degree the expression of national vanity or +jealousy. What the prophets aim at is to elevate the +thoughts of Israel to the sphere of eternal truths of the +kingdom of God; and it is only in so far as these can be +made to touch the conscience of the nation at this point +that they appeal to what we may call its international +<pb n='218'/><anchor id='Pg218'/> +sentiments. Now the question we have to ask is, What +spiritual purpose for Israel is served by the announcements +of the destiny of the outlying heathen populations? There +are of course special interests attaching to each particular +prophecy which it would be difficult to classify. But, +speaking generally, prophecies of this class had a moral +value for two reasons. In the first place they re-echo and +confirm the sentence of judgment passed on Israel herself. +They do this in two ways: they illustrate the principle +on which Jehovah deals with His own people, and His +character as the righteous judge of men. Israel was to +be destroyed for her national sins, her contempt of +Jehovah, and her breaches of the moral law. But other +nations, though more excusable, were not less guilty than +Israel. The same spirit of ungodliness, in different forms, +was manifested by Tyre, by Egypt, by Assyria, and by +the petty states of Syria. Hence, if Jehovah was really +the righteous ruler of the world, He must visit upon these +nations their iniquities. Wherever a <q>sinful kingdom</q> +was found, whether in Israel or elsewhere, that kingdom +must be removed from its place among the nations. This +appears most clearly in the book of Amos, who, though he +enunciates the paradoxical truth that Israel's sin must be +punished just because it was the only people that Jehovah +had known, nevertheless, as we have seen, thundered +forth similar judgments on other nations for their flagrant +violation of the universal law written in the human heart. +In this way therefore the prophets enforced on their contemporaries +the fundamental lesson of their teaching that +the disasters which were coming on them were not the +result of the caprice or impotence of their Deity, but the +execution of His moral purpose, to which all men everywhere +are subject. But again, not only was the principle +of the judgment emphasised, but the manner in which it was +to be carried out was more clearly exhibited. In all cases +<pb n='219'/><anchor id='Pg219'/> +the pre-exilic prophets announce that the overthrow of the +Hebrew states was to be effected either by the Assyrians +or the Babylonians. These great world-powers were in +succession the instruments fashioned and used by Jehovah +for the performance of His great work in the earth. Now +it was manifest that if this anticipation was well founded +it involved the overthrow of all the nations in immediate +contact with Israel. The policy of the Mesopotamian +monarchs was well understood; and if their wonderful +successes were the revelation of the divine purpose, then +Israel would not be judged alone. Accordingly we find +in most instances that the chastisement of the heathen is +either ascribed directly to the invaders or else to other +agencies set in motion by their approach. The people of +Israel or Judah were thus taught to look on their fate +as involved in a great scheme of divine providence, overturning +all the existing relations which gave them a place +among the nations of the world and preparing for a new +development of the purpose of Jehovah in the future. +</p> + +<p> +When we turn to that ideal future we find a second and +more suggestive aspect of these prophecies against the +heathen. All the prophets teach that the destiny of Israel +is inseparably bound up with the future of God's kingdom +on earth. The Old Testament never wholly shakes off +the idea that the preservation and ultimate victory of the +true religion demands the continued existence of the one +people to whom the revelation of the true God had been +committed. The indestructibility of Israel's national life +depends on its unique position in relation to the purposes +of Jehovah, and it is for this reason that the prophets +look forward with unwavering confidence to a time when +the knowledge of Jehovah shall go forth from Israel to all +the nations of mankind. And this point of view we must +try to enter into if we are to understand the meaning of +their declarations concerning the fate of the surrounding +<pb n='220'/><anchor id='Pg220'/> +nations. If we ask whether an independent future is +reserved in the new dispensation for the peoples with +whom Israel had dealings in the past, we find that different +and sometimes conflicting answers are given. Thus Isaiah +predicts a restoration of Tyre after the lapse of seventy +years, while Ezekiel announces its complete and final destruction. +It is only when we consider these utterances in +the light of the prophets' general conception of the kingdom +of God that we discern the spiritual truth that gives them +an abiding significance for the instruction of all ages. It +was not a matter of supreme religious importance to know +whether Phœnicia or Egypt or Assyria would retain their +old place in the world, and share indirectly in the +blessings of the Messianic age. What men needed to be +taught then, and what we need to remember still, is that +each nation holds its position in subordination to the ends +of God's government, that no power or wisdom or refinement +will save a state from destruction when it ceases to +serve the interests of His kingdom. The foreign peoples +that come under the survey of the prophets are as yet +strangers to the true God, and are therefore destitute of +that which could secure them a place in the reconstruction +of political relationships of which Israel is to be the +religious centre. Sometimes they are represented as +having by their hostility to Israel or their pride of heart +so encroached on the sovereignty of Jehovah that their +doom is already sealed. At other times they are conceived +as converted to the knowledge of the true God, +and as gladly accepting the place assigned to them in the +humanity of the future by consecrating their wealth and +power to the service of His people Israel. In all cases it +is their attitude to Israel and the God of Israel that determines +their destiny: that is the great truth which the +prophets design to impress on their countrymen. So long +as the cause of religion was identified with the fortunes +<pb n='221'/><anchor id='Pg221'/> +of the people of Israel no higher conception of the redemption +of mankind could be formed than that of a willing +subjection of the nations of the earth to the word of +Jehovah which went forth from Jerusalem (cf. Isa. ii. 2-4). +And whether any particular nation should survive to participate +in the glories of that latter day depends on the +view taken of its present condition and its fitness for +incorporation in the universal empire of Jehovah soon to +be established. +</p> + +<p> +We now know that this was not the form in which +Jehovah's purpose of salvation was destined to be realised +in the history of the world. Since the coming of Christ +the people of Israel has lost its distinctive and central +position as the bearer of the hopes and promises of the +true religion. In its place we have a spiritual kingdom of +men united by faith in Jesus Christ, and in the worship of +one Father in spirit and in truth—a kingdom which from +its very nature can have no local centre or political organisation. +Hence the conversion of the heathen can no +longer be conceived as national homage paid to the seat +of Jehovah's sovereignty on Zion; nor is the unfolding of +the divine plan of universal salvation bound up with the +extinction of the nationalities which once symbolised the +hostility of the world to the kingdom of God. This fact +has an important bearing on the question of the fulfilment +of the foreign prophecies of the Old Testament. Literal +fulfilment is not to be looked for in this case any more +than in the delineations of Israel's future, which are after +all the predominant element of Messianic prediction. It +is true that the nations passed under review have now +vanished from history, and in so far as their fall was +brought about by causes operating in the world in which +the prophets moved, it must be recognised as a partial +but real vindication of the truth of their words. But the +details of the prophecies have not been historically verified. +<pb n='222'/><anchor id='Pg222'/> +All attempts to trace their accomplishment in events +that took place long afterwards and in circumstances +which the prophets themselves never contemplated only +lead us astray from the real interest which belongs to +them. As concrete embodiments of the eternal principles +exhibited in the rise and fall of nations they have an +abiding significance for the Church in all ages; but the +actual working out of these principles in history could not +in the nature of things be complete within the limits of +the world known to the inhabitants of Judæa. If we are +to look for their ideal fulfilment, we shall only find it in +the progressive victory of Christianity over all forms of +error and superstition, and in the dedication of all the +resources of human civilisation—its wealth, its commercial +enterprise, its political power—to the advancement of +the kingdom of our God and His Christ. +</p> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<p> +It was natural from the special circumstances in which +he wrote, as well as from the general character of his +teaching, that Ezekiel, in his oracles against the heathen +powers, should present only the dark side of God's +providence. Except in the case of Egypt, the nations +addressed are threatened with annihilation, and even +Egypt is to be reduced to a condition of utter impotence +and humiliation. Very characteristic also is his representation +of the purpose which comes to light in this series +of judgments. It is to be a great demonstration to all the +earth of the absolute sovereignty of Jehovah. <q>Ye shall +know that I am Jehovah</q> is the formula that sums up +the lesson of each nation's fall. We observe that the +prophet starts from the situation created by the fall of +Jerusalem. That great calamity bore in the first instance +the appearance of a triumph of heathenism over Jehovah +the God of Israel. It was, as the prophet elsewhere +expresses it, a profanation of His holy name in the eyes +<pb n='223'/><anchor id='Pg223'/> +of the nations. And in this light it was undoubtedly +regarded by the petty principalities around Palestine, and +perhaps also by the more distant and powerful spectators, +such as Tyre and Egypt. From the standpoint of heathenism +the downfall of Israel meant the defeat of its tutelary +Deity; and the neighbouring nations, in exulting over the +tidings of Jerusalem's fate, had in their minds the idea of +the prostrate Jehovah unable to save His people in their +hour of need. It is not necessary to suppose that Ezekiel +attributes to them any consciousness of Jehovah's claim +to be the only living and true God. It is the paradox of +revelation that He who is the Eternal and Infinite first +revealed Himself to the world as the God of Israel; and +all the misconceptions that sprang out of that fact had to +be cleared away by His self-manifestation in historical acts +that appealed to the world at large. Amongst these acts +the judgment of the heathen nations holds the first place +in the mind of Ezekiel. A crisis has been reached at +which it becomes necessary for Jehovah to vindicate His +divinity by the destruction of those who have exalted +themselves against Him. The world must learn once for +all that Jehovah is no mere tribal god, but the omnipotent +ruler of the universe. And this is the preparation for the +final disclosure of His power and Godhead in the restoration +of Israel to its own land, which will speedily follow +the overthrow of its ancient foes. This series of prophecies +forms thus an appropriate introduction to the +third division of the book, which deals with the formation +of the new people of Jehovah. +</p> + +<p> +It is somewhat remarkable that Ezekiel's survey of the +heathen nations is restricted to those in the immediate +vicinity of the land of Canaan. Although he had unrivalled +opportunities of becoming acquainted with the remote +countries of the East, he confines his attention to the +Mediterranean states which had long played a part in +<pb n='224'/><anchor id='Pg224'/> +Hebrew history. The peoples dealt with are seven in +number—Ammon, Moab, Edom, the Philistines, Tyre, +Sidon, and Egypt. The order of the enumeration is +geographical: first the inner circle of Israel's immediate +neighbours, from Ammon on the east round to Sidon in the +extreme north; then outside the circle the preponderating +world-power of Egypt. It is not altogether an accidental +circumstance that five of these nations are named in the +twenty-seventh chapter of Jeremiah as concerned in the +project of rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar in the early +part of Zedekiah's reign. Egypt and Philistia are not mentioned +there, but we may surmise at least that Egyptian +diplomacy was secretly at work pulling the wires which +set the puppets in motion. This fact, together with the +omission of Babylon from the list of threatened nations, +shows that Ezekiel regards the judgment as falling within +the period of Chaldæan supremacy, which he appears to +have estimated at forty years. What is to be the fate of +Babylon itself he nowhere intimates, a conflict between +that great world-power and Jehovah's purpose being no +part of his system. That Nebuchadnezzar is to be the +agent of the overthrow of Tyre and the humiliation of +Egypt is expressly stated; and although the crushing of +the smaller states is ascribed to other agencies, we can +hardly doubt that these were conceived as indirect consequences +of the upheaval caused by the Babylonian invasion. +</p> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<p> +Ch. xxv., then, consists of four brief prophecies addressed +respectively to Ammon, Moab, Edom, and the Philistines. +A few words on the fate prefigured for each of these +countries will suffice for the explanation of the chapter. +</p> + +<p> +1. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Ammon</hi> (vv. 2-7) lay on the edge of the desert, +between the upper waters of the Jabbok and the Arnon, +separated from the Jordan by a strip of Israelitish territory +from twenty to thirty miles wide. Its capital, Rabbah, +<pb n='225'/><anchor id='Pg225'/> +mentioned here (ver. 5), was situated on a southern tributary +of the Jabbok, and its ruins still bear amongst the +Arabs the ancient national name <hi rend='italic'>Ammân</hi>. Although their +country was pastoral (milk is referred to in ver. 4 as one +of its chief products), the Ammonites seem to have made +some progress in civilisation. Jeremiah (ch. xlix. 4) speaks +of them as trusting in their treasures; and in this chapter +Ezekiel announces that they shall be for a spoil to the +nations (ver. 7). After the deportation of the transjordanic +tribes by Tiglath-pileser, Ammon seized the country that +had belonged to the tribe of Gad, its nearest neighbour on +the west. This encroachment is denounced by the prophet +Jeremiah in the opening words of his oracle against +Ammon: <q>Hath Israel no children? or has he no heir? +why doth Milcom [the national deity of the Ammonites] +inherit Gad, why hath his [Milcom's] folk settled in his +[Gad's] cities</q> (Jer. xlix. 1). We have already seen +(ch. xxi.) that the Ammonites took part in the rebellion +against Nebuchadnezzar, and stood out after the other +members of the league had gone back from their purpose. +But this temporary union with Jerusalem did nothing to +abate the old national animosity, and the disaster of Judah +was the signal for an exhibition of malignant satisfaction +on the part of Ammon. <q>Because thou hast said, Aha, +against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and the land +of Israel when it was laid waste, and the house of Judah +when it went into captivity,</q> etc. (ver. 3)—for this crowning +offence against the majesty of Jehovah, Ezekiel +denounces an exterminating judgment on Ammon. The +land shall be given up to the <q>children of the East</q>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, +the Bedouin Arabs—who shall pitch their tent encampments +in it, eating its fruits and drinking its milk, and +turning the <q>great city</q> Rabbah itself into a resting-place +for camels (vv. 4, 5). It is not quite clear (though it is +commonly assumed) that the children of the East are +<pb n='226'/><anchor id='Pg226'/> +regarded as the actual conquerors of Ammon. Their +possession of the country may be the consequence rather +than the cause of the destruction of civilisation, the +encroachment of the nomads being as inevitable under +these circumstances as the extension of the desert itself +where water fails. +</p> + +<p> +2. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Moab</hi><note place='foot'>The words <q>and Seir</q> in ver. 8 are wanting in the true text of the +LXX., and should probably be omitted.</note> (vv. 8-11) comes next in order. Its proper +territory, since the settlement of Israel in Canaan, was the +elevated tableland south of the Arnon, along the lower +part of the Dead Sea. But the tribe of Reuben, which +bordered it on the north, was never able to hold its ground +against the superior strength of Moab, and hence the +latter nation is found in possession of the lower and more +fertile district stretching northwards from the Arnon, +now called the Belka. All the cities, indeed, which are +mentioned in this chapter as belonging to Moab—Beth-jeshimoth, +Baal-meon, and Kirjathaim—were situated in +this northern and properly Israelite region. These were +the <q>glory of the land,</q> which were now to be taken +away from Moab (ver. 9). In Israel Moab appears to +have been regarded as the incarnation of a peculiarly +offensive form of national pride,<note place='foot'>Isa. xvi. 6, xxv. 11; Jer. xlviii. 29, 42.</note> of which we happen to +have a monument in the famous Moabite Stone, which was +erected by Mesha in the ninth century <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi> to commemorate +the victories of Chemosh over Jehovah and Israel. +The inscription shows, moreover, that in the arts of +civilised life Moab was at that early time no unworthy +rival of Israel itself. It is for a special manifestation of +this haughty and arrogant spirit in the day of Jerusalem's +calamity that Ezekiel pronounces Jehovah's judgment on +Moab: <q>Because Moab hath said, Behold, the house of +Judah is like all the nations</q> (ver. 8). These words no +<pb n='227'/><anchor id='Pg227'/> +doubt reflect accurately the sentiment of Moab towards +Israel, and they presuppose a consciousness on the part +of Moab of some unique distinction pertaining to Israel +in spite of all the humiliations it had undergone since +the time of David. And the thought of Moab may have +been more widely disseminated among the nations than +we are apt to suppose: <q>The kings of the earth believed +not, neither all the inhabitants of the world, that the +adversary and the enemy should enter into the gates of +Jerusalem</q> (Lam. iv. 12). The Moabites at all events +breathed a sigh of relief when Israel's pretensions to +religious ascendency seemed to be confuted, and thereby +they sealed their own doom. They share the fate of +the Ammonites, their land being handed over for a +possession to the sons of the East (ver. 10). +</p> + +<p> +Both these nations, Ammon and Moab, were absorbed by +the Arabs, as Ezekiel had foretold; but Ammon at least +preserved its separate name and nationality through many +changes of fortune down to the second century after Christ. +</p> + +<p> +3. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Edom</hi> (vv. 12-14), famous in the Old Testament for +its wisdom (Jer. xlix. 7; Obad. 8), occupied the country +to the south of Moab from the Dead Sea to the head +of the Gulf of Akaba. In Old Testament times the +centre of its power was in the region to the east of +the Arabah Valley, a position of great commercial importance, +as commanding the caravan route from the Red +Sea port of Elath to Northern Syria. From this district +the Edomites were afterwards driven (about 300 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi>) +by the Arabian tribe of the Nabatæans, when they +took up their abode in the south of Judah. None of +the surrounding nations were so closely akin to Israel as +Edom, and with none were its relations more embittered +and hostile. The Edomites had been subjugated and +nearly exterminated by David, had been again subdued +by Amaziah and Uzziah, but finally recovered their +<pb n='228'/><anchor id='Pg228'/> +independence during the attack of the Syrians and +Ephraimites on Judah in the reign of Ahaz. The memory +of this long struggle produced in Edom a <q>perpetual +enmity,</q> an undying hereditary hatred towards the kingdom +of Judah. But that which made the name of Edom +to be execrated by the later Jews was its conduct after the +fall of Jerusalem. The prophet Obadiah represents it as +sharing in the spoil of Jerusalem (ver. 10), and as <q>standing +in the crossway to cut off those that escaped</q> (ver. +14). Ezekiel also alludes to this in the thirty-fifth chapter +(ver. 5), and tells us further that in the time of the captivity +the Edomites seized part of the territory of Israel (vv. 10-12), +from which indeed the Jews were never able altogether +to dislodge them. For the guilt they thus incurred by +taking advantage of the humiliation of Jehovah's people, +Ezekiel here threatens them with extinction; and the +execution of the divine vengeance is in their case entrusted +to the children of Israel themselves (vv. 13, 14). +They were, in fact, finally subdued by John Hyrcanus in +126 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi>, and compelled to adopt the Jewish religion. But +long before then they had lost their prestige and influence, +their ancient seats having passed under the dominion of +the Arabs in common with all the neighbouring countries. +</p> + +<p> +4. The <hi rend='smallcaps'>Philistines</hi> (vv. 15-17)—the <q>immigrants</q> who +had settled along the Mediterranean coast, and who were +destined to leave their name to the whole country—had +evidently played a part very similar to the Edomites at +the time of the destruction of Jerusalem; but of this +nothing is known beyond what is here said by Ezekiel. +They were at this time a mere <q>remnant</q> (ver. 16), +having been exhausted by the Assyrian and Egyptian +wars. Their fate is not precisely indicated in the prophecy. +They were in point of fact gradually extinguished by the +revival of Jewish domination under the Asmonean dynasty. +</p> + +<p> +One other remark may here be made, as showing the +<pb n='229'/><anchor id='Pg229'/> +discrimination which Ezekiel brought to bear in estimating +the characteristics of each separate nation. He does not +ascribe to the greater powers, Tyre and Sidon and Egypt, +the same petty and vindictive jealousy of Israel which +actuated the diminutive nationalities dealt with in this +chapter. These great heathen states, which played so +imposing a part in ancient civilisation, had a wide outlook +over the affairs of the world; and the injuries they inflicted +on Israel were due less to the blind instinct of national +hatred than to the pursuit of far-reaching schemes of +selfish interest and aggrandisement. If Tyre rejoices +over the fall of Jerusalem, it is because of the removal of +an obstacle to the expansion of her commercial enterprise. +When Egypt is described as having been an occasion of +sin to the people of God, what is meant is that she had +drawn Israel into the net of her ambitious foreign policy, +and led her away from the path of safety pointed out by +Jehovah's will through the prophets. Ezekiel pays a +tribute to the grandeur of their position by the care he +bestows on the description of their fate. The smaller +nations embodying nothing of permanent value for the +advancement of humanity, he dismisses each with a short +and pregnant oracle announcing its doom. But when he +comes to the fall of Tyre and of Egypt his imagination +is evidently impressed; he lingers over all the details of +the picture, he returns to it again and again, as if he +would penetrate the secret of their greatness and understand +the potent fascination which their names exercised +throughout the world. It would be entirely erroneous +to suppose that he sympathises with them in their calamity, +but certainly he is conscious of the blank which will be +caused by their disappearance from history; he feels that +something will have vanished from the earth whose loss +will be mourned by the nations far and near. This is most +apparent in the prophecy on Tyre, to which we now proceed. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='230'/><anchor id='Pg230'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XVI. Tyre. Chapters xxvi., xxix. 17-21.</head> + +<p> +In the time of Ezekiel Tyre was still at the height of +her commercial prosperity. Although not the oldest +of the Phœnician cities, she held a supremacy among +them which dated from the thirteenth century <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi>,<note place='foot'>Rawlinson, <hi rend='italic'>History of Phœnicia</hi>.</note> and +she had long been regarded as the typical embodiment of +the genius of the remarkable race to which she belonged. +The Phœnicians were renowned in antiquity for a combination +of all the qualities on which commercial greatness +depends. Their absorbing devotion to the material +interests of civilisation, their amazing industry and perseverance, +their resourcefulness in assimilating and improving +the inventions of other peoples, the technical skill of their +artists and craftsmen, but above all their adventurous and +daring seamanship, conspired to give them a position in +the old world such as has never been quite rivalled by +any other nation of ancient or modern times. In the +grey dawn of European history we find them acting as +pioneers of art and culture along the shores of the +Mediterranean, although even then they had been displaced +from their earliest settlements in the Ægean and the coast +of Asia Minor by the rising commerce of Greece. Matthew +Arnold has drawn a brilliant imaginative picture of this +collision between the two races, and the effect it had on the +dauntless and enterprising spirit of Phœnicia:— +</p> + +<pb n='231'/><anchor id='Pg231'/> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>As some grave Tyrian trader, from the sea,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>Descried at sunrise an emerging prow</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Lifting the cool-hair'd creepers stealthily,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>The fringes of a southward-facing brow</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>Among the Ægæan isles;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>And saw the merry Grecian coaster come,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>Freighted with amber grapes, and Chian wine,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>Green, bursting figs, and tunnies steep'd in brine—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>And knew the intruders on his ancient home,</l> +<l>The young light-hearted masters of the waves—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>And snatch'd his rudder and shook out more sail;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>And day and night held on indignantly</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>O'er the blue Midland waters with the gale,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>Betwixt the Syrtes and soft Sicily,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>To where the Atlantic raves</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Outside the western straits; and unbent sails</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>There, where down cloudy cliffs, through sheets of foam,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>Shy traffickers, the dark Iberians, come;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>And on the beach undid his corded bales.<note place='foot'>Closing stanzas of <hi rend='italic'>The Scholar Gipsy</hi>.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +It is that spirit of masterful and untiring ambition kept +up for so many centuries that throws a halo of romance +round the story of Tyre. +</p> + +<p> +In the oldest Greek literature, however, Tyre is not +mentioned, the place which she afterwards held being +then occupied by Sidon. But after the decay of Sidon +the rich harvest of her labours fell into the lap of Tyre, +which thenceforth stands out as the foremost city of Phœnicia. +She owed her pre-eminence partly to the wisdom +and energy with which her affairs were administered, but +partly also to the strength of her natural situation. The +city was built both on the mainland and on a row of islets +about half a mile from the shore. This latter portion +contained the principal buildings (temples and palaces), the +open place where business was transacted, and the two +harbours. It was no doubt from it that the city derived +its name (צוֹר = Rock); and it always was looked on as the +central part of Tyre. There was something in the appearance +<pb n='232'/><anchor id='Pg232'/> +of the island city—the Venice of antiquity, rising +from mid-ocean with her <q>tiara of proud towers</q>—which +seemed to mark her out as destined to be mistress of the +sea. It also made a siege of Tyre an arduous and a tedious +undertaking, as many a conqueror found to his cost. +Favoured then by these advantages, Tyre speedily gathered +the traffic of Phœnicia into her own hands, and her wealth +and luxury were the wonder of the nations. She was +known as <q>the crowning city, whose merchants were +princes, and her traffickers the honourable of the earth</q> +(Isa. xxiii. 8). She became the great commercial emporium +of the world. Her colonies were planted all over +the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean, and the one +most frequently mentioned in the Bible, Tarshish, was in +Spain, beyond Gibraltar. Her seamen had ventured beyond +the Pillars of Hercules, and undertook distant Atlantic +voyages to the Canary Islands on the south and the coasts +of Britain on the north. The most barbarous and inhospitable +regions were ransacked for the metals and other +products needed to supply the requirements of civilisation, +and everywhere she found a market for her own wares +and manufactures. The carrying trade of the Mediterranean +was almost entirely conducted in her ships, while +her richly laden caravans traversed all the great routes +that led into the heart of Asia and Africa. +</p> + +<p> +It so happens that the twenty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel +is one of the best sources of information we possess as to +the varied and extensive commercial relations of Tyre in the +sixth century <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi><note place='foot'>Both Movers and Rawlinson make it the basis of their survey of +Tyrian commerce.</note> It will therefore be better to glance +shortly at its contents here rather than in its proper +connection in the development of the prophet's thought. +It will easily be seen that the description is somewhat +<pb n='233'/><anchor id='Pg233'/> +idealised; no details are given of the commodities which +Tyre <emph>sold</emph> to the nations—only as an afterthought (ver. 33) +is it intimated that by sending forth her wares she has +enriched and satisfied many nations. So the goods which +she <emph>bought</emph> of them are not represented as given in +exchange for anything else; Tyre is poetically conceived +as an empress ruling the peoples by the potent spell of +her influence, compelling them to drudge for her and bring +to her feet the gains they have acquired by their heavy +labour. Nor can the list of nations<note place='foot'>Babylon and Egypt are probably omitted because of the peculiar +point of view assumed by the prophet. They were too powerful to be +represented as slaves of Tyre, even in poetry.</note> or their gifts be meant +as exhaustive; it only includes such things as served to +exhibit the immense variety of useful and costly articles +which ministered to the wealth and luxury of Tyre. But +making allowance for this, and for the numerous difficulties +which the text presents, the passage has evidently been +compiled with great care; it shows a minuteness of detail +and fulness of knowledge which could not have been got +from books, but displays a lively personal interest in the +affairs of the world which is surprising in a man like +Ezekiel. +</p> + +<p> +The order followed in the enumeration of nations is +not quite clear, but is on the whole geographical. Starting +from Tarshish in the extreme west (ver. 12), the +prophet mentions in succession Javan (Ionia), Tubal, and +Meshech (two tribes to the south-east of the Black Sea), and +Togarmah (usually identified with Armenia) (vv. 13, 14). +These represent the northern limit of the Phœnician +markets. The reference in the next verse (v. 15) is doubtful, +on account of a difference between the Septuagint and the +Hebrew text. If with the former we read <q>Rhodes</q> +instead of <q>Dedan,</q> it embraces the nearer coasts and +islands of the Mediterranean, and this is perhaps on the +<pb n='234'/><anchor id='Pg234'/> +whole the more natural sense. In this case it is possible +that up to this point the description has been confined to +the sea trade of Phœnicia, if we may suppose that the +products of Armenia reached Tyre by way of the Black +Sea. At all events the overland traffic occupies a space in +the list out of proportion to its actual importance, a fact +which is easily explained from the prophet's standpoint. +First, in a line from south to north, we have the nearer neighbours +of Phœnicia—Edom, Judah, Israel, and Damascus +(vv. 16-18). Then the remoter tribes and districts of +Arabia—Uzal<note place='foot'>E.V., <q>going to and fro.</q></note> (the chief city of Yemen), Dedan (on the +eastern side of the Gulf of Akaba), Arabia and Kedar +(nomads of the eastern desert), Havilah,<note place='foot'>So Cornill, חוילה for רכלי ( = merchants).</note> Sheba, and +Raamah (in the extreme south of the Arabian peninsula) +(vv. 19-22). Finally the countries tapped by the eastern +caravan route—Haran (the great trade centre in Mesopotamia), +Canneh (? Calneh, unknown), Eden (differently +spelt from the garden of Eden, also unknown), Assyria, +and Chilmad (unknown) (ver. 23). These were the +<q>merchants</q> and <q>traders</q> of Tyre, who are represented +as thronging her market-place with the produce of their +respective countries. +</p> + +<p> +The imports, so far as we can follow the prophet's +enumeration, are in nearly all cases characteristic products +of the regions to which they are assigned. Spain is known +to have furnished all the metals here mentioned—silver, +iron, lead, and tin. Greece and Asia Minor were centres +of the slave traffic (one of the darkest blots on the +commerce of Phœnicia), and also supplied hardware. +Armenia was famous as a horse-breeding country, and +thence Tyre procured her supply of horses and mules. +The ebony and tusks of ivory must have come from +<pb n='235'/><anchor id='Pg235'/> +Africa; and if the Septuagint is right in reading <q>Rhodes</q> +in ver. 15, these articles can only have been collected there +for shipment to Tyre.<note place='foot'>See ch. xxvii. 6, where ivory is said to come from Chittim or Cyprus.</note> Through Edom come pearls and +precious stones.<note place='foot'>The Hebrew text adds <q>purple, embroidered work, and byssus</q>; but +most of these things are omitted in the LXX.</note> Judah and Israel furnish Tyre with +agricultural and natural produce, as they had done from +the days of David and Solomon—wheat and oil, wax +and honey, balm and spices. Damascus yields the famous +<q>wine of Helbon</q>—said to be the only vintage that the +Persian kings would drink—perhaps also other choice +wines.<note place='foot'>The text of vv. 18, 19 is in confusion, and Cornill, from a comparison +with a contemporary wine-list of Nebuchadnezzar, and also an Assyrian +one from the library of Asshurbanipal, makes it read thus: <q>Wine of +Helbon and Zimin and Arnaban they furnished in thy markets. From +Uzal,</q> etc. Both lists are quoted in Schrader's <hi rend='italic'>Cuneiform Inscriptions +and the Old Testament</hi>, under this verse.</note> A rich variety of miscellaneous articles, both +natural and manufactured, is contributed by Arabia,—wrought +iron (perhaps sword-blades) from Yemen; saddle-cloths +from Dedan; sheep and goats from the Bedouin +tribes; gold, precious stones, and aromatic spices from the +caravans of Sheba. Lastly, the Mesopotamian countries +provide the costly textile fabrics from the looms of +Babylon so highly prized in antiquity—<q>costly garments, +mantles of blue, purple, and broidered work,</q> <q>many-coloured +carpets,</q> and <q>cords twisted and durable.</q><note place='foot'>The latter half of this verse, however, is of very uncertain interpretation. +For full explanation of the archæological details in this chapter +it will be necessary to consult the commentaries and the lexicon. See +also Rawlinson's <hi rend='italic'>History of Phœnicia</hi>, pp. 285 ff.</note> +</p> + +<p> +This survey of the ramifications of Tyrian commerce +will have served its purpose if it enables us to realise in +some measure the conception which Ezekiel had formed +of the power and prestige of the maritime city, whose +<pb n='236'/><anchor id='Pg236'/> +destruction he so confidently announced. He knew, as did +Isaiah before him, how deeply Tyre had struck her roots +in the life of the old world, how indispensable her existence +seemed to be to the whole fabric of civilisation as +then constituted. Both prophets represent the nations +as lamenting the downfall of the city which had so +long ministered to their material welfare. The overthrow +of Tyre would be felt as a world-wide calamity; it +could hardly be contemplated except as part of a radical +subversion of the established order of things. This is +what Ezekiel has in view, and his attitude towards Tyre +is governed by his expectation of a great shaking of the +nations which is to usher in the perfect kingdom of +God. In the new world to which he looks forward no +place will be found for Tyre, not even the subordinate +position of a handmaid to the people of God which Isaiah's +vision of the future had assigned to her. Beneath all her +opulence and refinement the prophet's eye detected that +which was opposed to the mind of Jehovah—the irreligious +spirit which is the temptation of a mercantile community, +manifesting itself in overweening pride and self-exaltation, +and in sordid devotion to gain as the highest end of a +nation's existence. +</p> + +<p> +The twenty-sixth chapter is in the main a literal +prediction of the siege and destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. +It is dated from the year in which Jerusalem +was captured, and was certainly written after that event. +The number of the month has accidentally dropped out of +the text, so that we cannot tell whether at the time of +writing the prophet had received actual intelligence of +the fall of the city. At all events it is assumed that the +fate of Jerusalem is already known in Tyre, and the +manner in which the tidings were sure to have been +received there is the immediate occasion of the prophecy. +Like many other peoples, Tyre had rejoiced over the +<pb n='237'/><anchor id='Pg237'/> +disaster which had befallen the Jewish state; but her +exultation had a peculiar note of selfish calculation, +which did not escape the notice of the prophet. Ever +mindful of her own interest, she sees that a barrier to the +free development of her commerce has been removed, and +she congratulates herself on the fortunate turn which +events have taken: <q>Aha! the door of the peoples is +broken, it is turned towards me; she that was full hath +been laid waste!</q><note place='foot'>With a change of one letter in the Hebrew text, המלאה for אמלאה, +as in the LXX. and Targum.</note> (ver. 2). Although the relations of +the two countries had often been friendly and sometimes +highly advantageous to Tyre, she had evidently felt +herself hampered by the existence of an independent +state on the mountain ridge of Palestine. The kingdom +of Judah, especially in days when it was strong enough +to hold Edom in subjection, commanded the caravan +routes to the Red Sea, and doubtless prevented the +Phœnician merchants from reaping the full profit of their +ventures in that direction. It is probable that at all +times a certain proportion of the revenue of the kings +of Judah was derived from toll levied on the Tyrian +merchandise that passed through their territory; and +what they thus gained represented so much loss to +Tyre. It was, to be sure, a small item in the mass +of business transacted on the exchange of Tyre. But +nothing is too trivial to enter into the calculations of a +community given over to the pursuit of gain; and the +satisfaction with which the fall of Jerusalem was regarded +in Tyre showed how completely she was debased by +her selfish commercial policy, how oblivious she was to the +spiritual interests bound up with the future of Israel. +</p> + +<p> +Having thus exposed the sinful cupidity and insensibility +of Tyre, the prophet proceeds to describe in general +<pb n='238'/><anchor id='Pg238'/> +terms the punishment that is to overtake her. Many +nations shall be brought up against her, irresistible as +the sea when it comes up with its waves; her walls +and fortifications shall be rased; the very dust shall be +scraped from her site, so that she is left <q>a naked rock</q> +rising out of the sea, a place where fishermen spread +their nets to dry, as in the days before the city was built. +</p> + +<p> +Then follows (vv. 7-14) a specific announcement of the +manner in which judgment shall be executed on Tyre. +The recent political attitude of the city left no doubt as +to the quarter from which immediate danger was to be +apprehended. The Phœnician states had been the most +powerful members of the confederacy that was formed +about 596 to throw off the yoke of the Chaldæans, +and they were in open revolt at the time when Ezekiel +wrote. They had apparently thrown in their lot with +Egypt, and a conflict with Nebuchadnezzar was therefore +to be expected. Tyre had every reason to avoid +a war with a first-rate power, which could not fail +to be disastrous to her commercial interests. But her +inhabitants were not destitute of martial spirit; they +trusted in the strength of their position and their command +of the sea, and they were in the mood to risk +everything rather than again renounce their independence +and their freedom. But all this avails nothing against +the purpose which Jehovah has purposed concerning Tyre. +It is He who brings Nebuchadnezzar, the king of kings, +from the north with his army and his siege-train, and +Tyre shall fall before his assault, as Jerusalem has already +fallen. First of all, the Phœnician cities on the mainland +shall be ravaged and laid waste, and then operations +commence against the mother-city herself. The description +of the siege and capture of the island fortress is +given with an abundance of graphic details, although, +strangely enough, without calling attention to the peculiar +<pb n='239'/><anchor id='Pg239'/> +method of attack that was necessary for the reduction of +Tyre. The great feature of the siege would be the +construction of a huge mole between the shore and the +island; once the wall was reached the attack would +proceed precisely as in the case of an inland town, in +the manner depicted on Assyrian monuments. When the +breach is made in the fortifications the whole army pours +into the city, and for the first time in her history the +walls of Tyre shake with the rumbling of chariots in her +streets. The conquered city is then given up to slaughter +and pillage, her songs and her music are stilled for +ever, her stones and timber and dust are cast into the +sea, and not a trace remains of the proud mistress of the +waves. +</p> + +<p> +In the third strophe (vv. 15-21) the prophet describes +the dismay which will be caused when the crash of the +destruction of Tyre resounds along the coasts of the sea. +All the <q>princes of the sea</q> (perhaps the rulers of the +Phœnician colonies in the Mediterranean) are represented +as rising from their thrones, and putting off their +stately raiment, and sitting in the dust bewailing the fate +of the city. The dirge in which they lift up their voices +(vv. 17, 18) is given by the Septuagint in a form which +preserves more nearly than the Hebrew the structure +as well as the beauty which we should expect in the +original:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<lg> +<l>How is perished from the sea—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>The city renowned!</l> +<l>She that laid her terror—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>On all its inhabitants!</l> +<l>[Now] are the isles affrighted—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>In the day of thy falling!</l> +</lg> + +</quote> + +<p> +But this beautiful image is not strong enough to express +the prophet's sense of the irretrievable ruin that +hangs over Tyre. By a bold flight of imagination he +<pb n='240'/><anchor id='Pg240'/> +turns from the mourners on earth to follow in thought the +descent of the city into the under-world (vv. 19-21). The +idea that Tyre might rise from her ruins after a temporary +eclipse and recover her old place in the world was one +that would readily suggest itself to any one who understood +the real secret of her greatness. To the mind of Ezekiel +the impossibility of her restoration lies in the fixed purpose +of Jehovah, which includes, not only her destruction, +but her perpetual desolation. <q>When I make thee a +desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when +I bring up against thee the deep, and the great waters +cover thee; then I will bring thee down with them that go +down to the pit, with the people of old time, and I will +make thee dwell in the lowest parts of the earth, like the +immemorial waste places, with them that go down to the +pit, that thou be not inhabited nor establish thyself in the +land of the living.</q> The whole passage is steeped in weird +poetic imagery. The <q>deep</q><note place='foot'>Hebrew, <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>Tĕhôm</foreign>; Babylonian, <foreign rend='italic'>Tiamat</foreign>.</note> suggests something more +than the blue waters of the Mediterranean: it is the name +of the great primeval Ocean, out of which the habitable +world was fashioned, and which is used as an emblem of the +irresistible judgments of God.<note place='foot'>Psalm xxxvi. 6: cf. Gen. vii, 11.</note> The <q>pit</q> is the realm of +the dead, Sheôl, conceived as situated under the earth, +where the shades of the departed drag out a feeble existence +from which there is no deliverance. The idea of +Sheôl is a frequent subject of poetical embellishment in the +later books of the Old Testament; and of this we have +an example here when the prophet represents the once +populous and thriving city as now a denizen of that +dreary place. But the essential meaning he wishes to +convey is that Tyre is numbered among the things that +were. She <q>shall be sought, and shall not be found any +<pb n='241'/><anchor id='Pg241'/> +more for ever,</q> because she has entered the dismal abode +of the dead, whence there is no return to the joys and +activities of the upper world. +</p> + +<p> +Such then is the anticipation which Ezekiel in the year +586 had formed of the fate of Tyre. No candid reader +will suppose that the prophecy is anything but what it +professes to be—a <foreign rend='italic'>bonâ-fide</foreign> prediction of the total destruction +of the city in the immediate future and by the hands of +Nebuchadnezzar. When Ezekiel wrote, the siege of Tyre +had not begun; and however clear it may have been to +observant men that the next stage in the campaign would +be the reduction of the Phœnician cities, the prophet is at +least free from the suspicion of having prophesied after +the event. The remarkable absence of characteristic and +special details from the account of the siege is the best +proof that he is dealing with the future from the true +prophetic standpoint and clothing a divinely imparted conviction +in images supplied by a definite historical situation. +Nor is there any reason to doubt that in some form the +prophecy was actually published among his fellow-exiles +at the date to which it is assigned. On these points +critical opinion is fairly unanimous. But when we come +to the question of the fulfilment of the prediction we find +ourselves in the region of controversy, and, it must be +admitted, of uncertainty. Some expositors, determined +at all hazards to vindicate Ezekiel's prophetic authority, +maintain that Tyre was actually devastated by Nebuchadnezzar +in the manner described by the prophet, and seek +for confirmations of their view in the few historical notices +we possess of this period of Nebuchadnezzar's reign. +Others, reading the history differently, arrive at the conclusion +that Ezekiel's calculations were entirely at fault, +that Tyre was not captured by the Babylonians at all, and +that his oracle against Tyre must be reckoned amongst +the unfulfilled prophecies of the Old Testament. Others +<pb n='242'/><anchor id='Pg242'/> +again seek to reconcile an impartial historical judgment +with a high conception of the function of prophecy, and +find in the undoubted course of events a real though not +an exact verification of the words uttered by Ezekiel. +It is indeed almost by accident that we have any independent +corroboration of Ezekiel's anticipation with regard to +the immediate future of Tyre. Oriental discoveries have +as yet brought to light no important historical monuments +of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar; and outside of the +book of Ezekiel itself we have nothing to guide us except +the statement of Josephus, based on Phœnician and +Greek authorities,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Contra Ap.</hi>, I. 21; <hi rend='italic'>Ant.</hi>, X. xi. 1.</note> that Tyre underwent a thirteen years' +siege by the Babylonian conqueror. There is no reason +whatever to call in question the reliability of this important +information, although the accompanying statement +that the siege began in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar +is certainly erroneous. But unfortunately we are not told +how the siege ended. Whether it was successful or +unsuccessful, whether Tyre was reduced or capitulated, +or was evacuated or beat off her assailants, is nowhere +indicated. To argue from the silence of the historians is +impossible; for if one man argues that a catastrophe that +took place <q>before the eyes of all Asia</q> would not have +passed unrecorded in historical books, another might urge +with equal force that a repulse of Nebuchadnezzar was +too uncommon an event to be ignored in the Phœnician +annals.<note place='foot'>Cf. Hävernick against Hitzig and Winer, <hi rend='italic'>Ezekiel</hi>, pp. 436 f.</note> On the whole the most reasonable hypothesis +is perhaps that after the thirteen years the city surrendered +on not unfavourable terms; but this conclusion is based on +other considerations than the data or the silence of Josephus. +</p> + +<p> +The chief reason for believing that Nebuchadnezzar +was not altogether successful in his attack on Tyre is +<pb n='243'/><anchor id='Pg243'/> +found in a supplementary prophecy of Ezekiel's, given in +the end of the twenty-ninth chapter (vv. 17-21). It was +evidently written after the siege of Tyre was concluded, +and so far as it goes it confirms the accuracy of Josephus' +sources. It is dated from the year 570, sixteen years after +the fall of Jerusalem; and it is, in fact, the latest oracle +in the whole book. The siege of Tyre therefore, which +had not commenced in 586, when ch. xxvi. was written, +was finished before 570; and between these terminal +dates there is just room for the thirteen years of Josephus. +The invasion of Phœnicia must have been the next great +enterprise of the Babylonian army in Western Asia after +the destruction of Judah, and it was only the extraordinary +strength of Tyre that enabled it to protract the struggle +so long. Now what light does Ezekiel throw on the +issue of the siege? His words are: <q>Nebuchadnezzar, +king of Babylon, has made his army to serve a great +service against Tyre; every head made bald and every +shoulder peeled, yet <emph>he and his army got no wages out of +Tyre</emph> for the service which he served against her.</q> The +prophet then goes on to announce that the spoils of Egypt +should be the recompense to the army for their unrequited +labour against Tyre, inasmuch as it was work done for +Jehovah. Here then, we have evidence first of all that +the long siege of Tyre had taxed the resources of the +besiegers to the utmost. The <q>peeled shoulders</q> and +the <q>heads made bald</q> is a graphic detail which alludes +not obscurely to the monotonous navvy work of carrying +loads of stones and earth to fill up the narrow channel +between the mainland and the island,<note place='foot'>The same engineering feat was accomplished by Alexander the +Great in seven months, but the Greek general probably adopted more +scientific methods (such as pile-driving) than the Babylonians; and, +besides, it is possible that the remains of Nebuchadnezzar's embankment +may have facilitated the operation.</note> so as to allow the +<pb n='244'/><anchor id='Pg244'/> +engines to be brought up to the walls. Ezekiel was well +aware of the arduous nature of the undertaking, the +expenditure of human effort and life which was involved, +in the struggle with natural obstacles; and his striking +conception of these obscure and toiling soldiers as unconscious +servants of the Almighty shows how steadfast was +his faith in the word he proclaimed against Tyre. But +the important point is that they obtained from Tyre no +reward—at least no adequate reward—for their herculean +labours. The expression used is no doubt capable of +various interpretations. It might mean that the siege had +to be abandoned, or that the city was able to make extremely +easy terms of capitulation, or, as Jerome suggests, +that the Tyrians had carried off their treasures by sea and +escaped to one of their colonies. In any case it shows +that the historical event was not in accordance with the +details of the earlier prophecy. That the wealth of Tyre +would fall to the conquerors is there assumed as a natural +consequence of the capture of the city. But whether the +city was actually captured or not, the victors were somehow +disappointed in their expectation of plunder. The +rich spoil of Tyre, which was the legitimate reward of +their exhausting toil, had slipped from their eager grasp; +to this extent at least the reality fell short of the prediction, +and Nebuchadnezzar had to be compensated for his +losses at Tyre by the promise of an easy conquest of +Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +But if this had been all it is not probable that Ezekiel +would have deemed it necessary to supplement his earlier +prediction in the way we have seen after an interval of +sixteen years. The mere circumstance that the sack of +Tyre had failed to yield the booty that the besiegers counted +on was not of a nature to attract attention amongst the +prophet's auditors, or to throw doubt on the genuineness +of his inspiration. And we know that there was a much +<pb n='245'/><anchor id='Pg245'/> +more serious difference between the prophecy and the event +than this. It is from what has just been said extremely +doubtful whether Nebuchadnezzar actually destroyed Tyre, +but even if he did she very quickly recovered much of her +former prosperity and glory. That her commerce was +seriously crippled during the struggle with Babylonia we +may well believe, and it is possible that she never again +was what she had been before this humiliation came upon +her. But for all that the enterprise and prosperity of +Tyre continued for many ages to excite the admiration of +the most enlightened nations of antiquity. The destruction +of the city, therefore, if it took place, had not the +finality which Ezekiel had anticipated. Not till after the +lapse of eighteen centuries could it be said with approximate +truth that she was like <q>a bare rock in the midst of +the sea.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The most instructive fact for us, however, is that +Ezekiel reissued his original prophecy, knowing that it +had not been literally fulfilled. In the minds of his +hearers the apparent falsification of his predictions had +revived old prejudices against him which interfered with +the prosecution of his work. They reasoned that a prophecy +so much out of joint with the reality was sufficient +to discredit his claim to be an authoritative exponent of +the mind of Jehovah; and so the prophet found himself +embarrassed by a recurrence of the old unbelieving attitude +which had hindered his public activity before the destruction +of Jerusalem. He has not for the present <q>an open +mouth</q> amongst them, and he feels that his words will +not be fully received until they are verified by the restoration +of Israel to its own land. But it is evident that he +himself did not share the view of his audience, otherwise +he would certainly have suppressed a prophecy which +lacked the mark of authenticity. On the contrary he +published it for the perusal of a wider circle of readers, in +<pb n='246'/><anchor id='Pg246'/> +the conviction that what he had spoken was a true word +of God, and that its essential truth did not depend on its +exact correspondence with the facts of history. In other +words, he believed in it as a true reading of the principles +revealed in God's moral government of the world—a +reading which had received a partial verification in the +blow which had been dealt at the pride of Tyre, and which +would receive a still more signal fulfilment in the final +convulsions which were to introduce the day of Israel's +restoration and glory. Only we must remember that the +prophet's horizon was necessarily limited; and as he did +not contemplate the slow development and extension of +the kingdom of God through long ages, so he could not +have taken into account the secular operation of historic +causes which eventually brought about the ruin of Tyre. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='247'/><anchor id='Pg247'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XVII. Tyre (Continued): Sidon. Chapters xxvii., xxviii.</head> + +<p> +The remaining oracles on Tyre (chs. xxvii., xxviii. +1-19) are somewhat different both in subject and +mode of treatment from the chapter we have just finished. +Ch. xxvi. is in the main a direct announcement of the fall +of Tyre, delivered in the oratorical style which is the usual +vehicle of prophetic address. She is regarded as a state +occupying a definite place among the other states of the +world, and sharing the fate of other peoples who by their +conduct towards Israel or their ungodliness and arrogance +have incurred the anger of Jehovah. The two great +odes which follow are purely ideal delineations of what +Tyre is in herself; her destruction is assumed as certain +rather than directly predicted, and the prophet gives free +play to his imagination in the effort to set forth the conception +of the city which was impressed on his mind. In +ch. xxvii. he dwells on the external greatness and magnificence +of Tyre, her architectural splendour, her political +and military power, and above all her amazing commercial +enterprise. Ch. xxviii., on the other hand, is a meditation +on the peculiar genius of Tyre, her inner spirit of +pride and self-sufficiency, as embodied in the person of +her king. From a literary point of view the two chapters +are amongst the most beautiful in the whole book. In +the twenty-seventh chapter the fiery indignation of the +prophet almost disappears, giving place to the play of +<pb n='248'/><anchor id='Pg248'/> +poetic fancy, and a flow of lyric emotion more perfectly +rendered than in any other part of Ezekiel's writings. +The distinctive feature of each passage is the elegy pronounced +over the fall of Tyre; and although the elegy +seems just on the point of passing into the taunt-song, +yet the accent of triumph is never suffered to overwhelm +the note of sadness to which these poems owe their special +charm. +</p> + +<div> +<head>I</head> + +<p> +Ch. xxvii. is described as a dirge over Tyre. In the +previous chapter the nations were represented as bewailing +her fall, but here the prophet himself takes up +a lamentation for her; and, as may have been usual in +real funereal dirges, he commences by celebrating the +might and riches of the doomed city. The fine image +which is maintained throughout the chapter was probably +suggested to Ezekiel by the picturesque situation of Tyre +on her sea-girt rock at <q>the entries of the sea.</q> He +compares her to a stately vessel riding at anchor<note place='foot'>For the word גבוליך, rendered <q>thy borders,</q> Cornill proposes to read +זבולך, which he thinks might mean <q>thine anchorage.</q> The translation +is doubtful, but the sense is certainly appropriate.</note> near the +shore, taking on board her cargo of precious merchandise, +and ready to start on the perilous voyage from which +she is destined never to return. Meanwhile the gallant +ship sits proudly in the water, tight and seaworthy and +sumptuously furnished; and the prophet's eye runs rapidly +over the chief points of her elaborate construction and +equipment (vv. 3-11). Her timbers are fashioned of +cypress from Hermon,<note place='foot'>Senir was the Amorite name of Mount Hermon, the Phœnician +name being Sirion (Deut. iii. 9). Senir, however, occurs on the Assyrian +monuments, and was probably widely known.</note> her mast is a cedar of Lebanon, +her oars are made of the oak of Bashan, her deck of +<pb n='249'/><anchor id='Pg249'/> +sherbîn-wood<note place='foot'><foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>Teasshur</foreign> (read בִּחְאַשֻׁרִים instead of בַּת-אַשׁוּרִים), a kind of tree +mentioned several times in the Old Testament, is generally identified +with the sherbîn tree.</note> (a variety of cedar) inlaid with ivory imported +from Cyprus. Her canvas fittings are still more +exquisite and costly. The sail is of Egyptian byssus +with embroidered work, and the awning over the deck +was of cloth resplendent in the two purple dyes procured +from the coasts of Elishah.<note place='foot'>Elishah is one of the sons of Javan (Ionia) (Gen. x. 4), and must +have been some part of the Mediterranean coast, subject to the influence +of Greece. Italy, Sicily, and the Peloponnesus have been suggested.</note> The ship is fitted up for +pleasure and luxury as well as for traffic, the fact symbolised +being obviously the architectural and other splendours +which justified the city's boast that she was <q>the +perfection of beauty.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But Tyre was wise and powerful as well as beautiful; +and so the prophet, still keeping up the metaphor, proceeds +to describe how the great ship is manned. Her +steersmen are the experienced statesmen whom she herself +has bred and raised to power; her rowers are the men +of Sidon and Aradus, who spend their strength in her +service. The elders and wise men of Gebal are her shipwrights +(literally <q>stoppers of leaks</q>); and so great is +her influence that all the naval resources of the world +are subject to her control. Besides this Tyre employs an +army of mercenaries drawn from the remotest quarters +of the earth—from Persia and North Africa, as well as +the subordinate towns of Phœnicia; and these, represented +as hanging their shields and helmets on her sides, make +her beauty complete.<note place='foot'>The details of the description are nearly all illustrated in pictures of +Phœnician war-galleys found on Assyrian monuments. They show the +single mast with its square sail, the double row of oars, the fighting men +on the deck, and the row of shields along the bulwarks. In an Egyptian +picture we have a representation of the embroidered <emph>sail</emph> (ancient ships +are said not to have carried a <emph>flag</emph>). The canvas is richly ornamented +with various devices over its whole surface, and beneath the sail we see +the cabin or awning of coloured stuff mentioned in the text.</note> In these verses the prophet pays +a tribute of admiration to the astuteness with which the +rulers of Tyre used their resources to strengthen her +position as the head of the Phœnician confederacy. Three +<pb n='250'/><anchor id='Pg250'/> +of the cities mentioned—Sidon, Aradus, and Gebal or +Byblus—were the most important in Phœnicia; two of +them at least had a longer history than herself, yet they +are here truly represented as performing the rough menial +labour which brought wealth and renown to Tyre. It +required no ordinary statecraft to preserve the balance +of so many complex and conflicting interests, and make +them all co-operate for the advancement of the glory of +Tyre; but hitherto her <q>wise men</q> had proved equal to +the task. +</p> + +<p> +The second strophe (vv. 12-25) contains the survey of +Tyrian commerce, which has already been analysed in +another connection.<note place='foot'>See above, pp. <ref target='Pg232'>232</ref> ff.</note> At first sight it appears as if the +allegory were here abandoned, and the impression is +partly correct. In reality the city, although personified, +is regarded as the emporium of the world's commerce, +to which all the nations stream with their produce. But +at the end it appears that the various commodities enumerated +represent the cargo with which the ship is laden. +Ships of Tarshish—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the largest class of merchant +vessels then afloat, used for the long Atlantic voyage—wait +upon her, and fill her with all sorts of precious +things (ver. 25). Then in the last strophe (vv. 26-36), +which speaks of the destruction of Tyre, the figure of the +ship is boldly resumed. The heavily freighted vessel is +rowed into the open sea; there she is struck by an east +wind and founders in deep water. The image suggests +two ideas, which must not be pressed, although they may +<pb n='251'/><anchor id='Pg251'/> +have an element of historic truth in them: one is that +Tyre perished under the weight of her own commercial +greatness, and the other that her ruin was hastened +through the folly of her rulers. But the main idea is that +the destruction of the city was wrought by the power +of God, which suddenly overwhelmed her at the height +of her prosperity and activity. As the waves close over +the doomed vessel the cry of anguish that goes up from +the drowning mariners and passengers strikes terror into +the hearts of all seafaring men. They forsake their ships, +and having reached the safety of the shore abandon +themselves to frantic demonstrations of grief, joining their +voices in a lamentation over the fate of the goodly ship +which symbolised the mistress of the sea (vv. 32-36)<note place='foot'>It is not clear whether the dirge is continued to the end of the +chapter, or whether vv. 33 ff. are spoken by the prophet in explanation +of the distress of the nations. The proper elegiac measure cannot be +made out without some alteration of the text.</note>:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Who was like Tyre [so glorious]—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>In the midst of the sea?</l> +<l>When thy wares went forth from the seas—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>Thou filledst the peoples;</l> +<l>With thy wealth and thy merchandise—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>Thou enrichedst the earth.</l> +<l>Now art thou broken from the seas—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>In depths of the waters;</l> +<l>Thy merchandise and all thy multitude—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>Are fallen therein.</l> +<l>All the inhabitants of the islands—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>Are shocked at thee,</l> +<l>And their kings shudder greatly—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>With tearful countenances.</l> +<l>They that trade among the peoples ...—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>Hiss over thee;</l> +<l>Thou art become a terror—</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 14'>And art no more for ever.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Such is the end of Tyre. She has vanished utterly +from the earth; the imposing fabric of her greatness is +<pb n='252'/><anchor id='Pg252'/> +like an unsubstantial pageant faded; and nothing remains +to tell of her former glory but the mourning of the nations +who were once enriched by her commerce. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II</head> + +<p> +Ch. xxviii. 1-19.—Here the prophet turns to the prince +of Tyre, who is addressed throughout as the impersonation +of the consciousness of a great commercial community. +We happen to know from Josephus that the name of the +reigning king at this time was Ithobaal or Ethbaal II. +But it is manifest that the terms of Ezekiel's message have +no reference to the individuality of this or any other prince +of Tyre. It is not likely that the king could have exercised +any great political influence in a city <q>whose merchants +were all princes</q>; indeed, we learn from Josephus +that the monarchy was abolished in favour of some sort +of elective constitution not long after the death of Ithobaal. +Nor is there any reason to suppose that Ezekiel has in +view any special manifestation of arrogance on the part +of the royal house, such as a pretension to be descended +from the gods. The king here is simply the representative +of the genius of the community, the sins of heart charged +against him are the expression of the sinful principle +which the prophet detected beneath the refinement and +luxury of Tyre, and his shameful death only symbolises +the downfall of the city. The prophecy consists of two +parts: first, an accusation against the prince of Tyre, +ending with a threat of destruction (vv. 2-10); and second, +a lament over his fall (vv. 11-19). The point of view +is very different in these two sections. In the first the +prince is still conceived as a man; and the language put +into his mouth, although extravagant, does not exceed +the limits of purely human arrogance. In the second, +however, the king appears as an angelic being, an inhabitant +<pb n='253'/><anchor id='Pg253'/> +of Eden and a companion of the cherub, sinless +at first, and falling from his high estate through his own +transgression. It almost seems as if the prophet had in +his mind the idea of a tutelary spirit or genius of Tyre, +like the angelic princes in the book of Daniel who preside +over the destinies of different nations.<note place='foot'>Dan. x. 20, 21, xii. 1.</note> But in spite of +its enhanced idealism, the passage only clothes in forms +drawn from Babylonian mythology the boundless self-glorification +of Tyre; and the expulsion of the prince from +paradise is merely the ideal counterpart of the overthrow +of the city which is his earthly abode. +</p> + +<p> +The sin of Tyre is an overweening pride, which culminated +in an attitude of self-deification on the part of its +king. Surrounded on every hand by the evidences of +man's mastery over the world, by the achievements of +human art and industry and enterprise, the king feels as +if his throne on the sea-girt island were a veritable seat +of the gods, and as if he himself were a being truly +divine. His heart is lifted up; and, forgetful of the +limits of his mortality, he <q>sets his mind like the mind of +a god.</q> The godlike quality on which he specially prides +himself is the superhuman wisdom evinced by the extraordinary +prosperity of the city with which he identifies +himself. Wiser than Daniel! the prophet ironically +exclaims; <q>no secret thing is too dark for thee!</q> <q>By +thy wisdom and thine insight thou hast gotten thee +wealth, and hast gathered gold and silver into thy treasuries: +by thy great wisdom in thy commerce thou hast +multiplied thy wealth, and thy heart is lifted up because of +thy riches.</q> The prince sees in the vast accumulation of +material resources in Tyre nothing but the reflection of the +genius of her inhabitants; and being himself the incarnation +of the spirit of the city, he takes the glory of it to himself +<pb n='254'/><anchor id='Pg254'/> +and esteems himself a god. Such impious self-exaltation +must inevitably call down the vengeance of Him who +is the only living God; and Ezekiel proceeds to announce +the humiliation of the prince by the <q>most ruthless of the +nations</q>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the Chaldæans. He shall then know how +much of divinity doth hedge a king. In face of them that +seek his life he shall learn that he is man and not God, +and that there are forces in the world against which the +vaunted wisdom of Tyre is of no avail. An ignominious +death<note place='foot'><q>The death of the uncircumcised</q>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, a death which involves +exclusion from the rites of honourable burial; like burial in unconsecrated +ground among Christian nations.</note> at the hand of strangers is the fate reserved for +the mortal who so proudly exalted himself against all that +is called God. +</p> + +<p> +The thought thus expressed, when disengaged from +its peculiar setting, is one of permanent importance. +To Ezekiel, as to the prophets generally, Tyre is the +representative of commercial greatness, and the truth +which he here seeks to illustrate is that the abnormal +development of the mercantile spirit had in her case +destroyed the capacity of faith in that which is truly +divine. Tyre no doubt, like every other ancient state, still +maintained a public religion of the type common to Semitic +paganism. She was the sacred seat of a special cult, and +the temple of Melkarth was considered the chief glory of +the city. But the public and perfunctory worship which +was there celebrated had long ceased to express the +highest consciousness of the community. The real god of +Tyre was not Baal nor Melkarth, but the king, or any other +object that might serve as a symbol of her civic greatness. +Her religion was one that embodied itself in no outward +ritual; it was the enthusiasm which was kindled in the +heart of every citizen of Tyre by the magnificence of the +imperial city to which he belonged. The state of mind +<pb n='255'/><anchor id='Pg255'/> +which Ezekiel regards as characteristic of Tyre was +perhaps the inevitable outcome of a high civilisation +informed by no loftier religious conceptions than those +common to heathenism. It is the idea which afterwards +found expression in the deification of the Roman +emperors—the idea that the state is the only power +higher than the individual to which he can look for the +furtherance of his material and spiritual interests, the only +power, therefore, which rightly claims his homage and his +reverence. None the less it is a state of mind which is +destructive of all that is essential to living religion; and +Tyre in her proud self-sufficiency was perhaps further +from a true knowledge of God than the barbarous tribes +who in all sincerity worshipped the rude idols which +represented the invisible power that ruled their destinies. +And in exposing the irreligious spirit which lay at the +heart of the Tyrian civilisation the prophet lays his +finger on the spiritual danger which attends the successful +pursuit of the finite interests of human life. The thought +of God, the sense of an immediate relation of the spirit of +man to the Eternal and the Infinite, are easily displaced +from men's minds by undue admiration for the achievements +of a culture based on material progress, and supplying +every need of human nature except the very deepest, the +need of God. <q>For that is truly a man's religion, the +object of which fills and holds captive his soul and heart +and mind, in which he trusts above all things, which +above all things he longs for and hopes for.</q><note place='foot'>Dean Church, <hi rend='italic'>Cathedral and University Sermons</hi>, p. 150.</note> The +commercial spirit is indeed but one of the forms in which +men devote themselves to the service of this present world; +but in any community where it reigns supreme we may +confidently look for the same signs of religious decay which +Ezekiel detected in Tyre in his own day. At all events +<pb n='256'/><anchor id='Pg256'/> +his message is not superfluous in an age and country where +energies are well-nigh exhausted in the accumulation of +the means of living, and whose social problems all run up +into the great question of the distribution of wealth. It is +essentially the same truth which Ruskin, with something +of the power and insight of a Hebrew prophet, has so +eloquently enforced on the men who make modern +England—that the true religion of a community does +not live in the venerable institutions to which it yields a +formal and conventional deference, but in the objects which +inspire its most eager ambitions, the ideals which govern +its standard of worth, in those things wherein it finds the +ultimate ground of its confidence and the reward of its +work.<note place='foot'><q>We have, indeed, a nominal religion, to which we pay tithes of +property and sevenths of time; but we have also a practical and +earnest religion, to which we devote nine-tenths of our property, and +six-sevenths of our time. And we dispute a great deal about the +nominal religion: but we are all unanimous about this practical one; +of which I think you will admit that the ruling goddess may be best +generally described as the <q>Goddess of Getting-on,</q> or <q>Britannia of +the Market.</q> The Athenians had an <q>Athena Agoraia,</q> or Athena of +the Market; but she was a subordinate type of their goddess, while +our Britannia Agoraia is the principal type of ours. And all your great +architectural works are, of course, built to her. It is long since you +built a great cathedral; and how you would laugh at me if I proposed +building a cathedral on the top of one of these hills of yours, to make +it an Acropolis! But your railroad mounds, vaster than the walls of +Babylon; your railroad stations, vaster than the temple of Ephesus, and +innumerable; your chimneys, how much more mighty and costly than +cathedral spires! your harbour-piers; your warehouses; your exchanges!—all +these are built to your great Goddess of <q>Getting-on;</q> and she +has formed, and will continue to form, your architecture, as long as you +worship her; and it is quite vain to ask me to tell you how to build to +<emph>her</emph>; you know far better than I.</q>—<hi rend='italic'>The Crown of Wild Olive.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +The lamentation over the fall of the prince of Tyre +(vv. 11-19) reiterates the same lesson with a boldness and +freedom of imagination not usual with this prophet. The +<pb n='257'/><anchor id='Pg257'/> +passage is full of obscurities and difficulties which cannot +be adequately discussed here, but the main lines of the +conception are easily grasped. It describes the original +state of the prince as a semi-divine being, and his fall +from that state on account of sin that was found in him. +The picture is no doubt ironical; Ezekiel actually means +nothing more than that the soaring pride of Tyre enthroned +its king or its presiding genius in the seat of the gods, +and endowed him with attributes more than mortal. The +prophet accepts the idea, and shows that there was sin +in Tyre enough to hurl the most radiant of celestial +creatures from heaven to hell. The passage presents +certain obvious affinities with the account of the Fall in the +second and third chapters of Genesis; but it also contains +reminiscences of a mythology the key to which is now +lost. It can hardly be supposed that the vivid details +of the imagery, such as the <q>mountain of God,</q> the +<q>stones of fire,</q> <q>the precious gems,</q> are altogether due +to the prophet's imagination. The mountain of the gods +is now known to have been a prominent idea of the +Babylonian religion; and there appears to have been a +widespread notion that in the abode of the gods were +treasures of gold and precious stones, jealously guarded +by griffins, of which small quantities found their way into +the possession of men. It is possible that fragments of +these mythical notions may have reached the knowledge +of Ezekiel during his sojourn in Babylon and been used +by him to fill up his picture of the glories which surrounded +the first estate of the king of Tyre. It should +be observed, however, that the prince is not to be identified +with the cherub or one of the cherubim. The words +<q>Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth, and I have +set thee so</q> (ver. 14) may be translated <q>With the ... +cherub I set thee</q>; and similarly the words of ver. 16, +<q>I will destroy thee, O covering cherub,</q> should probably +<pb n='258'/><anchor id='Pg258'/> +be rendered <q>And the cherub hath destroyed thee.</q> The +whole conception is greatly simplified by these changes, +and the principal features of it, so far as they can be +made out with clearness, are as follows: The cherub is +the warden of the <q>holy mountain of God,</q> and no doubt +also (as in ch. i.) the symbol and bearer of the divine glory. +When it is said that the prince of Tyre was placed with +the cherub, the meaning is that he had his place in the +abode of God, or was admitted to the presence of God, +so long as he preserved the perfection in which he was +created (ver. 15). The other allusions to his original +glory, such as the <q>covering</q> of precious stones and the +<q>walking amidst fiery stones,</q> cannot be explained with +any degree of certainty.<note place='foot'>The <q>fiery stones</q> may represent the thunderbolts, which were +harmless to the prince in virtue of his innocence. It may be noted that +the <q>precious stones</q> that were his covering (ver. 13) correspond with +nine out of the twelve jewels that covered the high-priestly breastplate +(Exod. xxviii. 17-19), the stones of the third row being those not here +represented. This suggests that the allusion is rather to bejewelled +garments than to the plumage of the wings of the cherub with whom the +prince has been wrongly identified.</note> When iniquity is found in him +so that he must be banished from the presence of God, the +cherub is said to destroy him from the midst of the stones +of fire—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, is the agent of the divine judgment which +descends on the prince. It is thus doubtful whether the +prince is conceived as a perfect human being, like Adam +before his fall, or as an angelic, superhuman creature; but +the point is of little importance in an ideal delineation +such as we have here. It will be seen that even on the +first supposition there is no very close correspondence +with the story of Eden in the book of Genesis, for there +the cherubim are placed to guard the way of the tree of +life only after man has been expelled from the garden. +</p> + +<p> +But what is the sin that tarnished the sanctity of this +exalted personage and cost him his place among the +<pb n='259'/><anchor id='Pg259'/> +immortals? Ideally, it was an access of pride that caused +his ruin, a spiritual sin, such as might originate in the +heart of an angelic being. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>By that sin fell the angels: how can man, then,</l> +<l>The image of his Maker, hope to win by it?</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +His heart was lifted up because of his beauty, and he +forfeited his godlike wisdom over his brilliance (ver. 17). +But really, this change passing over the spirit of the prince +in the seat of God is only the reflection of what is done +on earth in Tyre. As her commerce increased, the proofs +of her unjust and unscrupulous use of wealth were accumulated +against her, and her midst was filled with +violence (ver. 16). This is the only allusion in the three +chapters to the wrong and oppression and the outrages +on humanity which were the inevitable accompaniments +of that greed of gain which had taken possession of the +Tyrian community. And these sins are regarded as a +demoralisation taking place in the nature of the prince +who is the representative of the city; by the <q>iniquity +of his traffic he has profaned his holiness,</q> and is cast +down from his lofty seat to the earth, a spectacle of abject +humiliation for kings to gloat over. By a sudden change +of metaphor the destruction of the city is also represented +as a fire breaking out in the vitals of the prince and +reducing his body to ashes—a conception which has not +unnaturally suggested to some commentators the fable +of the phœnix which was supposed periodically to immolate +herself in a fire of her own kindling. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>III</head> + +<p> +A short oracle on Sidon completes the series of prophecies +dealing with the future of Israel's immediate +neighbours (vv. 20-23). Sidon lay about twenty miles +farther north than Tyre, and was, as we have seen, at this +<pb n='260'/><anchor id='Pg260'/> +time subject to the authority of the younger and more +vigorous city. From the book of Jeremiah,<note place='foot'>Jer. xxv. 22, xxvii. 3.</note> however, we +see that Sidon was an autonomous state, and preserved +a measure of independence even in matters of foreign +policy. There is therefore nothing arbitrary in assigning +a separate oracle to this most northerly of the states in +immediate contact with the people of Israel, although it +must be admitted that Ezekiel has nothing distinctive to +say of Sidon. Phœnicia was in truth so overshadowed +by Tyre that all the characteristics of the people have +been amply illustrated in the chapters that have dealt +with the latter city. The prophecy is accordingly delivered +in the most general terms, and indicates rather the purpose +and effect of the judgment than the manner in which it +is to come or the character of the people against whom +it is directed. It passes insensibly into a prediction of +the glorious future of Israel, which is important as +revealing the underlying motive of all the preceding +utterances against the heathen nations. The restoration +of Israel and the destruction of her old neighbours are +both parts of one comprehensive scheme of divine providence, +the ultimate object of which is a demonstration +before the eyes of the world of the holiness of Jehovah. +That men might know that He is Jehovah, God alone, is +the end alike of His dealings with the heathen and with +His own people. And the two parts of God's plan are in +the mind of Ezekiel intimately related to each other; the +one is merely a condition of the realisation of the other. +The crowning proof of Jehovah's holiness will be seen +in His faithfulness to the promise made to the patriarchs +of the possession of the land of Canaan, and in the +security and prosperity enjoyed by Israel when brought +back to their land a purified nation. Now in the past +<pb n='261'/><anchor id='Pg261'/> +Israel had been constantly interfered with, crippled, +humiliated, and seduced by the petty heathen powers +around her borders. These had been a pricking brier +and a stinging thorn (ver. 24), constantly annoying and +harassing her and impeding the free development of her +national life. Hence the judgments here denounced +against them are no doubt in the first instance a punishment +for what they had been and done in the past; but +they are also a clearing of the stage that Israel might be +isolated from the rest of the world, and be free to mould +her national life and her religious institutions in accordance +with the will of her God. That is the substance of +the last three verses of the chapter; and while they +exhibit the peculiar limitations of the prophet's thinking, +they enable us at the same time to do justice to the +singular unity and consistency of aim which guided him +in his great forecast of the future of the kingdom of God. +There remains now the case of Egypt to be dealt with; +but Egypt's relations to Israel and her position in the +world were so unique that Ezekiel reserves consideration +of her future for a separate group of oracles longer than +those on all the other nations put together. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='262'/><anchor id='Pg262'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XVIII. Egypt. Chapters xxix.-xxxii.</head> + +<p> +Egypt figures in the prophecies of Ezekiel as a +great world-power cherishing projects of universal +dominion. Once more, as in the age of Isaiah, the ruling +factor in Asiatic politics was the duel for the mastery of +the world between the rival empires of the Nile and the +Euphrates. The influence of Egypt was perhaps even +greater in the beginning of the sixth century than it had +been in the end of the eighth, although in the interval it had +suffered a signal eclipse. Isaiah (ch. xix.) had predicted a +subjugation of Egypt by the Assyrians, and this prophecy +had been fulfilled in the year 672, when Esarhaddon +invaded the country and incorporated it in the Assyrian +empire. He divided its territory into twenty petty principalities +governed by Assyrian or native rulers, and this +state of things had lasted with little change for a generation. +During the reign of Asshurbanipal Egypt was +frequently overrun by Assyrian armies, and the repeated +attempts of the Ethiopian monarchs, aided by revolts +among the native princes, to reassert their sovereignty +over the Nile Valley were all foiled by the energy of the +Assyrian king or the vigilance of his generals. At last, +however, a new era of prosperity dawned for Egypt about +the year 645. Psammetichus, the ruler of Saïs, with the +help of foreign mercenaries, succeeded in uniting the +whole land under his sway; he expelled the Assyrian +<pb n='263'/><anchor id='Pg263'/> +garrison, and became the founder of the brilliant twenty-sixth +(Saïte) dynasty. From this time Egypt possessed +in a strong central administration the one indispensable +condition of her material prosperity. Her power was consolidated +by a succession of vigorous rulers, and she +immediately began to play a leading part in the affairs of +Asia. The most distinguished king of the dynasty was +Necho II., the son and successor of Psammetichus. Two +striking facts mentioned by Herodotus are worthy of mention, +as showing the originality and vigour with which the +Egyptian administration was at this time conducted. One +is the project of cutting a canal between the Nile and +the Red Sea, an undertaking which was abandoned by +Necho in consequence of an oracle warning him that he +was only working for the advantage of foreigners—meaning +no doubt the Phœnicians. Necho, however, knew +how to turn the Phœnician seamanship to good account, as +is proved by the other great stroke of genius with which +he is credited—the circumnavigation of Africa. It was +a Phœnician fleet, despatched from Suez by his orders, +which first rounded the Cape of Good Hope, returning to +Egypt by the Straits of Gibraltar after a three years' +voyage. And if Necho was less successful in war than +in the arts of peace, it was not from want of activity. He +was the Pharaoh who defeated Josiah in the plain of +Megiddo, and afterwards contested the lordship of Syria +with Nebuchadnezzar. His defeat at Carchemish in 604 +compelled him to retire to his own land; but the power of +Egypt was still unbroken, and the Chaldæan king knew +that he would yet have to reckon with her in his schemes +for the conquest of Palestine. +</p> + +<p> +At the time to which these prophecies belong the king +of Egypt was Pharaoh Hophra (in Greek, Apries), the +grandson of Necho II. Ascending the throne in 588 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi>, +he found it necessary for the protection of his own interests +<pb n='264'/><anchor id='Pg264'/> +to take an active part in the politics of Syria. He +is said to have attacked Phœnicia by sea and land, capturing +Sidon and defeating a Tyrian fleet in a naval +engagement. His object must have been to secure the +ascendency of the Egyptian party in the Phœnician cities; +and the stubborn resistance which Nebuchadnezzar encountered +from Tyre was no doubt the result of the +political arrangements made by Hophra after his victory. +No armed intervention was needed to ensure a spirited +defence of Jerusalem; and it was only after the Babylonians +were encamped around the city that Hophra sent an +Egyptian army to its relief. He was unable, however, to +effect more than a temporary suspension of the siege, and +returned to Egypt, leaving Judah to its fate, apparently +without venturing on a battle (Jer. xxxvii. 5-7). No +further hostilities between Egypt and Babylon are recorded +during the lifetime of Hophra. He continued to +reign with vigour and success till 571, when he was +dethroned by Amasis, one of his own generals. +</p> + +<p> +These circumstances show a remarkable parallel to the +political situation with which Isaiah had to deal at the +time of Sennacherib's invasion. Judah was again in the +position of the <q>earthen pipkin between two iron pots.</q> +It is certain that neither Jehoiakim nor Zedekiah, any +more than the advisers of Hezekiah in the earlier period, +would have embarked on a conflict with the Mesopotamian +empire but for delusive promises of Egyptian support. +There was the same vacillation and division of counsels +in Jerusalem, the same dilatoriness on the part of Egypt, +and the same futile effort to retrieve a desperate situation +after the favourable moment had been allowed to slip. In +both cases the conflict was precipitated by the triumph of +an Egyptian party in the Judæan court; and it is probable +that in both cases the king was coerced into a policy of +which his judgment did not approve. And the prophets +<pb n='265'/><anchor id='Pg265'/> +of the later period, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, adhere closely +to the lines laid down by Isaiah in the time of Sennacherib, +warning the people against putting their trust in the vain +help of Egypt, and counselling passive submission to the +course of events which expressed the unalterable judgment +of the Almighty. Ezekiel indeed borrows an image +that had been current in the days of Isaiah in order to set +forth the utter untrustworthiness and dishonesty of Egypt +towards the nations who were induced to rely on her +power. He compares her to a staff of reed, which breaks +when one grasps it, piercing the hand and making the +loins to totter when it is leant upon.<note place='foot'>Ezek. xxix. 6, 7: cf. Isa. xxxvi. 6 (the words of Rabshakeh). In ver. 7 +read כף, <q>hand,</q> for כתף, <q>shoulder,</q> and המעדת, <q>madest to totter,</q> +for העמדת, <q>madest to stand.</q></note> Such had Egypt +been to Israel through all her history, and such she will +again prove herself to be in her last attempt to use Israel +as the tool of her selfish designs. The great difference +between Ezekiel and Isaiah is that, whereas Isaiah had +access to the councils of Hezekiah and could bring his +influence to bear on the inception of schemes of state, not +without hope of averting what he saw to be a disastrous +decision, Ezekiel could only watch the development of +events from afar, and throw his warnings into the form of +predictions of the fate in store for Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +The oracles against Egypt are seven in number: +(i) ch. xxix. 1-16; (ii) 17-21; (iii) xxx. 1-19; (iv) 20-26; +(v) xxxi.; (vi) xxxii. 1-16; (vii) 17-32. They are all +variations of one theme, the annihilation of the power of +Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, and little progress of thought +can be traced from the first to the last. Excluding the +supplementary prophecy of ch. xxix. 17-21, which is a +later addition, the order appears to be strictly chronological.<note place='foot'>This is probable according to the Hebrew text, which, however, omits +the number of the <emph>month</emph> in ch. xxxii. 17. The Septuagint reads <q>in +the <emph>first</emph> month</q>; if this is accepted, it would be better to read the <emph>eleventh</emph> +year instead of the twelfth in ch. xxxii. 1, as is done by some ancient +versions and Hebrew codices. The change involves a difference of only +one letter in Hebrew.</note> +The series begins seven months before the +<pb n='266'/><anchor id='Pg266'/> +capture of Jerusalem (ch. xxix. 1), and ends about eight +months after that event.<note place='foot'>Ch. xxxii. 17, following the LXX. reading.</note> How far the dates refer to +actual occurrences coming to the knowledge of the prophet +it is impossible for us to say. It is clear that his interest +is centred on the fate of Jerusalem then hanging in the +balance; and it is possible that the first oracles (chs. xxix. +1-16, xxx. 1-19) may be called forth by the appearance +of Hophra's army on the scene, while the next (ch. xxx. +20-26) plainly alludes to the repulse of the Egyptians by +the Chaldæans. But no attempt can be made to connect +the prophecies with incidents of the campaign; the prophet's +thoughts are wholly occupied with the moral and religious +issues involved in the contest, the vindication of Jehovah's +holiness in the overthrow of the great world-power which +sought to thwart His purposes. +</p> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<p> +Ch. xxix. 1-16 is an introduction to all that follows, +presenting a general outline of the prophet's conceptions +of the fate of Egypt. It describes the sin of which she +has been guilty, and indicates the nature of the judgment +that is to overtake her and her future place among the +nations of the world. The Pharaoh is compared to a +<q>great dragon,</q> wallowing in his native waters, and deeming +himself secure from molestation in his reedy haunts. +The crocodile was a natural symbol of Egypt, and the +image conveys accurately the impression of sluggish and +unwieldy strength which Egypt in the days of Ezekiel +had long produced on shrewd observers of her policy. +Pharaoh is the incarnate genius of the country; and as +<pb n='267'/><anchor id='Pg267'/> +the Nile was the strength and glory of Egypt, he is here +represented as arrogating to himself the ownership and +even the creation of the wonderful river. <q>My river is +mine, and I have made it</q> is the proud and blasphemous +thought which expresses his consciousness of a power +that owns no superior in earth or heaven. That the Nile +was worshipped by the Egyptians with divine honours +did not alter the fact that beneath all their ostentatious +religious observances there was an immoral sense of +irresponsible power in the use of the natural resources to +which the land owed its prosperity. For this spirit of +ungodly self-exaltation the king and people of Egypt are +to be visited with a signal judgment, from which they shall +learn who it is that is God over all. The monster of the +Nile shall be drawn from his waters with hooks, with all +his fishes sticking to his scales, and left to perish ignominiously +on the desert sands. The rest of the prophecy +(vv. 8-16) gives the explanation of the allegory in literal, +though still general, terms. The meaning is that Egypt +shall be laid waste by the sword, its teeming population +led into captivity, and the land shall lie desolate, untrodden +by the foot of man or beast for the space of forty years. +<q>From Migdol to Syene</q><note place='foot'>Migdol was on the north-east border of Egypt, twelve miles south +of Pelusium (Sin), at the mouth of the eastern arm of the Nile. Syene +is the modern Assouan, at the first cataract of the Nile, and has always +been the boundary between Egypt proper and Ethiopia.</note>—the extreme limits of the +country—the rich valley of the Nile shall be uncultivated +and uninhabited for that period of time. +</p> + +<p> +The most interesting feature of the prophecy is the +view which is given of the final condition of the Egyptian +empire (vv. 13-16). In all cases the prophetic delineations +of the future of different nations are coloured by +the present circumstances of those nations as known to +the writers. Ezekiel knew that the fertile soil of Egypt +<pb n='268'/><anchor id='Pg268'/> +would always be capable of supporting an industrious +peasantry, and that her existence did not depend on her continuing +to play the <foreign rend='italic'>rôle</foreign> of a great power. Tyre depended +on her commerce, and apart from that which was the root +of her sin could never be anything but the resort of poor +fishermen, who would not even make their dwelling on the +barren rock in the midst of the sea. But Egypt could +still be a country, though shorn of the glory and power +which had made her a snare to the people of God. On +the other hand the geographical isolation of the land +made it impossible that she should lose her individuality +amongst the nations of the world. Unlike the small +states, such as Edom and Ammon, which were obviously +doomed to be swallowed up by the surrounding population +as soon as their power was broken, Egypt would retain +her distinct and characteristic life as long as the physical +condition of the world remained what it was. Accordingly +the prophet does not contemplate an utter annihilation +of Egypt, but only a temporary chastisement succeeded +by her permanent degradation to the lowest rank among +the kingdoms. The forty years of her desolation represent +in round numbers the period of Chaldæan supremacy +during which Jerusalem lies in ruins. Ezekiel at this +time expected the invasion of Egypt to follow soon after +the capture of Jerusalem, so that the restoration of the +two peoples would be simultaneous. At the end of forty +years the whole world will be reorganised on a new basis, +Israel occupying the central position as the people of God, +and in that new world Egypt shall have a separate but +subordinate place. Jehovah will bring back the Egyptians +from their captivity, and cause them to return to <q>Pathros,<note place='foot'>Pathros is the name of Upper Egypt, the narrow valley of the Nile +above the Delta. In the Egyptian tradition it was regarded as the +original home of the nation and the seat of the oldest dynasties. Whether +Ezekiel means that the Egyptians shall recover only Pathros, while the +Delta is allowed to remain uncultivated, is a question that must be left +undecided.</note> +the land of their origin,</q> and there make them a <q>lowly +state,</q> no longer an imperial power, but humbler than the +<pb n='269'/><anchor id='Pg269'/> +surrounding kingdoms. The righteousness of Jehovah +and the interest of Israel alike demand that Egypt should +be thus reduced from her former greatness. In the old +days her vast and imposing power had been a constant +temptation to the Israelites, <q>a confidence, a reminder of +iniquity,</q> leading them to put their trust in human power +and luring them into paths of danger by deceitful promises +(vv. 6-7). In the final dispensation of history this shall +no longer be the case: Israel shall then know Jehovah, +and no form of human power shall be suffered to lead +their hearts astray from Him who is the rock of their +salvation. +</p> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<p> +Ch. xxx. 1-19.—The judgment on Egypt spreads terror +and dismay among all the neighbouring nations. It +signalises the advent of the great day of Jehovah, the +day of His final reckoning with the powers of evil everywhere. +It is the <q>time of the heathen</q> that has come +(ver. 3). Egypt being the chief embodiment of secular +power on the basis of pagan religion, the sudden +collapse of her might is equivalent to a judgment on +heathenism in general, and the moral effect of it conveys +to the world a demonstration of the omnipotence of the +one true God whom she had ignored and defied. The +nations immediately involved in the fall of Egypt are the +allies and mercenaries whom she has called to her aid in +the time of her calamity. Ethiopians, and Lydians, and +Libyans, and Arabs, and Cretans,<note place='foot'>Hebrew, <q>Cush, and Put, and Lud, and all the mixed multitude, and +Chub, and the sons of the land of the covenant.</q> Cornill reads, <q>Cush, +and Put, and Lud, and Lub, and all Arabia, and the sons of Crete.</q> The +emendations are partly based on somewhat intricate reasoning from the +text of the Greek and Ethiopic versions; but they have the advantage of +yielding a series of proper names, as the context seems to demand. Put +and Lud are tribes lying to the west of Egypt, and so also is Lub, which +may be safely substituted for the otherwise unknown Chub of the +Hebrew text.</note> the <q>helpers of Egypt,</q> +<pb n='270'/><anchor id='Pg270'/> +who have furnished contingents to her motley army, fall +by the sword along with her, and their countries share +the desolation that overtakes the land of Egypt. Swift +messengers are then seen speeding up the Nile in ships +to convey to the careless Ethiopians the alarming tidings +of the overthrow of Egypt (ver. 9). From this point the +prophet confines his attention to the fate of Egypt, which +he describes with a fulness of detail that implies a certain +acquaintance both with the topography and the social +circumstances of the country. In ver. 10 Nebuchadnezzar +and the Chaldæans are for the first time mentioned +by name as the human instruments employed by Jehovah +to execute His judgment on Egypt. After the slaughter +of the inhabitants, the next consequence of the invasion +is the destruction of the canals and reservoirs and the +decay of the system of irrigation on which the productiveness +of the country depended. <q>The rivers [canals] are +dried up, and the land is made waste, and the fulness +thereof, by the hand of strangers</q> (ver. 12). And with the +material fabric of her prosperity the complicated system of +religious and civil institutions which was entwined with +the hoary civilisation of Egypt vanishes for ever. <q>The +idols are destroyed; the potentates<note place='foot'>Reading אלים, <q>strong ones,</q> instead of אלילים, <q>not-gods,</q> as in +the LXX. The latter term is common in Isaiah, but does not occur elsewhere +in Ezekiel, although he had constant occasion to use it.</note> are made to cease +from Memphis, and princes from the land of Egypt, so +that they shall be no more</q> (ver. 13). Faith in the native +gods shall be extinguished, and a trembling fear of +Jehovah shall fill the whole land. The passage ends with +<pb n='271'/><anchor id='Pg271'/> +an enumeration of various centres of the national life, +which formed as it were the sensitive ganglia where +the universal calamity was most acutely felt. On these +cities,<note place='foot'>The cities are not mentioned in any geographical order. Memphis +(Noph) and Thebes (No) are the ancient and populous capitals of Lower +and Upper Egypt respectively; Tanis (Zoan) was the city of the Hyksos, +and subsequently a royal seat; Pelusium (Sin), <q>the bulwark of +Egypt,</q> and Daphne (Tahpanhes) guarded the approach to the Delta from +the East; Heliopolis (On, wrongly pointed Aven) was the famous +centre of Egyptian wisdom, and the chief seat of the worship of the +sun-god Ra; and Bubastis (Pi-beseth), besides being a celebrated +religious centre, was one of the possessions of the Egyptian military caste.</note> each of which was identified with the worship of a +particular deity, Jehovah executes the judgments in which +He makes known to the Egyptians His sole divinity and +destroys their confidence in false gods. They also possessed +some special military or political importance, so that +with their destruction the sceptres of Egypt were broken +and the pride of her strength was laid low (ver. 18). +</p> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<p> +Ch. xxx. 20-26.—A new oracle, dated three months +later than the preceding. Pharaoh is represented as a +combatant, already disabled in one arm and sore pressed +by his powerful antagonist the king of Babylon. Jehovah +announces that the wounded arm cannot be healed, +although he has retired from the contest for that purpose. +On the contrary, both his arms shall be broken and the +sword struck from his grasp, while the arms of Nebuchadnezzar +are strengthened by Jehovah, who puts His own +sword into his hand. The land of Egypt, thus rendered +defenceless, falls an easy prey to the Chaldæans, and its +people are dispersed among the nations. The occasion +of the prophecy is the repulse of Hophra's expedition for +the relief of Jerusalem, which is referred to as a past +event. The date may either mark the actual time of the +occurrence (as in ch. xxiv. 1), or the time when it came +<pb n='272'/><anchor id='Pg272'/> +to the knowledge of Ezekiel. The prophet at all events +accepts this reverse to the Egyptian arms as an earnest +of the speedy realisation of his predictions in the total +submission of the proud empire of the Nile. +</p> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<p> +Ch. xxxi. occupies the same position in the prophecies +against Egypt as the allegory of the richly laden ship in +those against Tyre (ch. xxvii.). The incomparable majesty +and overshadowing power of Egypt are set forth under +the image of a lordly cedar in Lebanon, whose top reaches +to the clouds and whose branches afford shelter to all +the beasts of the earth. The exact force of the allegory +is somewhat obscured by a slight error of the text, which +must have crept in at a very early period. As it stands +in the Hebrew and in all the ancient versions the whole +chapter is a description of the greatness not of Egypt but +of Assyria. <q>To whom art thou like in thy greatness?</q> +asks the prophet (ver. 2); and the answer is, <q>Assyria +was great as thou art, yet Assyria fell and is no more.</q> +There is thus a double comparison: Assyria is compared +to a cedar, and then Egypt is tacitly compared to Assyria. +This interpretation may not be altogether indefensible. +That the fate of Assyria contained a warning against the +pride of Pharaoh is a thought in itself intelligible, and +such as Ezekiel might very well have expressed. But if +he had wished to express it, he would not have done it +so awkwardly as this interpretation supposes. When we +follow the connection of ideas we cannot fail to see that +Assyria is not in the prophet's thoughts at all. The +image is consistently pursued without a break to the end +of the chapter, and then we learn that the subject of the +description is <q>Pharaoh and all his multitude</q> (ver. 18). +But if the writer is thinking of Egypt at the end, he +must have been thinking of it from the beginning, and +the mention of Assyria is out of place and misleading. +<pb n='273'/><anchor id='Pg273'/> +The confusion has been caused by the substitution of the +word <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>Asshur</foreign> (in ver. 3) for <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>T'asshur</foreign>, the name of the +sherbîn tree, itself a species of cedar. We should therefore +read, <q>Behold a T'asshur, a cedar in Lebanon,</q> etc.;<note place='foot'>It is only fair to say that the construction <q>a T'asshur, a cedar,</q> +or, still more, <q>a T'asshur of a cedar,</q> is somewhat harsh. It is +not unlikely that the word <q>cedar</q> may have been added after the +reading <q>Assyrian</q> had been established, in order to complete the +sense.</note> +and the answer to the question of ver. 2 is that the position +of Egypt is as unrivalled among the kingdoms of the +world as this stately tree among the trees of the forest. +</p> + +<p> +With this alteration the course of thought is perfectly +clear, although incongruous elements are combined in +the representation. The towering height of the cedar +with its top in the clouds symbolises the imposing might +of Egypt and its ungodly pride (cf. vv. 10, 14). The +waters of the flood which nourish its roots are those of +the Nile, the source of Egypt's wealth and greatness. The +birds that build their nests in its branches and the beasts +that bring forth their young under its shadow are the +smaller nations that looked to Egypt for protection and +support. Finally, the trees in the garden of God who +envy the luxuriant pride of this monarch of the forest +represent the other great empires of the earth who vainly +aspired to emulate the prosperity and magnificence of +Egypt (vv. 3-9). +</p> + +<p> +In the next strophe (vv. 10-14) we see the great trunk +lying prone across mountain and valley, while its branches +lie broken in all the water-courses. A <q>mighty one of +the nations</q> (Nebuchadnezzar) has gone up against it, and +felled it to the earth. The nations have been scared +from under its shadow; and the tree which <q>but yesterday +might have stood against the world</q> now lies prostrate +and dishonoured—<q>none so poor as do it reverence.</q> +<pb n='274'/><anchor id='Pg274'/> +And the fall of the cedar reveals a moral principle and +conveys a moral lesson to all other proud and stately +trees. Its purpose is to remind the other great empires +that they too are mortal, and to warn them against the +soaring ambition and lifting up of the heart which had +brought about the humiliation of Egypt: <q>that none of +the trees by the water should exalt themselves in stature +or shoot their tops between the clouds, and that their +mighty ones should not stand proudly in their loftiness +(all who are fed by water); for they are all delivered to +death, to the under-world with the children of men, to +those that go down to the pit.</q> In reality there is no +more impressive intimation of the vanity of earthly glory +than the decay of those mighty empires and civilisations +which once stood in the van of human progress; nor is +there a fitter emblem of their fate than the sudden +crash of some great forest tree before the woodman's +axe. +</p> + +<p> +The development of the prophet's thought, however, +here reaches a point where it breaks through the allegory, +which has been hitherto consistently maintained. All +nature shudders in sympathy with the fallen cedar: the +deep mourns and withholds her streams from the earth; +Lebanon is clothed with blackness, and all the trees +languish. Egypt was so much a part of the established +order that the world does not know itself when she has +vanished. While this takes place on earth, the cedar itself +has gone down to Sheôl, where the other shades of vanished +dynasties are comforted because this mightiest of them all +has become like to the rest. This is the answer to the +question that introduced the allegory. To whom art thou +like? None is fit to be compared to thee; yet <q>thou +shalt be brought down with the trees of Eden to the +lower parts of the earth, thou shalt lie in the midst of the +uncircumcised, with them that are slain of the sword.</q> It +<pb n='275'/><anchor id='Pg275'/> +is needless to enlarge on this idea, which is out of keeping +here, and is more adequately treated in the next chapter. +</p> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<p> +Ch. xxxii. consists of two lamentations to be chanted +over the fall of Egypt by the prophet and the daughters +of the nations (vv. 16, 18). The first (vv. 1-16) describes +the destruction of Pharaoh, and the effect which is produced +on earth; while the second (vv. 17-32) follows his +shade into the abode of the dead, and expatiates on the +welcome that awaits him there. Both express the spirit of +exultation over a fallen foe, which was one of the uses to +which elegiac poetry was turned amongst the Hebrews. +The first passage, however, can hardly be considered a +dirge in any proper sense of the word. It is essential +to a true elegy that the subject of it should be conceived +as dead, and that whether serious or ironical it should +celebrate a glory that has passed away. In this case +the elegiac note (of the elegiac <emph>measure</emph> there is hardly +a trace) is just struck in the opening line: <q>O young +lion of the nations! [How] art thou undone!</q> But +this is not sustained: the passage immediately falls into +the style of direct prediction and threatening, and is +indeed closely parallel to the opening prophecy of the +series (ch. xxix.). The fundamental image is the same: +that of a great Nile monster spouting from his nostrils +and fouling the waters with his feet (ver. 2). His capture +by many nations and his lingering death on the open +field are described with the realistic and ghastly details +naturally suggested by the figure (vv. 3-6). The image +is then abruptly changed in order to set forth the effect +of so great a calamity on the world of nature and of +mankind. Pharaoh is compared to a brilliant luminary, +whose sudden extinction is followed by a darkening of +all the lights of heaven and by consternation amongst +the nations and kings of earth (vv. 7-10). It is thought +<pb n='276'/><anchor id='Pg276'/> +by some that the violence of the transition is to be +explained by the idea of the heavenly constellation of +the dragon, answering to the dragon of the Nile, to which +Egypt had just been likened.<note place='foot'>See Smend on the passage. Dr. Davidson, however, doubts the +possibility of this: see his commentary.</note> Finally all metaphors +are abandoned, and the desolation of Egypt is announced +in literal terms as accomplished by the sword of the +king of Babylon and the <q>most terrible of the nations</q> +(vv. 11-16). +</p> + +<p> +But all the foregoing oracles are surpassed in grandeur +of conception by the remarkable Vision of Hades which +concludes the series—<q>one of the most weird passages +in literature</q> (Davidson). In form it is a dirge supposed +to be sung at the burial of Pharaoh and his host by +the prophet along with the daughters of famous nations +(ver. 18). But the theme, as has been already observed, +is the entrance of the deceased warriors into the under-world, +and their reception by the shades that have gone +down thither before them. In order to understand it we +must bear in mind some features of the conception of the +under-world, which it is difficult for the modern mind to +realise distinctly. First of all, Sheôl or the <q>pit,</q> the +realm of the dead, is pictured to the imagination as an +adumbration of the grave or sepulchre, in which the body +finds its last resting-place; or rather it is the aggregate +of all the burying-grounds scattered over the earth's +surface. There the shades are grouped according to their +clans and nationalities, just as on earth the members of +the same family would usually be interred in one burying-place. +The grave of the chief or king, the representative +of the nation, is surrounded by those of his vassals and +subjects, earthly distinctions being thus far preserved. +The condition of the dead appears to be one of rest or +<pb n='277'/><anchor id='Pg277'/> +sleep; yet they retain some consciousness of their state, +and are visited at least by transient gleams of human +emotion, as when in this chapter the heroes rouse themselves +to address the Pharaoh when he comes among them. +The most material point is that the state of the soul in +Hades reflects the fate of the body after death. Those +who have received the honour of decent burial on earth +enjoy a corresponding honour among the shades below. +They have as it were a definite status and individuality +in their eternal abode, whilst the spirits of the unburied +slain are laid in the lowest recesses of the pit, in the +limbo of the uncircumcised. On this distinction the whole +significance of the passage before us seems to depend. +The dead are divided into two great classes: on the one +hand the <q>mighty ones,</q> who lie in state with their weapons +of war around them; and on the other hand the multitude +of <q>the uncircumcised,<note place='foot'>This use of the word <q>uncircumcised</q> is peculiar. The idea seems +to be that circumcision, among nations which like the Israelites practised +the rite, was an indispensable mark of membership in the community; +and those who lacked this mark were treated as social outcasts, not +entitled to honourable sepulture. Hence the word could be used, as +here, in the sense of unhallowed.</note> slain by the sword</q>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, those +who have perished on the field of battle and been buried +promiscuously without due funereal rites.<note place='foot'>Cf. Isa. xiv. 18-20: <q>All of the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep +in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast forth away +from thy sepulchre, like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain, +that are thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of +the pit; as a carcase trodden underfoot. Thou shalt not be joined with +them in burial,</q> etc.</note> There is, +however, no moral distinction between the two classes. +The heroes are not in a state of blessedness; nor is the +condition of the uncircumcised one of acute suffering. +The whole of existence in Sheôl is essentially of one +character; it is on the whole a pitiable existence, destitute +of joy and of all that makes up the fulness of life on +<pb n='278'/><anchor id='Pg278'/> +earth. Only there is <q>within that deep a lower deep,</q> +and it is reserved for those who in the manner of their +death have experienced the penalty of great wickedness. +The moral truth of Ezekiel's representation lies here. +The real judgment of Egypt was enacted in the historical +scene of its final overthrow; and it is the consciousness +of this tremendous visitation of divine justice, perpetuated +amongst the shades to all eternity, that gives ethical +significance to the lot assigned to the nation in the other +world. At the same time it should not be overlooked +that the passage is in the highest degree poetical, and +cannot be taken as an exact statement of what was +known or believed about the state after death in Old +Testament times. It deals only with the fate of armies +and nationalities and great warriors who filled the earth +with their renown. These, having vanished from history, +preserve through all time in the under-world the memory +of Jehovah's mighty acts of judgment; but it is impossible +to determine whether this sublime vision implies a real +belief in the persistence of national identities in the region +of the dead. +</p> + +<p> +These, then, are the principal ideas on which the ode +is based, and the course of thought is as follows. Ver. 18 +briefly announces the occasion for which the dirge is +composed; it is to celebrate the passage of Pharaoh and +his host to the lower world, and consign him to his +appointed place there. Then follows a scene which has +a certain resemblance to a well-known representation in +the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah (vv. 9-11). The heroes +who occupy the place of honour among the dead are +supposed to rouse themselves at the approach of this +great multitude, and hailing them from the midst of +Sheôl, direct them to their proper place amongst the +dishonoured slain. <q>The mighty ones speak to him: +<q>Be thou in the recesses of the pit: whom dost thou +<pb n='279'/><anchor id='Pg279'/> +excel in beauty? Go down and be laid to rest with the +uncircumcised, in the midst of them that are slain with +the sword.</q></q><note place='foot'>The text of these verses (19-21) is in some confusion. The above is +a translation of the reading proposed by Cornill, who in the main follows +the LXX.</note> Thither Pharaoh has been preceded by +other great conquerors who once set their terror in the +earth, but now bear their shame amongst those that go +down to the pit. For there is Asshur and all his company: +there too are Elam and Meshech and Tubal, each +occupying its own allotment amongst nations that have +perished by the sword (vv. 22-26). Not theirs is the +enviable lot of the heroes of old time<note place='foot'>LXX. מעולם for מערלם = <q>of the uncircumcised.</q></note> who went down +to Sheôl in their panoply of war, and rest with their swords +under their heads and their shields<note place='foot'><q>Shields,</q> a conjecture of Cornill, seems to be demanded by the +parallelism.</note> covering their bones. +And so Egypt, which has perished like these other nations, +must be banished with them into the bottom of the pit +(vv. 27, 28). The enumeration of the nations of the +uncircumcised is then resumed; Israel's immediate neighbours +are amongst them—Edom and the dynasties of the +north (the Syrians), and the Phœnicians, inferior states +which played no great part as conquerors, but nevertheless +perished in battle and bear their humiliation along +with the others (vv. 29, 30). These are to be Pharaoh's +companions in his last resting-place, and at the sight of +them he will lay aside his presumptuous thoughts and +comfort himself over the loss of his mighty army (vv. 31 f.). +</p> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<p> +It is necessary to say a few words in conclusion about +the historical evidence for the fulfilment of these prophecies +on Egypt. The supplementary oracle of ch. xxix. 17-21 +shows us that the threatened invasion by Nebuchadnezzar +<pb n='280'/><anchor id='Pg280'/> +had not taken place sixteen years after the fall of Jerusalem. +Did it ever take place at all? Ezekiel was at +that time confident that his words were on the point of +being fulfilled, and indeed he seems to stake his credit +with his hearers on their verification. Can we suppose +that he was entirely mistaken? Is it likely that the +remarkably definite predictions uttered both by him and +Jeremiah<note place='foot'>Jer. xliii. 8-13; xliv. 12-14, 27-30; xlvi. 13-26.</note> failed of even the partial fulfilment which that +on Tyre received? A number of critics have strongly +maintained that we are shut up by the historical evidence +to this conclusion. They rely chiefly on the silence of +Herodotus, and on the unsatisfactory character of the +statement of Josephus. The latter writer is indeed sufficiently +explicit in his affirmations. He tells us<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ant.</hi>, X. ix. 7.</note> that five +years after the capture of Jerusalem Nebuchadnezzar +invaded Egypt, put to death the reigning king, appointed +another in his stead, and carried the Jewish refugees in +Egypt captive to Babylon. But it is pointed out that the +date is impossible, being inconsistent with Ezekiel's own +testimony, that the account of the death of Hophra is +contradicted by what we know of the matter from other +sources (Herodotus and Diodorus), and that the whole +passage bears the appearance of a translation into history +of the prophecies of Jeremiah which it professes to +substantiate. That is vigorous criticism, but the vigour +is perhaps not altogether unwarrantable, especially as +Josephus does not mention any authority. Other allusions +by secular writers hardly count for much, and the state +of the question is such that historians would probably +have been content to confess their ignorance if the credit +of a prophet had not been mixed up with it. +</p> + +<p> +Within the last seventeen years, however, a new turn +<pb n='281'/><anchor id='Pg281'/> +has been given to the discussion through the discovery +of monumental evidence which was thought to have an +important bearing on the point in dispute. In the same +volume of an Egyptological magazine<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Zeitschrift für Aegyptische Sprache</hi>, 1878, pp. 2 ff. and pp. 87 ff.</note> Wiedemann directed +the attention of scholars to two inscriptions, one in the +Louvre and the other in the British Museum, both of +which he considered to furnish proof of an occupation of +Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar. The first was an Egyptian +inscription of the reign of Hophra. It was written by an +official of the highest rank, named <hi rend='italic'>Nes-hor</hi>, to whom was +entrusted the responsible task of defending Egypt on its +southern or Ethiopian frontier. According to Wiedemann's +translation, it relates among other things an +irruption of Asiatic bands (Syrians, people of the north, +Asiatics), which penetrated as far as the first cataract, and +did some damage to the temple of Chnum in Elephantine. +There they were checked by Nes-hor, and afterwards +they were crushed or expelled by Hophra himself. Now +the most natural explanation of this incident, in connection +with the circumstances of the time, would seem to be that +Nebuchadnezzar, finding himself fully occupied for the +present with the siege of Tyre, incited roving bands of +Arabs and Syrians to plunder Egypt, and that they +succeeded so far as to penetrate to the extreme south of +the country. But a more recent examination of the text, +by Maspero and Brugsch,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi>, 1884, pp. 87 ff., 93 ff.</note> reduces the incident to much +smaller dimensions. They find that it refers to a mutiny +of Egyptian mercenaries (Syrians, Ionians, and Bedouins) +stationed on the southern frontier. The governor, Nes-hor, +congratulates himself on a successful stratagem by +which he got the rebels into a position where they were +cut down by the king's troops. In any case it is evident +<pb n='282'/><anchor id='Pg282'/> +that it falls very far short of a confirmation of Ezekiel's +prophecy. Not only is there no mention of Nebuchadnezzar +or a regular Babylonian army, but the invaders or +mutineers are actually said to have been annihilated by +Hophra. It may be said, no doubt, that an Egyptian +governor was likely to be silent about an event which cast +discredit on his country's arms, and would be tempted to +magnify some temporary success into a decisive victory. +But still the inscription must be taken for what it is worth, +and the story it tells is certainly not the story of a +Chaldæan supremacy in the valley of the Nile. The only +thing that suggests a connection between the two is the +general probability that a campaign against Egypt must +have been contemplated by Nebuchadnezzar about that time. +</p> + +<p> +The second and more important document is a cuneiform +fragment of the annals of Nebuchadnezzar. It is +unfortunately in a very mutilated condition, and all that +the Assyriologists have made out is that in the thirty-seventh +year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar fought a battle +with the king of Egypt. As the words of the inscription +are those of Nebuchadnezzar himself, we may presume +that the battle ended in a victory for him, and a few disconnected +words in the later part are thought to refer to the +tribute or booty which he acquired.<note place='foot'>See Schrader, <hi rend='italic'>Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek</hi>, III. ii., pp. 140 f.</note> The thirty-seventh +year of Nebuchadnezzar is the year 568 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi>, about two +years after the date of Ezekiel's last utterance against +Egypt. The Egyptian king at this time was Amasis, +whose name (only the last syllable of which is legible) is +supposed to be that mentioned in the inscription.<note place='foot'>The hypothesis of a joint reign of Hophra and Amasis from 570 to +564 (Wiedemann) may or may not be necessary to establish a connection +between the Babylonian inscription and that of Nes-hor; it is +certain that Amasis began to reign in 570, and that Hophra is <emph>not</emph> the +Pharaoh mentioned by Nebuchadnezzar.</note> What +<pb n='283'/><anchor id='Pg283'/> +the ulterior consequences of this victory were on Egyptian +history, or how long the Babylonian domination lasted, we +cannot at present say. These are questions on which +we may reasonably look for further light from the researches +of Assyriology. In the meantime it appears to be +established beyond reasonable doubt that Nebuchadnezzar +did attack Egypt, and the probable issue of his expedition +was in accordance with Ezekiel's latest prediction: <q>Behold, +I give to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the land of +Egypt; and he shall spoil her spoil, and plunder her plunder, +and it shall be the wages for his army</q> (ch. xxix. 19). +There can of course be no question of a fulfilment of the +earlier prophecies in their literal terms. History knows +nothing of a total captivity of the population of Egypt or +a blank of forty years in her annals when her land was +untrodden by the foot of man or of beast. These are +details belonging to the dramatic form in which the prophet +clothed the spiritual lesson which it was necessary to +impress on his countrymen—the inherent weakness of the +Egyptian empire as a power based on material resources +and rearing itself in opposition to the great ends of God's +kingdom. And it may well have been that for the illustration +of that truth the humiliation that Egypt endured at +the hands of Nebuchadnezzar was as effective as her total +destruction would have been. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='287'/><anchor id='Pg287'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Part IV. The Formation Of The New Israel.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XIX. The Prophet A Watchman. Chapter xxxiii.</head> + +<p> +One day in January of the year 586 the tidings +circulated through the Jewish colony at Tel-abib +that <q>the city was smitten.</q> The rapidity with which +in the East intelligence is transmitted through secret +channels has often excited the surprise of European +observers. In this case there is no extraordinary rapidity +to note, for the fate of Jerusalem had been decided nearly +six months before it was known in Babylon.<note place='foot'>Jerusalem was taken in the fourth month of the eleventh year of +Zedekiah or of Ezekiel's captivity. The announcement reached Ezekiel, +according to the reading of the Hebrew text, in the tenth month of the +twelfth year (ch. xxxiii. 21)—that is, about eighteen months after the +event. It is hardly credible that the transmission of the news should +have been delayed so long as this; and therefore the reading <q>eleventh +year,</q> found in some manuscripts and in the Syriac Version, is now +generally regarded as correct.</note> But it is +remarkable that the first intimation of the issue of the +siege was brought to the exiles by one of their own +countrymen, who had escaped at the capture of the city. +It is probable that the messenger did not set out at once, +but waited until he could bring some information as to +how matters were settling down after the war. Or he +may have been a captive who had trudged the weary road +to Babylon in chains under the escort of Nebuzaradan, +captain of the guard,<note place='foot'>Jer. xxxix. 9.</note> and afterwards succeeded in making +<pb n='288'/><anchor id='Pg288'/> +his escape to the older settlement where Ezekiel lived. +All we know is that his message was not delivered with +the despatch which would have been possible if his +journey had been unimpeded, and that in the meantime +the official intelligence which must have already reached +Babylon had not transpired among the exiles who were +waiting so anxiously for tidings of the fate of Jerusalem.<note place='foot'>It is possible, however, that the word <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>happālît</foreign>, <q>the fugitive,</q> may +be used in a collective sense, of the whole body of captives carried away +after the destruction of the city.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The immediate effect of the announcement on the mind +of the exiles is not recorded. It was doubtless received +with all the signs of public mourning which Ezekiel had +anticipated and foretold.<note place='foot'>Ch. xxiv. 21-24.</note> They would require some +time to adjust themselves to a situation for which, in spite +of all the warnings that had been sent them, they were +utterly unprepared; and it must have been uncertain at +first what direction their thoughts would take. Would +they carry out their half-formed intention of abandoning +their national faith and assimilating themselves to the +surrounding heathenism? Would they sink into the +lethargy of despair, and pine away under a confused +consciousness of guilt? Or would they repent of their +unbelief, and turn to embrace the hope which God's mercy +held out to them in the teaching of the prophet whom +they had despised? All this was for the moment uncertain; +but one thing was certain—they could no more +return to the attitude of complacent indifference and +incredulity in which they had hitherto resisted the word +of Jehovah. The day on which the tidings of the city's +destruction fell like a thunderbolt in the community of +Tel-abib was the turning-point of Ezekiel's ministry. In +the arrival of the <q>fugitive</q> he recognises the sign which +was to break the spell of silence which had lain so long +<pb n='289'/><anchor id='Pg289'/> +upon him, and set him free for the ministry of consolation +and upbuilding which was henceforth to be his chief +vocation. A presentiment of what was coming had +visited him the evening before his interview with the +messenger, and from that time <q>his mouth was opened, +and he was no more dumb</q> (ver. 22). Hitherto he had +preached to deaf ears, and the echo of his ineffectual +appeals had come back in a deadening sense of failure +which had paralysed his activity. But now in one +moment the veil of prejudice and vain self-confidence is +torn from the heart of his hearers, and gradually but +surely the whole burden of his message must disclose +itself to their intelligence. The time has come to work +for the formation of a new Israel, and a new spirit of +hopefulness stimulates the prophet to throw himself +eagerly into the career which is thus opened up before +him. +</p> + +<p> +It may be well at this point to try to realise the state +of mind which emerged amongst Ezekiel's hearers after +the first shock of consternation had passed away. The +seven chapters (xxxiii.-xxxix.) with which we are to be +occupied in this section all belong to the second period +of the prophet's work, and in all probability to the earlier +part of that period. It is obvious, however, that they +were not written under the first impulse of the tidings +of the fall of Jerusalem. They contain allusions to certain +changes which must have occupied some time; and +simultaneously a change took place in the temper of the +people resulting ultimately in a definite spiritual situation +to which the prophet had to address himself. It is this +situation which we have to try to understand. It supplies +the external conditions of Ezekiel's ministry, and unless +we can in some measure interpret it we shall lose the +full meaning of his teaching in this important period of +his ministry. +</p> + +<pb n='290'/><anchor id='Pg290'/> + +<p> +At the outset we may glance at the state of those who +were left in the land of Israel, who in a sense formed part +of Ezekiel's audience. The very first oracle uttered by +him after he had received his emancipation was a threat +of judgment against these survivors of the nation's +calamity (vv. 23-29). The fact that this is recorded +in connection with the interview with the <q>fugitive</q> +may mean that the information on which it is based +was obtained from that somewhat shadowy personage. +Whether in this way or through some later channel, +Ezekiel had apparently some knowledge of the disastrous +feuds which had followed the destruction of Jerusalem. +These events are minutely described in the end of the book +of Jeremiah (chs. xl.-xliv.). With a clemency which in +the circumstances is surprising the king of Babylon had +allowed a small remnant of the people to settle in the +land, and had appointed over them a native governor, +Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, who fixed his residence at +Mizpah. The prophet Jeremiah elected to throw in his +lot with this remnant, and for a time it seemed as if +through peaceful submission to the Chaldæan supremacy +all might go well with the survivors. The chiefs who +had conducted the guerilla warfare in the open against the +Babylonian army came in and placed themselves under +the protection of Gedaliah, and there was every prospect +that by refraining from projects of rebellion they might +be left to enjoy the fruits of the land without disturbance. +But this was not to be. Certain turbulent spirits under +Ishmael, a member of the royal family, entered into a +conspiracy with the king of Ammon to destroy this last +refuge of peace-loving Israelites. Gedaliah was treacherously +murdered; and although the murder was partially +avenged, Ishmael succeeded in making his escape to the +Ammonites, while the remains of the party of order, +dreading the vengeance of Nebuchadnezzar, took their +<pb n='291'/><anchor id='Pg291'/> +departure for Egypt and carried Jeremiah forcibly with +them. What happened after this we do not know; but +it is not improbable that Ishmael and his followers may +have held possession of the land by force for some years. +We read of a fresh deportation of Judæan captives to +Babylon five years after the capture of Jerusalem (Jer. +lii. 30); and this may have been the result of an expedition +to suppress the depredations of the robber band that +Ishmael had gathered round him. How much of this +story had reached the ears of Ezekiel we do not know; +but there is one allusion in his oracle which makes it +probable that he had at least heard of the assassination +of Gedaliah. Those he addresses are men who <q>stand +upon their sword</q>—that is to say, they hold that +might is right, and glory in deeds of blood and violence +that gratify their passionate desire for revenge. Such +language could hardly be used of any section of the remaining +population of Judæa except the lawless banditti +that enrolled themselves under the banner of Ishmael, +the son of Nethaniah. +</p> + +<p> +What Ezekiel is mainly concerned with, however, is +the moral and religious condition of those to whom he +speaks. Strange to say, they were animated by a species +of religious fanaticism, which led them to regard themselves +as the legitimate heirs to whom the reversion of the +land of Israel belonged. <q>Abraham was one,</q> so reasoned +these desperadoes, <q>and yet he inherited the land: but +we are many; to us the land is given for a possession</q> +(ver. 24). Their meaning is that the smallness of their +number is no argument against the validity of their claim +to the heritage of the land. They are still many in comparison +with the solitary patriarch to whom it was first +promised; and if he was multiplied so as to take possession +of it, why should they hesitate to claim the mastery +of it? This thought of the wonderful multiplication of +<pb n='292'/><anchor id='Pg292'/> +Abraham's seed after he had received the promise seems +to have laid fast hold of the men of that generation. It +is applied by the great teacher who stands next to Ezekiel +in the prophetic succession to comfort the little flock who +followed after righteousness and could hardly believe that +it was God's good pleasure to give them the kingdom. +<q>Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that +bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and +increased him</q> (Isa. li. 2). The words of the infatuated +men who exulted in the havoc they were making on the +mountains of Judæa may sound to us like a blasphemous +travesty of this argument; but they were no doubt +seriously meant. They afford one more instance of the +boundless capacity of the Jewish race for religious self-delusion, +and their no less remarkable insensibility to that +in which the essence of religion lay. The men who uttered +this proud boast were the precursors of those who in the +days of the Baptist thought to say within themselves, <q>We +have Abraham to our father,</q> not understanding that God +was able <q>of these stones to raise up children to Abraham</q> +(Matt. iii. 9). All the while they were perpetuating the +evils for which the judgment of God had descended on +the city and the Hebrew state. Idolatry, ceremonial +impurity, bloodshed, and adultery were rife amongst them +(vv. 25, 26); and no misgiving seems to have entered their +minds that because of these things the wrath of God +comes on the children of disobedience. And therefore +the prophet repudiates their pretensions with indignation. +<q>Shall ye possess the land?</q> Their conduct simply +showed that judgment had not had its perfect work, and +that Jehovah's purpose would not be accomplished until +<q>the land was laid waste and desolate, and the pomp of +her strength should cease, and the mountains of Israel +be desolate, so that none passed through</q> (ver. 28). We +have seen that in all likelihood this prediction was fulfilled +<pb n='293'/><anchor id='Pg293'/> +by a punitive expedition from Babylonia in the twenty-third +year of Nebuchadnezzar. +</p> + +<p> +But we knew before that Ezekiel expected no good +thing to come of the survivors of the judgment in Judæa. +His hope was in those who had passed through the fires +of banishment, the men amongst whom his own work lay, +and amongst whom he looked for the first signs of the outpouring +of the divine Spirit. We must now return to the +inner circle of Ezekiel's immediate hearers, and consider +the change which the calamity had produced on them. The +chapter now before us yields two glimpses into the inner +life of the people which help us to realise the kind of men +with whom the prophet had to do. +</p> + +<p> +In the first place it is interesting to learn that in his +more frequent public appearances the prophet rapidly +acquired a considerable reputation as a popular preacher +(vv. 30-33). It is true that the interest which he excited +was not of the most wholesome kind. It became a +favourite amusement of the people hanging about the +walls and doors to come and listen to the fervid oratory +of their one remaining prophet as he declared to them +<q>the word that came forth from Jehovah.</q> It is to be +feared that the substance of his message counted for little +in their appreciative and critical listening. He was to +them <q>as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant +voice, and can play well on an instrument</q>: <q>they heard +his words, but did them not.</q> It was pleasant to subject +oneself now and then to the influence of this powerful and +heart-searching preacher; but somehow the heart was +never searched, the conscience was never stirred, and the +hearing never ripened into serious conviction and settled +purpose of amendment. The people were thoroughly +respectful in their demeanour and apparently devout, +coming in crowds and sitting before him as God's people +should. But they were preoccupied: <q>their heart went +<pb n='294'/><anchor id='Pg294'/> +after their gain</q> (ver. 31) or their advantage. Self-interest +prevented them from receiving the word of God in +honest and good hearts, and no change was visible in +their conduct. Hence the prophet is not disposed to +regard the evidences of his newly acquired popularity +with much satisfaction. It presents itself to his mind +as a danger against which he has to be on his guard. +He has been tried by opposition and apparent failure; +now he is exposed to the more insidious temptation of +a flattering reception and superficial success. It is a +tribute to his power, and an opportunity such as he +had never before enjoyed. Whatever may have been +the case heretofore, he is now sure of an audience, and +his position has suddenly become one of great influence +in the community. But the same resolute confidence +in the truth of his message which sustained Ezekiel +amidst the discouragements of his earlier career saves +him now from the fatal attractions of popularity to +which many men in similar circumstances have yielded. +He is not deceived by the favourable disposition of the +people towards himself, nor is he tempted to cultivate his +oratorical gifts with a view to sustaining their admiration. +His one concern is to utter the word that shall come to +pass, and so to declare the counsel of God that men shall +be compelled in the end to acknowledge that he has been +<q>a prophet among them</q> (ver. 33). We may be thankful +to the prophet for this little glimpse from a vanished +past—one of those touches of nature that make the whole +world kin. But we ought not to miss its obvious moral. +Ezekiel is the prototype of all popular preachers, and +he knew their peculiar trials. He was perhaps the first +man who ministered regularly to an attached congregation, +who came to hear him because they liked it and because +they had nothing better to do. If he passed unscathed +through the dangers of the position, it was through his +<pb n='295'/><anchor id='Pg295'/> +overpowering sense of the reality of divine things and the +importance of men's spiritual destiny; and also we may +add through his fidelity in a department of ministerial +duty which popular preachers are sometimes apt to +neglect—the duty of close personal dealing with individual +men about their sins and their state before God. To this +subject we shall revert by-and-by. +</p> + +<p> +This passage reveals to us the people in their lighter +moods, when they were able to cast off the awful burden +of life and destiny and take advantage of such sources of +enjoyment as their circumstances afforded. Mental dejection +in a community, from whatever cause it originates, +is rarely continuous. The natural elasticity of the mind +asserts itself in the most depressing circumstances; and +the tension of almost unendurable sorrow is relieved by +outbursts of unnatural gaiety. Hence we need not be +surprised to find that beneath the surface levity of these +exiles there lurked the feeling of despair expressed in the +words of ver. 10 and more fully in those of ch. xxxvii. 11: +<q>Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we +waste away in them: how should we then live?</q> <q>Our +bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off.</q> +These accents of despondency reflect the new mood into +which the more serious-minded portion of the community +had been plunged by the calamities that had befallen +them. The bitterness of unavailing remorse, the consciousness +of national death, had laid fast hold of their +spirits and deprived them of the power of hope. In sober +truth the nation was dead beyond apparent hope of +revival; and to an Israelite, whose spiritual interests +were all identified with those of his nation, religion had +no power of consolation apart from a national future. The +people therefore abandoned themselves to despair, and +hardened themselves against the appeals which the prophet +addressed to them in the name of Jehovah. They +<pb n='296'/><anchor id='Pg296'/> +looked on themselves as the victims of an inexorable fate, +and were disposed perhaps to resent the call to repentance +as a trifling with the misery of the unfortunate. +</p> + +<p> +And yet, although this state of mind was as far removed +as possible from the godly sorrow that worketh repentance, +it was a step towards the accomplishment of the promise +of redemption. For the present, indeed, it rendered the +people more impenetrable than ever to the word of God. +But it meant that they had accepted in principle the +prophetic interpretation of their history. It was no longer +possible to deny that Jehovah the God of Israel had +revealed His secret to His servants the prophets. He +was not such a Being as the popular imagination had +figured. Israel had not known Him; only the prophets +had spoken of Him the thing that was right. Thus for +the first time a general conviction of sin, a sense of being +in the wrong, was produced in Israel. That this conviction +should at first lead to the verge of despair was perhaps +inevitable. The people were not familiar with the idea +of the divine righteousness, and could not at once perceive +that anger against sin was consistent in God with pity for +the sinner and mercy towards the contrite. The chief task +that now lay before the prophet was to transform their +attitude of sullen impenitence into one of submission and +hope by teaching them the efficacy of repentance. They +have learned the meaning of judgment; they have now +to learn the possibility and the conditions of forgiveness. +And this can only be taught to them through a revelation +of the free and infinite grace of God, who has <q>no pleasure +in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked should +turn from his way and live</q> (ver. 11). Only thus can the +hard and stony heart be taken away from their flesh and +a heart of flesh given to them. +</p> + +<p> +We can now understand the significance of the striking +passage which stands as the introduction to this whole +<pb n='297'/><anchor id='Pg297'/> +section of the book (ch. xxxiii. 1-20). At this juncture of +his ministry Ezekiel's thoughts went back on an aspect of +his prophetic vocation which had hitherto been in abeyance. +From the first he had been conscious of a certain responsibility +for the fate of each individual within reach of his +words (ch. iii. 16-21). This truth had been one of the +keynotes of his ministry; but the practical developments +which it suggested had been hindered by the solidarity +of the opposition which he had encountered. As long +as Jerusalem stood the exiles had been swayed by one +common current of feeling—their thoughts were wholly +occupied by the expectation of an issue that would annul +the gloomy predictions of Ezekiel; and no man dared to +break away from the general sentiment and range himself +on the side of God's prophet. In these circumstances +anything of the nature of pastoral activity was obviously +out of the question. But now that this great obstacle to +faith was removed there was a prospect that the solidity +of popular opinion would be broken up, so that the word +of God might find an entrance here and there into +susceptible hearts. The time was come to call for personal +decisions, to appeal to each man to embrace for himself +the offer of pardon and salvation. Its watchword might +have been found in words uttered in another great crisis +of religious destiny: <q>The kingdom of heaven suffereth +violence, and the violent take it by force.</q> Out of such +<q>violent men</q> who act for themselves and have the +courage of their convictions the new people of God must +be formed; and the mission of the prophet is to gather +round him all those who are warned by his words to <q>flee +from the wrath to come.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Let us look a little more closely at the teaching of +these verses. We find that Ezekiel restates in the most +emphatic manner the theological principles which underlie +this new development of his prophetic duties (vv. 10-20). +<pb n='298'/><anchor id='Pg298'/> +These principles have been considered already in the +exposition of ch. xviii.; and it is not necessary to do more +than refer to them here. They are such as these: the +exact and absolute righteousness of God in His dealings +with individuals; His unwillingness that any should +perish, and His desire that all should be saved and live; +the necessity of personal repentance; the freedom and +independence of the individual soul through its immediate +relation to God. On this closely connected body of +evangelical doctrine Ezekiel bases the appeal which he +now makes to his hearers. What we are specially concerned +with here, however, is the direction which they +imparted to his activity. We may study in the light of +Ezekiel's example the manner in which these fundamental +truths of personal religion are to be made effective in the +ministry of the gospel for the building up of the Church +of Christ. +</p> + +<p> +The general conception is clearly set forth in the figure +of the watchman, with which the chapter opens (vv. 1-9). +The duties of the watchman are simple, but responsible. +He is set apart in a time of public danger to warn the +city of the approach of an enemy. The citizens trust him +and go about their ordinary occupations in security so +long as the trumpet is not sounded. Should he sleep at +his post or neglect to give the signal, men are caught +unprepared and lives are lost through his fault. Their +blood is required at the watchman's hand. If, on the +other hand, he gives the alarm as soon as he sees the +sword coming, and any man disregards the warning and +is cut down in his iniquity, his blood is upon his own head. +Nothing could be clearer than this. Office always involves +responsibility, and no responsibility could be greater than +that of a watchman in time of invasion. Those who suffer +are in either case the citizens whom the sword cuts off; +but it makes all the difference in the world whether the +<pb n='299'/><anchor id='Pg299'/> +blame of their death rests on themselves for their foolhardiness +or on the watchman for his unfaithfulness. +Such then, as Ezekiel goes on to explain, is his own +position as a prophet. The prophet is one who sees +further into the spiritual issues of things than other men, +and discovers the coming calamity which is to them invisible. +We must notice that a background of danger is +presupposed. In what form it was to come is not indicated; +but Ezekiel knows that judgment follows hard at +the heels of sin, and seeing sin in his fellow-men he knows +that their state is one of spiritual peril. The prophet's +course therefore is clear. His business is to announce as +in trumpet tones the doom that hangs over every man who +persists in his wickedness, to re-echo the divine sentence +which he alone may have heard, <q>O wicked man, thou +shalt surely die.</q> And again the main question is one of +responsibility. The watchman cannot ensure the safety +of every citizen, because any man may refuse to take the +warning he gives. No more can the prophet ensure the +salvation of all his hearers, for each one is free to accept +or despise the message. But whether men hear or +whether they forbear, it is of the utmost moment for himself +that that warning should be faithfully proclaimed and +that he should thus <q>deliver his soul.</q> Ezekiel seems to +feel that it is only by frankly accepting the responsibility +which thus devolves on himself that he can hope to impress +on his hearers the responsibility that rests on them +for the use they make of his message. +</p> + +<p> +These thoughts appear to have occupied the mind of +Ezekiel on the eve of his emancipation, and must have +influenced his subsequent action to an extent which we +can but vaguely estimate. It is generally considered that +this description of the prophet's functions covers a whole +department of work of which no express account is given. +Ezekiel writes no <q>Pastor's Sketches,</q> and records no +<pb n='300'/><anchor id='Pg300'/> +instances of individual conversion through his ministry. +The unwritten history of the Babylonian captivity must +have been rich in such incidents of spiritual experience, +and nothing could have been more instructive to us than +the study of a few typical cases had it been possible. +One of the most interesting features of the early history +of Mohammedanism is found in the narratives of personal +adhesion to the new religion; and the formation of the +new Israel in the age of the Exile is a process of infinitely +greater importance for humanity at large than the genesis +of Islam. But neither in this book nor elsewhere are we +permitted to follow that process in its details. Ezekiel +may have witnessed the beginnings of it, but he was +not called upon to be its historian. Still, the inference +is probably correct that a conception of the prophet's +office which holds him accountable to God for the fate +of individuals led to something more than mere general +exhortations to repentance. The preacher must have +taken a personal interest in his hearers; he must have +watched for the first signs of a response to his message, +and been ready to advise and encourage those who turned +to him for guidance in their perplexities. And since the +sphere of his influence and responsibility included the +whole Hebrew community in which he lived, he must +have been eager to seize every opportunity to warn individual +sinners of the error of their ways, lest their +blood should be required at his hand. To this extent +we may say that Ezekiel held a position amongst the +exiles somewhat analogous to that of a spiritual director +in the Catholic Church or the pastor of a Protestant +congregation. But the analogy must not be pressed +too far. The nurture of the spiritual life of individuals +could not have presented itself to him as the chief end +of his ministrations. His business was first to lay down +the conditions of entrance into the new kingdom of God, +<pb n='301'/><anchor id='Pg301'/> +and then out of the ruins of the old Israel to make ready +a people prepared for the Lord. Perhaps the nearest +parallel to this department of his work which history +affords is the mission of the Baptist. The keynote of +Ezekiel's preaching was the same as that of John: +<q>Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.</q> Both +prophets were alike animated by a sense of crisis and +urgency, based on the conviction that the impending +Messianic age would be ushered in by a searching +judgment in which the chaff would be separated from +the wheat. Both laboured for the same end—the formation +of a new circle of religious fellowship, in anticipation +of the advent of the Messianic kingdom. And +as John, by an inevitable spiritual selection, gathered +round him a band of disciples, amongst whom our Lord +found some of His most devoted followers, so we may +believe that Ezekiel, by a similar process, became the +acknowledged leader of those whom he taught to wait +for the hope of Israel's restoration. +</p> + +<p> +There is nothing in Ezekiel's ministry that appeals +more directly to the Christian conscience than the serious +and profound sense of pastoral responsibility to which +this passage bears witness. It is a feeling which would +seem to be inseparable from the right discharge of the +ministerial office. In this, as in many other respects, +Ezekiel's experience is repeated, on a higher level, in +that of the apostle of the Gentiles, who could take his +hearers to record that he was <q>pure from the blood of +all men,</q> inasmuch as he had <q>taught them publicly and +from house to house,</q> and <q>ceased not to warn every +one night and day with tears</q> (Acts xx. 17-35). That +does not mean, of course, that a preacher is to occupy +himself with nothing else than the personal salvation of +his hearers. St. Paul would have been the last to agree +to such a limitation of the range of his teaching. But it +<pb n='302'/><anchor id='Pg302'/> +does mean that the salvation of men and women is the +supreme end which the minister of Christ is to set before +him, and that to which all other instruction is subordinated. +And unless a man realises that the truth he utters is of +tremendous importance on the destiny of those to whom +he speaks, he can hardly hope to approve himself as an +ambassador for Christ. There are doubtless temptations, +not in themselves ignoble, to use the pulpit for other +purposes than this. The desire for public influence may +be one of them, or the desire to utter one's mind on +burning questions of the day. To say that these are +temptations is not to say that matters of public interest +are to be rigorously excluded from treatment in the pulpit. +There are many questions of this kind on which the will +of God is as clear and imperative as it can possibly be on +any point of private conduct; and even in matters as to +which there is legitimate difference of opinion amongst +Christian men there are underlying principles of righteousness +which may need to be fearlessly enunciated at +the risk of obloquy and misunderstanding. Nevertheless +it remains true that the great end of the gospel ministry +is to reconcile men to God and to cultivate in individual +lives the fruits of the Spirit, so as at the last to present +every man perfect in Christ. And the preacher who may +be most safely entrusted with the handling of all other +questions is he who is most intent on the formation of +Christian character and most deeply conscious of his +responsibility for the effect of his teaching on the eternal +destiny of those to whom he ministers. What is called +preaching to the age may certainly become a very poor +and empty thing if it is forgotten that the age is made up +of individuals each of whom has a soul to save or lose. +What shall it profit a man if the preacher teaches him +how to win the whole world and lose his own life? It is +fashionable to hold up the prophets of Israel as models of +<pb n='303'/><anchor id='Pg303'/> +all that a Christian minister ought to be. If that is true, +prophecy must at least be allowed to speak its whole +lesson; and amongst other elements Ezekiel's consciousness +of responsibility for the individual life must receive +due recognition. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='304'/><anchor id='Pg304'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XX. The Messianic Kingdom. Chapter xxxiv.</head> + +<p> +The term <q>Messianic</q> as commonly applied to Old +Testament prophecy bears two different senses, a +wider and a narrower. In its wider use it is almost +equivalent to the modern word <q>eschatological.</q> It +denotes that unquenchable hope of a glorious future for +Israel and the world which is an all but omnipresent +feature of the prophetic writings, and includes all predictions +of the kingdom of God in its final and perfect +manifestation. In its stricter sense it is applied only to +the promise of the ideal king of the house of David, +which, although a very conspicuous element of prophecy, +is by no means universal, and perhaps does not bulk quite +so largely in the Old Testament as is generally supposed. +The later Jews were guided by a true instinct when they +seized on this figure of the ideal ruler as the centre of the +nation's hope; and to them we owe this special application +of the name <q>Messiah,</q> the <q>Anointed,</q> which is never +used of the Son of David in the Old Testament itself. +To a certain extent we follow in their steps when we +enlarge the meaning of the word <q>Messianic</q> so as to +embrace the whole prophetic delineation of the future +glories of the kingdom of God. +</p> + +<p> +This distinction may be illustrated from the prophecies +of Ezekiel. If we take the word in its more general sense, +we may say that all the chapters from the thirty-fourth +<pb n='305'/><anchor id='Pg305'/> +to the end of the book are Messianic in character. That +is to say, they describe under various aspects the final +condition of things which is introduced by the restoration +of Israel to its own land. Let us glance for a moment at +the elements which enter into this general conception of +the last things as they are set forth in the section of the +book with which we are now dealing. We exclude from +view for the present the last nine chapters, because there +the prophet's point of view is somewhat different, and it +is better to reserve them for separate treatment. +</p> + +<p> +The chapters from the thirty-fourth to the thirty-seventh +are the necessary complement of the call to repentance +in the first part of ch. xxxiii. Ezekiel has enunciated the +conditions of entrance to the new kingdom of God, and +has urged his hearers to prepare for its appearing. He +now proceeds to unfold the nature of that kingdom, and +the process by which Jehovah is to bring it to pass. As +has been said, the central fact is the restoration of Israel +to the land of Canaan. Here the prophet found a point +of contact with the natural aspirations of his fellow-exiles. +There was no prospect to which they had clung with +more eager longing than that of a return to national +independence in their own land; and the feeling that +this was no longer possible was the source of the abject +despair from which the prophet sought to rouse them. +How was this to be done? Not simply by asserting in +the face of all human probability that the restoration +would take place, but by presenting it to their minds in +its religious aspects as an object worthy of the exercise +of almighty power, and an object in which Jehovah was +interested for the glory of His great name. Only by +being brought round to Ezekiel's faith in God could the +exiles recover their lost hope in the future of the nation. +Thus the return to which Ezekiel looks forward has a +Messianic significance; it is the establishment of the +<pb n='306'/><anchor id='Pg306'/> +kingdom of God, a symbol of the final and perfect union +between Jehovah and Israel. +</p> + +<p> +Now in the chapters before us this general conception +is exhibited in three separate pictures of the Restoration, +the leading ideas being the Monarchy (ch. xxxiv.), the +Land (chs. xxxv., xxxvi.), and the Nation (ch. xxxvii.). +The order in which they are arranged is not that which +might seem most natural. We should have expected the +prophet to deal first with the revival of the nation, then +with its settlement on the soil of Palestine, and last of all +with its political organisation under a Davidic king. Ezekiel +follows the reverse order. He begins with the kingdom, +as the most complete embodiment of the Messianic salvation, +and then falls back on its two presuppositions—the +recovery and purification of the land on the one hand, and +the restitution of the nation on the other. It is doubtful, +indeed, whether any logical connection between the three +pictures is intended. It is perhaps better to regard them +as expressing three distinct and collateral aspects of the +idea of redemption, to each of which a certain permanent +religious significance is attached. They are at all events +the outstanding elements of Ezekiel's eschatology so far as +it is expounded in this section of his prophecies. +</p> + +<p> +We thus see that the promise of the perfect king—the +Messianic idea in its more restricted signification—holds +a distinct but not a supreme place in Ezekiel's +vision of the future. It appears for the first time in +ch. xvii. at the end of an oracle denouncing the perfidy of +Zedekiah and foretelling the overthrow of his kingdom; +and again, in a similar connection, in an obscure verse of +ch. xxi.<note place='foot'>Chs. xvii. 22-24, xxi. 26, 27.</note> Both these prophecies belong to the time before +the fall of the state, when the prophet's thoughts were +not continuously occupied with the hope of the future. +<pb n='307'/><anchor id='Pg307'/> +The former is remarkable, nevertheless, for the glowing +terms in which the greatness of the future kingdom is +depicted. From the top of the lofty cedar which the +great eagle had carried away to Babylon Jehovah will +take a tender shoot and plant it in the mountain height of +Israel. There it will strike root and grow up into a lordly +cedar, under whose branches all the birds of the air find +refuge. The terms of the allegory have been explained +in the proper place.<note place='foot'>See pp. <ref target='Pg107'>102</ref> ff.</note> The great cedar is the house of +David; the topmost bough which was taken to Babylon +is the family of Jehoiachin, the direct heirs to the throne. +The planting of the tender shoot in the land of Israel +represents the founding of the Messiah's kingdom, which +is thus proclaimed to be of transcendent earthly magnificence, +overshadowing all the other kingdoms of the +world, and convincing the nations that its foundation +is the work of Jehovah Himself. In this short passage +we have the Messianic idea in its simplest and most +characteristic expression. The hope of the future is +bound up with the destiny of the house of David; and +the re-establishment of the kingdom in more than its +ancient splendour is the great divine act to which all the +blessings of the final dispensation are attached. +</p> + +<p> +But it is in the thirty-fourth chapter that we find the +most comprehensive exposition of Ezekiel's teaching on +the subject of the monarchy and the Messianic kingdom. +It is perhaps the most political of all his prophecies. It +is pervaded by a spirit of genuine sympathy with the +sufferings of the common people, and indignation against +the tyranny practised and tolerated by the ruling classes. +The disasters that have befallen the nation down to its +final dispersion among the heathen are all traced to the +misgovernment and anarchy for which the monarchy was +<pb n='308'/><anchor id='Pg308'/> +primarily responsible. In like manner the blessings of +the coming age are summed up in the promise of a perfect +king, ruling in the name of Jehovah and maintaining +order and righteousness throughout his realm. Nowhere +else does Ezekiel approach so nearly to the political ideal +foreshadowed by the statesman-prophet Isaiah of a +<q>king reigning in righteousness and princes ruling in +judgment</q> (Isa. xxxii. 1), securing the enjoyment of universal +prosperity and peace to the redeemed people of God. +It must be remembered of course that this is only a partial +expression of Ezekiel's conception both of the past condition +of the nation and of its future salvation. We have had +abundant evidence<note place='foot'>Cf. especially ch. xxii.</note> to show that he considered all classes +of the community to be corrupt, and the people as a +whole implicated in the guilt of rebellion against Jehovah. +The statement that the kings have brought about the +dispersion of the nation must not therefore be pressed +to the conclusion that civic injustice was the sole cause +of Israel's calamities. Similarly we shall find that the +redemption of the people depends on other and more +fundamental conditions than the establishment of good +government under a righteous king. But that is no reason +for minimising the significance of the passage before us +as an utterance of Ezekiel's profound interest in social +order and the welfare of the poor. It shows moreover +that the prophet at this time attached real importance +to the promise of the Messiah as the organ of Jehovah's +rule over His people. If civil wrongs and legalised tyranny +were not the only sins which had brought about the +destruction of the state, they were at least serious evils, +which could not be tolerated in the new Israel; and the +chief safeguard against their recurrence is found in the +character of the ideal ruler whom Jehovah will raise up +<pb n='309'/><anchor id='Pg309'/> +from the seed of David. How far this high conception +of the functions of the monarchy was modified in Ezekiel's +subsequent teaching we shall see when we come to +consider the position assigned to the prince in the great +vision at the end of the book.<note place='foot'>See below, pp. <ref target='Pg318'>318</ref> f., and ch. xxviii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In the meantime let us examine somewhat more closely +the contents of ch. xxxiv. Its leading ideas seem to have +been suggested by a Messianic prophecy of Jeremiah's +with which Ezekiel was no doubt acquainted: <q>Woe to +the shepherds that destroy and scatter the flock of My +pasture! saith Jehovah. Therefore thus saith Jehovah, +the God of Israel, against the shepherds that tend My +people, Ye have scattered My flock, and dispersed them, +and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you +the evil of your doings, saith Jehovah. And I will +gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands whither +I have dispersed them, and will restore them to their folds; +and they shall be fruitful and multiply. And I will set +shepherds over them who shall feed them: and they shall +not fear any more, nor be frightened, nor be lacking, +saith Jehovah</q> (Jer. xxiii. 1-4). Here we have the simple +image of the flock and its shepherds, which Ezekiel, as +his manner is, expands into an allegory of the past +history and future prospects of the nation. How closely +he follows the guidance of his predecessor will be seen +from the analysis of the chapter. It may be divided into +four parts. +</p> + +<p> +i. The first ten verses are a strongly worded denunciation +of the misgovernment to which the people of +Jehovah had been subjected in the past. The prophet +goes straight to the root of the evil when he indignantly +asks, <q>Should not the shepherds feed the flock?</q> (ver. 2). +The first principle of all true government is that it must +<pb n='310'/><anchor id='Pg310'/> +be in the interest of the governed. But the universal +vice of Oriental despotism, as we see in the case of the +Turkish empire at the present day, or Egypt before the +English occupation, is that the rulers rule for their own +advantage, and treat the people as their lawful spoil. +So it had been in Israel: the shepherds had fed themselves, +and not the flock. Instead of carefully tending the +sick and the maimed, and searching out the strayed and +the lost, they had been concerned only to eat the milk<note place='foot'>Pointing the Hebrew text in accordance with the rendering of the +LXX.</note> +and clothe themselves with the wool and slaughter the +fat; they had ruled with <q>violence and rigour.</q> That is +to say, instead of healing the sores of the body politic, +they had sought to enrich themselves at the expense of +the people. Such misconduct in the name of government +always brings its own penalty; it kills the goose that lays +the golden eggs. The flock which is spoiled by its own +shepherds is scattered on the mountains and becomes the +prey of wild beasts; and so the nation that is weakened +by internal misrule loses its powers of defence and succumbs +to the attacks of some foreign invader. But the +shepherds of Israel have to reckon with Him who is the +owner of the flock, whose affection still watches over +them, and whose compassion is stirred by the hapless +condition of His people. <q>Therefore, O ye shepherds, +hear the word of Jehovah; ... Behold, I am against the +shepherds; and I will require My flock at their hand; and +I will make them to cease from feeding [My] flock, that +they who feed themselves may no longer shepherd them; +and I will deliver My flock from their mouth, that they be +not food for them</q> (vv. 9, 10). +</p> + +<p> +ii. But Jehovah not only removes the unworthy shepherds; +He Himself takes on Him the office of shepherd to +<pb n='311'/><anchor id='Pg311'/> +the flock that has been so mishandled (vv. 11-16). As +the shepherd goes out after the thunderstorm to call in +his frightened sheep, so will Jehovah after the storm of +judgment is over go forth to <q>gather together the outcasts +of Israel</q> (Psalm cxlvii. 2). He will seek them +out and deliver them from all places whither they were +scattered in the day of clouds and darkness; then He will +lead them back to the mountain height of Israel, where +they shall enjoy abundant prosperity and security under +His just and beneficent rule. By what agencies this +deliverance is to be accomplished is nowhere indicated. +It is the unanimous teaching of the prophets that the final +salvation of Israel will be effected in a <q>day of Jehovah</q>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, +a day in which Jehovah's own power will be specially +manifested. Hence there is no need to describe the +process by which the Almighty works out His purpose +of salvation; it is indescribable: the results are certain, +but the intermediate agencies are supernatural, and the +precise method of Jehovah's intervention is as a rule left +indefinite. It is particularly to be noted that the Messiah +plays no part in the actual work of deliverance. He is +not the hero of a national struggle for independence, but +comes on the scene and assumes the reins of government +after Jehovah has gotten the victory and restored peace +to Israel.<note place='foot'>This seems to me to be the clear meaning of Isaiah's prophecy of the +Messiah in the beginning of the ninth chapter, although the contrary +is often asserted. Micah v. 1-6 may, however, be an exception to the +rule stated above.</note> +</p> + +<p> +iii. The next six verses (17-22) add a feature to the +allegory which is not found in the corresponding passage +in Jeremiah. Jehovah will judge between one sheep and +another, especially between the rams and he-goats on the +one hand and the weaker animals on the other. The +strong cattle had monopolised the fat meadows and clear +<pb n='312'/><anchor id='Pg312'/> +settled waters, and as if this were not enough, they had +trampled down the residue of the pastures and fouled the +waters with their feet. Those addressed are the wealthy +and powerful upper class, whose luxury and wanton +extravagance had consumed the resources of the country, +and left no sustenance for the poorer members of the +community. Allusions to this kind of selfish tyranny are +frequent in the older prophets. Amos speaks of the nobles +as panting after the dust on the head of the poor, and of +the luxurious dames of Samaria as oppressing the poor +and crushing the needy, and saying to their lords, <q>Bring +us to drink</q> (Amos ii. 7, iv. 1). Micah says of the same +class in the southern kingdom that they cast out the +women of Jehovah's people from their pleasant houses, and +robbed their children of His glory for ever (Micah ii. 9). +And Isaiah, to take one other example, denounces those +who <q>take away the right from the poor of My people, that +widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the +orphans</q> (Isa. x. 2). Under the corrupt administration +of justice which the kings had tolerated for their own +convenience litigation had been a farce; the rich man had +always the ear of the judge, and the poor found no redress. +But in Israel the true fountain of justice could not be +polluted; it was only its channels that were obstructed. +For Jehovah Himself was the supreme judge of His people; +and in the restored commonwealth to which Ezekiel looks +forward all civil relations will be regulated by a regard +to His righteous will. He will <q>save His flock that they +be no more a prey, and will judge between cattle and +cattle.</q> +</p> + +<p> +iv. Then follows in the last section (vv. 23-31) the +promise of the Messianic king, and a description of the +blessings that accompany his reign: <q>I will set up one +shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant +David: he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. +<pb n='313'/><anchor id='Pg313'/> +And I Jehovah will be their God, and My servant David +shall be a prince in their midst: I Jehovah have spoken +it.</q> There are one or two difficulties connected with the +interpretation of this passage, the consideration of which +may be postponed till we have finished our analysis of +the chapter. It is sufficient in the meantime to notice +that a Davidic kingdom in some sense is to be the +foundation of social order in the new Israel. A prince +will arise, endowed with the spirit of his exalted office, +to discharge perfectly the royal functions in which the +former kings had so lamentably failed. Through him +the divine government of Israel will become a reality in +the national life. The Godhead of Jehovah and the +kingship of the Messiah will be inseparably associated +in the faith of the people: <q>Jehovah their God, and David +their king</q> (Hosea iii. 5) is the expression of the ground +of Israel's confidence in the latter days. And this kingdom +is the pledge of the fulness of divine blessing descending +on the land and the people. The people shall dwell in +safety, none making them afraid, because of the covenant +of peace which Jehovah will make for them, securing +them against the assaults of other nations.<note place='foot'>Ver. 25. The idea is based on Hosea ii. 18, where God promises +to make a covenant for Israel <q>with the beasts of the field, and the +birds of heaven, and the creeping things of the ground.</q> This is to be +understood quite literally: it means immunity from the ravages of wild +beasts and other noxious creatures. Ezekiel's promise, however, is probably +to be explained in accordance with the terms of the allegory: the +<q>evil beasts</q> are the foreign nations from whom Israel had suffered so +severely in the past.</note> The heavens +shall pour forth fertilising <q>showers of blessing</q>; and +the land shall be clothed with a luxuriant vegetation +which shall be the admiration of the whole earth.<note place='foot'>This is the sense of the expression מטע לשׂם in ver. 29 (literally +<q>a plantation for a name</q>). The LXX., however, read מטע שׁלם, which +may be translated <q>a perfect vegetation.</q> At all events the phrase is +not a title of the Messiah.</note> Thus +<pb n='314'/><anchor id='Pg314'/> +happily situated Israel shall shake off the reproach of +the heathen, which they had formerly to endure because +of the poverty of their land and their unfortunate history. +In the plenitude of material prosperity they shall recognise +that Jehovah their God is with them, and they shall +know what it is to be His people and the flock of His +pasture.<note place='foot'>The word <q>men</q> in ver. 31 should be omitted, as in the LXX.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We have now before us the salient features of the +Messianic hope, as it is presented in the pages of +Ezekiel. We see that the idea is developed in contrast +with the abuses that had characterised the historic +monarchy in Israel. It represents the ideal of the kingdom +as it exists in the mind of Jehovah, an ideal which +no actual king had fully realised, and which most of them +had shamefully violated. The Messiah is the vicegerent +of Jehovah on earth, and the representative of His kingly +authority and righteous government over Israel. We see +further that the promise is based on the <q>sure mercies of +David,</q> the covenant which secured the throne to David's +descendants for ever. Messianic prophecy is legitimist, +the ideal king being regarded as standing in the direct +line of succession to the crown. And to these features +we may add another, which is explicitly developed in +ch. xxxvii. 22-26, although it is implied in the expression +<q>one shepherd</q> in the passage with which we have been +dealing. The Messianic kingdom represents the unity of +all Israel, and particularly the reunion of the two kingdoms +under one sceptre. The prophets attach great +importance to this idea.<note place='foot'>Cf. Amos ix. 11 f.; Hosea ii. 2, iii. 5; Isa. xi. 13; Micah ii. 12 f., v. 3.</note> The existence of two rival +monarchies, divided in interest and often at war with +each other, although it had never effaced the consciousness +of the original unity of the nation, was felt by the +<pb n='315'/><anchor id='Pg315'/> +prophets to be an anomalous state of things, and seriously +detrimental to the national religion. The ideal relation +of Jehovah to Israel was as incompatible with two kingdoms +as the ideal of marriage is incompatible with two +wives to one husband. Hence in the glorious future of +the Messianic age the schism must be healed, and the +Davidic dynasty restored to its original position at the +head of an undivided empire. The prominence given to +this thought in the teaching of Hosea shows that even in +the northern kingdom devout Israelites cherished the +hope of reunion with their brethren under the house of +David as the only form in which the redemption of the +nation could be achieved. And although, long before +Ezekiel's day, the kingdom of Samaria had disappeared +from history, he too looks forward to a restoration of +the ten tribes as an essential element of the Messianic +salvation. +</p> + +<p> +In these respects the teaching of Ezekiel reflects the +general tenor of the Messianic prophecy of the Old Testament. +There are just two questions on which some +obscurity and uncertainty must be felt to rest. In the +first place, what is the precise meaning of the expression +<q>My servant David</q>? It will not be supposed that +the prophet expected David, the founder of the Hebrew +monarchy, to reappear in person and inaugurate the new +dispensation. Such an interpretation would be utterly +false to Eastern modes of thought and expression, besides +being opposed to every indication we have of the prophetic +conception of the Messiah. Even in popular +language the name of David was current, after he had +been long dead, as the name of the dynasty which he had +founded. When the ten tribes revolted from Rehoboam +they said, exactly as they had said in David's lifetime, +<q>What portion have we in David? neither have we +inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: +<pb n='316'/><anchor id='Pg316'/> +now see to thine own house, David.</q><note place='foot'>1 Kings xii. 16 (cf. 2 Sam. xx. 1). It should be mentioned, however, +that the last clause in the LXX. is replaced by a more prosaic sentence: +<q>for this man is not fit to be a ruler nor a prince.</q></note> If the name of +David could thus be invoked in popular speech at a +time of great political excitement, we need not be surprised +to find it used in a similar sense in the figurative +style of the prophets. All that the word means is that +the Messiah will be one who comes in the spirit and +power of David, a representative of the ancient family +who carries to completion the work so nobly begun by +his great ancestor. +</p> + +<p> +The real difficulty is whether the title <q>David</q> denotes +a unique individual or a line of Davidic kings. To that +question it is hardly possible to return a decided answer. +That the idea of a succession of sovereigns is a possible +form of the Messianic hope is shown by a passage in the +thirty-third chapter of Jeremiah. There the promise of +the righteous sprout of the house of David is supplemented +by the assurance that David shall never want a +man to sit on the throne of Israel;<note place='foot'>Jer. xxxiii. 15-17.</note> the allusion therefore +appears to be to the dynasty, and not to a single +person. And this view finds some support in the case of +Ezekiel from the fact that in the later vision of chs. xl.-xlviii. +the prophet undoubtedly anticipates a perpetuation of the +dynasty through successive generations.<note place='foot'>Cf. ch. xliii. 7, xlv. 8, xlvi. 16 ff.</note> On the other +hand it is difficult to reconcile this view with the expressions +used in this and the thirty-seventh chapters. When +we read that <q>My servant David shall be their prince +for ever,</q><note place='foot'>Ch. xxxvii. 25.</note> we can scarcely escape the impression that +the prophet is thinking of a personal Messiah reigning +eternally. If it were necessary to decide between these +<pb n='317'/><anchor id='Pg317'/> +two alternatives, it might be safest to adhere to the +idea of a personal Messiah, as conveying the fullest +rendering of the prophet's thought. There is reason to +think that in the interval between this prophecy and +his final vision Ezekiel's conception of the Messiah underwent +a certain modification, and therefore the teaching of +the later passage cannot be used to control the explanation +of this. But the obscurity is of such a nature that +we cannot hope to remove it. In the prophets' delineations +of the future there are many points on which +the light of revelation had not been fully cast; for they, +like the Christian apostle, <q>knew in part and prophesied +in part.</q> And the question of the way in which the +Messiah's office is to be prolonged is precisely one of +those which did not greatly occupy the mind of the +prophets. There is no perspective in Messianic prophecy: +the future kingdom of God is seen, as it were, in one plane, +and how it is to be transmitted from one age to another +is never thought of. Thus it may become difficult to say +whether a particular prophet, in speaking of the Messiah, +has a single individual in view or whether he is thinking +of a dynasty or a succession. To Ezekiel the Messiah +was a divinely revealed ideal, which was to be fulfilled in +a person; whether the prophet himself distinctly understood +this is a matter of inferior importance. +</p> + +<p> +The second question is one that perhaps would not +readily occur to a plain man. It relates to the meaning of +the word <q>prince</q> as applied to the Messiah. It has been +thought by some critics that Ezekiel had a special reason +for avoiding the title <q>king</q>; and from this supposed +reason a somewhat sweeping conclusion has been deduced. +We are asked to believe that Ezekiel had in principle +abandoned the Messianic hope of his earlier prophecies—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, +the hope of a restoration of the Davidic kingdom in +its ancient splendour. What he really contemplates is +<pb n='318'/><anchor id='Pg318'/> +the abolition of the Hebrew monarchy, and the institution +of a new political system entirely different from anything +that had existed in the past. Although the Davidic prince +will hold the first place in the restored community, his +dignity will be less than royal; he will only be a titular +monarch, his power being overshadowed by the presence +of Jehovah, the true king of Israel. Now so far as this +view is suggested by the use of the word <q>prince</q> (literally +<q>leader</q> or <q>president</q>) in preference to <q>king,</q><note place='foot'><q>Das Königthum wird diese [the Davidic] Familie nicht wieder +erhalten, denn Ezechiel fährt fort: <q>Ich Iahwe werde ihnen Gott sein +und mein Knecht David wird <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>nâsî</foreign> d. h. Fürst in ihrer Mitte sein.</q> Also +<emph>nur ein Fürstenthum</emph> wird der Familie Davids in der besseren Zukunft +Israel's zu Theil.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Stade</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Geschichte des Volkes Israel</hi>, vol. ii., p. 39.</note> it is +sufficiently answered by pointing to the Messianic passage +in ch. xxxvii., where the name <q>king</q> is used three times +and in a peculiarly emphatic manner of the Messianic +prince.<note place='foot'>Ch. xxxvii. 22-24.</note> There is no reason to suppose that Ezekiel +drew a distinction between <q>princely</q> and <q>kingly</q> +rank, and deliberately withheld the higher dignity from +the Messiah. Whatever may be the exact relation of the +Messiah to Jehovah, there is no doubt that he is conceived +as a king in the full sense of the term, possessed of +all regal qualities, and shepherding his people with the +authority which belonged to a true son of David. +</p> + +<p> +But there is another consideration which weighs more +seriously with the writers referred to. There is reason to +believe that Ezekiel's conception of the final kingdom of +God underwent a change which might not unfairly be described +as an abandonment of the Messianic expectation in +its more restricted sense. In his latest vision the functions +of the prince are defined in such a way that his position +is shorn of the ideal significance which properly invests +the office of the Messiah. The change does not indeed +<pb n='319'/><anchor id='Pg319'/> +affect his merely political status. He is still son of David +and king of Israel, and all that is here said about his +duty towards his subjects is there presupposed. But +his character seems to be no longer regarded as +thoroughly reliable, or equal to all the temptations that +arise wherever absolute power is lodged in human hands. +The possibility that the king may abuse his authority +for his private advantage is distinctly contemplated, and +provision is made against it in the statutory constitution +to which the king himself is subject. Such precautions +are obviously inconsistent with the ideal of the Messianic +kingdom which we find, for example, in the prophecy of +Isaiah. The important question therefore comes to be, +whether this lower view of the monarchy is anticipated in +the thirty-fourth and thirty-seventh chapters. This does +not appear to be the case. The prophet still occupies +the same standpoint as in ch. xvii., regarding the Davidic +monarchy as the central religious institution of the restored +state. The Messiah of these chapters is a perfect king, +endowed with the Spirit of God for the discharge of his +great office, one whose personal character affords an +absolute security for the maintenance of public righteousness, +and who is the medium of communication between +God and the nation. In other words, what we have to do +with is a Messianic prediction in the fullest sense of the +term. +</p> + +<p> +In concluding our study of Ezekiel's Messianic teaching, +we may make one remark bearing on its typological interpretation. +The attempt is sometimes made to trace a +gradual development and enrichment of the Messianic +idea in the hands of successive prophets. From that +point of view Ezekiel's contribution to the doctrine of +the Messiah must be felt to be disappointing. No +one can imagine that his portrait of the coming king +possesses anything like the suggestiveness and religious +<pb n='320'/><anchor id='Pg320'/> +meaning conveyed by the ideal which stands out so +clearly from the pages of Isaiah. And, indeed, no subsequent +prophet excels or even equals Isaiah in the +clearness and profundity of his directly Messianic conceptions. +This fact shows us that the endeavour to +find in the Old Testament a regular progress along one +particular line proceeds on too narrow a view of the +scope of prophecy. The truth is that the figure of the +king is only one of many types of the Christian dispensation +which the religious institutions of Israel supplied +to the prophets. It is the most perfect of all types, +partly because it is personal, and partly because the idea +of kingship is the most comprehensive of the offices +which Christ executes as our Redeemer. But, after all, it +expresses only one aspect of the glorious future of the +kingdom of God towards which prophecy steadily points. +We must remember also that the order in which these +types emerge is determined not altogether by their intrinsic +importance, but partly by their adaptation to the +needs of the age in which the prophet lived. The main +function of prophecy was to furnish present and practical +direction to the people of God; and the form under which +the ideal was presented to any particular generation was +always that best fitted to help it onwards, one stage nearer +to the great consummation. Thus while Isaiah idealises +the figure of the king, Jeremiah grasps the conception of +a new religion under the form of a covenant, the second +Isaiah unfolds the idea of the prophetic servant of Jehovah, +Zechariah and the writer of the 110th Psalm idealise the +priesthood. All these are Messianic prophecies, if we +take the word in its widest acceptation; but they are not +all cast in one mould, and the attempt to arrange them in +a single series is obviously misleading. So with regard +to Ezekiel we may say that his chief Messianic ideal +(still using the expression in a general sense) is the +<pb n='321'/><anchor id='Pg321'/> +sanctuary, the symbol of Jehovah's presence in the midst +of His people. At the end of ch. xxxvii. the kingdom +and the sanctuary are mentioned together as pledges +of the glory of the latter days. But while the idea of +the Messianic monarchy was a legacy inherited from his +prophetic precursors, the Temple was an institution whose +typical significance Ezekiel was the first to unfold. It +was moreover the one that met the religious requirements +of the age in which Ezekiel lived. Ultimately the hope of +the personal Messiah loses the importance which it still +has in the present section of the book; and the prophet's +vision of the future concentrates itself on the sanctuary as +the centre of the restored theocracy, and the source from +which the regenerating influences of the divine grace flow +forth to Israel and the world. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='322'/><anchor id='Pg322'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XXI. Jehovah's Land. Chapters xxxv., xxxvi.</head> + +<p> +The teaching of this important passage turns on +certain ideas regarding the land of Canaan which +enter very deeply into the religion of Israel. These ideas +are no doubt familiar in a general way to all thoughtful +readers of the Old Testament; but their full import is +scarcely realised until we understand that they are not +peculiar to the Bible, but form part of the stock of religious +conceptions common to Israel and its heathen neighbours.<note place='foot'>On the whole subject of the relation of the gods to the land see +Robertson Smith, <hi rend='italic'>Religion of the Semites</hi>, pp. 91 ff.</note> +In the more advanced Semitic religions of antiquity each +nation had its own god as well as its own land, and the +bond between the god and the land was supposed to be +quite as strong as that between the god and the nation. +The god, the land, and the people formed a triad of +religious relationship, and so closely were these three +elements associated that the expulsion of a people from +its land was held to dissolve the bond between it and +the god. Thus while in practice the land of a god was +coextensive with the territory inhabited by his worshippers, +yet in theory the relation of the god to his land is +independent of his relation to the inhabitants; it was <emph>his</emph> +land whether the people in it were his worshippers or not. +The peculiar confusion of ideas that arose when the people +<pb n='323'/><anchor id='Pg323'/> +of one god came to reside permanently in the territory of +another is well illustrated by the case of the heathen +colony which the king of Assyria planted in Samaria +after the exile of the ten tribes. These settlers brought +their own gods with them; but when some of them were +slain by lions, they perceived that they were making a +mistake in ignoring the rights of the god of the land. +They sent accordingly for a priest to instruct them in the +religion of the god of the land; and the result was that +they <q>feared Jehovah and served their own gods</q> (2 Kings +xvii. 24-41). It was expected no doubt that in course of +time the foreign deities would be acclimatised. +</p> + +<p> +In the Old Testament we find many traces of the influence +of this conception on the Hebrew religion. Canaan +was the land of Jehovah (Hosea ix. 3) apart altogether +from its possession by Israel, the people of Jehovah. It +was Jehovah's land before Israel entered it, the inheritance +which He had selected for His people out of all +the countries of the world, the Land of Promise, given to +the patriarchs while as yet they were but strangers and +sojourners in it. Although the Israelites took possession +of it as a nation of conquerors, they did so in the +consciousness that they were expelling from Jehovah's +dwelling-place a population which had polluted it by +their abominations. From that time onwards the tenure +of the soil of Palestine was regarded as an essential factor +of the national religion. The idea that Jehovah could +not be rightly worshipped outside of Hebrew territory +was firmly rooted in the mind of the people, and was +accepted by the prophets as a principle involved in the +special relations that Jehovah maintained with the people +of Israel.<note place='foot'>Josh. xxii. 19; 1 Sam. xxvi. 19; Hosea ix. 3-5.</note> Hence no threat could be more terrible in +the ears of the Israelites than that of expatriation from +<pb n='324'/><anchor id='Pg324'/> +their native soil; for it meant nothing less than the +dissolution of the tie that subsisted between them and +their God. When that threat was actually fulfilled there +was no reproach harder to bear than the taunt which +Ezekiel here puts into the mouth of the heathen: <q>These +are Jehovah's people—and yet they are gone forth out +of His land</q> (ch. xxxvi. 20). They felt all that was +implied in that utterance of malicious satisfaction over +the collapse of a religion and the downfall of a deity. +</p> + +<p> +There is another way in which the thought of Canaan +as Jehovah's land enters into the religious conceptions +of the Old Testament, and very markedly into those of +Ezekiel. As the God of the land Jehovah is the source +of its productiveness and the author of all the natural +blessings enjoyed by its inhabitants. It is He who +gives the rain in its season or else withholds it in token +of His displeasure; it is He who multiplies or diminishes +the flocks and herds which feed on its pastures, as well +as the human population sustained by its produce. This +view of things was a primary factor in the religious +education of an agricultural people, as the ancient Hebrews +mainly were. They felt their dependence on God most +directly in the influences of their uncertain climate on +the fertility of their land, with its great possibilities of +abundant provision for man and beast, and on the other +hand its extreme risk of famine and all the hardships +that follow in its train. In the changeful aspects of +nature they thus read instinctively the disposition of +Jehovah towards themselves. Fruitful seasons and golden +harvests, diffusing comfort and affluence through the +community, were regarded as proofs that all was well +between them and their God; while times of barrenness +and scarcity brought home to them the conviction that +Jehovah was alienated. From the allusions in the prophets +to droughts and famines, to blastings and mildew, to +<pb n='325'/><anchor id='Pg325'/> +the scourge of locusts, we seem to gather that on the +whole the later history of Israel had been marked by +agricultural distress. The impression is confirmed by a +hint of Ezekiel's in the passage now before us. The +land of Canaan had apparently acquired an unenviable +reputation for barrenness. The reproach of the heathen +lay upon it as a land that <q>devoured men and bereaved +its population.</q><note place='foot'>Ch. xxxvi. 13.</note> The reference may be partly (as Smend +thinks) to the ravages of war, to which Palestine was +peculiarly exposed on account of its important strategic +situation. But the <q>reproach of famine</q><note place='foot'>Ch. xxxvi. 30: cf. xxxiv. 29.</note> was certainly +one point in its ill fame among the surrounding nations, +and it is quite sufficient to explain the strong language in +which they expressed their contempt. Now this state of +things was plainly inconsistent with amicable relations +between the nation and its God. It was evidence that +the land lay under the blight of Jehovah's displeasure, and +the ground of that displeasure lay in the sin of the people. +Where the land counted for so much as an index to the +mind of God, it was a postulate of faith that in the ideal +future when God and Israel were perfectly reconciled the +physical condition of Canaan should be worthy of Him +whose land it was. And we have already seen that +amongst the glories of the Messianic age the preternatural +fertility of the Holy Land holds a prominent place. +</p> + +<p> +This conception of Canaan as the land of Jehovah +undoubtedly has its natural affinities with religious notions +of a somewhat primitive kind. It belongs to the stage of +thought at which the power of a god is habitually regarded +as subject to local limitations, and in which accordingly +a particular territory is assigned to every deity as the +sphere of his influence. It is probable that the great mass +of the Hebrew people had never risen above this idea, but +continued to think of their country as Jehovah's land in +<pb n='326'/><anchor id='Pg326'/> +precisely the same way as Assyria was Asshur's land and +Moab the land of Chemosh. The monotheism of the Old +Testament revelation breaks through this system of ideas, +and interprets Jehovah's relation to the land in an entirely +different sense. It is not as the exclusive sphere of +His influence that Canaan is peculiarly associated with +Jehovah's presence, but mainly because it is the scene of +His historical manifestation of Himself, and the stage on +which events were transacted which revealed His Godhead +to all the world. No prophet has a clearer perception of +the universal sweep of the divine government than Ezekiel, +and yet no prophet insists more strongly than he on the +possession of the land of Canaan as an indispensable +symbol of communion between God and His people. He +has met with God in the <q>unclean land</q> of his exile, +and he knows that the moral government of the universe +is not suspended by the departure of Jehovah from His +earthly sanctuary. Nevertheless he cannot think of this +separation as other than temporary. The final reconciliation +must take place on the soil of Palestine. The +kingdom of God can only be established by the return +both of Israel and Jehovah to their own land; and their +joint possession of that land is the seal of the everlasting +covenant of peace that subsists between them. +</p> + +<p> +We must now proceed to study the way in which these +conceptions influenced the Messianic expectations of +Ezekiel at this period of his life. The passage we are +to consider consists of three sections. The thirty-fifth +chapter is a prophecy of judgment on Edom. The first +fifteen verses of ch. xxxvi. contain a promise of the +restoration of the land of Israel to its rightful owner. +And the remainder of that chapter presents a comprehensive +view of the divine necessity for the restoration and +the power by which the redemption of the people is to be +accomplished. +</p> + +<pb n='327'/><anchor id='Pg327'/> + +<div> +<head>I</head> + +<p> +At the time when these prophecies were written the +land of Israel was in the possession of the Edomites. By +what means they had succeeded in effecting a lodgment +in the country we do not know. It is not unlikely that +Nebuchadnezzar may have granted them this extension of +their territory as a reward for their services to his army +during the last siege of Jerusalem. At all events their +presence there was an accomplished fact, and it appeals +to the mind of the prophet in two aspects. In the first +place it was an outrage on the majesty of Jehovah which +filled the cup of Edom's iniquity to the brim. In the +second place it was an obstacle to the restoration of Israel +which had to be removed by the direct intervention of the +Almighty. These are the two themes which occupy the +thoughts of Ezekiel, the one in ch. xxxv. and the other +in ch. xxxvi. Hitherto he has spoken of the return +to the land of Canaan as a matter of course, as a thing +necessary and self-evident and not needing to be discussed +in detail. But as the time draws near he is led to think +more clearly of the historical circumstances of the return, +and especially of the hindrances arising from the actual +situation of affairs. +</p> + +<p> +But besides this one cannot fail to be struck by the +effective contrast which the two pictures—one of the +mountain land of Israel, and the other of the mountain +land of Seir—present to the imagination. It is like a +prophetic amplification of the blessing and curse which +Isaac pronounced on the progenitors of these two nations. +Of the one it is said:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth,</l> +<l>And abundance of corn and wine.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='328'/><anchor id='Pg328'/> + +<p> +And of the other:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Surely far from the fatness of the earth shall thy dwelling be,</l> +<l>And far from the dew of heaven from above.<note place='foot'>Gen. xxvii. 28, 39.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +In that forecast of the destiny of the two brothers the +actual characteristics of their respective countries are +tersely and accurately expressed. But now, when the +history of both nations is about to be brought to an issue, +the contrast is emphasised and perpetuated. The blessing +of Jacob is confirmed and expanded into a promise of +unimagined felicity, and the equivocal blessing on Esau is +changed into an unqualified and permanent curse. Thus, +when the mountains of Israel break forth into singing, and +are clothed with all the luxuriance of vegetation in which +the Oriental imagination revels, and cultivated by a happy +and contented people, those of Seir are doomed to perpetual +sterility and become a horror and desolation to all +that pass by. +</p> + +<p> +Confining ourselves, however, to the thirty-fifth chapter, +what we have first to notice is the sins by which the +Edomites had incurred this judgment. These may be +summed up under three heads: first, their unrelenting +hatred of Israel, which in the day of Judah's calamity +had broken out in savage acts of revenge (ver. 5); second, +their rejoicing over the misfortunes of Israel and the +desolation of its land (ver. 15); and third, their eagerness +to seize the land as soon as it was vacant (ver. 10). The +first and second of these have been already spoken of +under the prophecies on foreign nations; it is only the +last that is of special interest in the present connection. +Of course the motive that prompted Edom was natural, +and it may be difficult to say how far real moral guilt +was involved in it. The annexation of vacant territory, +as the land of Israel practically was at this time, would +<pb n='329'/><anchor id='Pg329'/> +be regarded according to modern ideas as not only justifiable +but praiseworthy. Edom had the excuse of seeking +to better its condition by the possession of a more fertile +country than its own, and perhaps also the still stronger +plea of pressure by the Arabs from behind. But in the +consciousness of an ancient people there was always +another thought present; and it is here if anywhere that +the sin of Edom lies. The invasion of Israel did not cease +to be an act of aggression because there were no human +defenders to bar the way. It was still Jehovah's land, +although it was unoccupied; and to intrude upon it was +a conscious defiance of His power. The arguments by +which the Edomites justified their seizure of it were none +of those which a modern state might use in similar +circumstances, but were based on the religious ideas +which were common to all the world in those days. They +were aware that by the unwritten law which then prevailed +the step they meditated was sacrilege; and the +spirit that animated them was arrogant exultation over +what was esteemed the humiliation of Israel's national +deity: <q>The two nations and the two countries shall be +mine, and I will possess them, although Jehovah was +there</q> (ver. 10: cf. vv. 12, 13). That is to say, the +defeat and captivity of Israel have proved the impotence +of Jehovah to guard His land; His power is broken, and +the two countries called by His name lie open to the +invasion of any people that dares to trample religious +scruples underfoot. This was the way in which the +action of Edom would be interpreted by universal consent; +and the prophet is only reflecting the general sense of +the age when he charges them with this impiety. Now +it is true that the Edomites could not be expected to +understand all that was involved in a defiance of the God +of Israel. To them He was only one among many national +gods, and their religion did not teach them to reverence +<pb n='330'/><anchor id='Pg330'/> +the gods of a foreign state. But though they were +not fully conscious of the degree of guilt they incurred, +they nevertheless sinned against the light they +had; and the consequences of transgression are never +measured by the sinner's own estimate of his culpability. +There was enough in the history of Israel to have +impressed the neighbouring peoples with a sense of the +superiority of its religion and the difference in character +between Jehovah and all other gods. If the Edomites had +utterly failed to learn that lesson, they were themselves +partly to blame; and the spiritual insensibility and +dulness of conscience which everywhere suppressed the +knowledge of Jehovah's name is the very thing which in +the view of Ezekiel needs to be removed by signal and +exemplary acts of judgment. +</p> + +<p> +It is not necessary to enter minutely into the details +of the judgment threatened against Edom. We may +simply note that it corresponds point for point with the +demeanour exhibited by the Edomites in the time of +Israel's final retribution. The <q>perpetual hatred</q> is rewarded +by perpetual desolation (ver. 9); their seizure of +Jehovah's land is punished by their annihilation in the +land that was their own (vv. 6-8); and their malicious +satisfaction over the depopulation of Palestine recoils +on their own heads when their mountain land is made +desolate <q>to the rejoicing of the whole earth</q> (vv. 14, 15). +And the lesson that will be taught to the world by the +contrast between the renewed Israel and the barren +mountain of Seir will be the power and holiness of the one +true God: <q>they shall know that I am Jehovah.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II</head> + +<p> +The prophet's mind is still occupied with the sin of +Edom as he turns in the thirty-sixth chapter to depict +<pb n='331'/><anchor id='Pg331'/> +the future of the land of Israel. The opening verses +of the chapter (vv. 1-7) betray an intensity of patriotic +feeling not often expressed by Ezekiel. The utterance of +the single idea which he wishes to express seems to be +impeded by the multitude of reflections that throng upon +him as he apostrophises <q>the mountains and the hills, +the watercourses and the valleys, the desolate ruins and +deserted cities</q> of his native country (ver. 4). The +land is conceived as conscious of the shame and reproach +that rest upon it; and all the elements that might be +supposed to make up the consciousness of the land—its +naked desolation, the tread of alien feet, the ravages of +war, and the derisive talk of the surrounding heathen +(Edom being specially in view)—present themselves to the +mind of the prophet before he can utter the message with +which he is charged: <q>Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; +Behold, I speak in My jealousy and My anger, because +ye have borne the shame of the heathen: therefore ... +I lift up My hand, Surely the nations that are round about +you—even they shall bear their shame</q> (vv. 6, 7). +</p> + +<p> +The jealousy of Jehovah is here His holy resentment +against indignities done to Himself, and this +attribute of the divine nature is now enlisted on the +side of Israel because of the despite which the heathen +had heaped on His land. But it is noteworthy that it is +through the land and not the people that this feeling is +first called into operation. Israel is still sinful and alienated +from God; but the honour of Jehovah is bound up +with the land not less than with the nation, and it is in +reference to it that the necessity of vindicating His holy +name first becomes apparent. There is what we might +almost venture to call a divine patriotism, which is stirred +into activity by the desolate condition of the land where +the worship of the true God should be celebrated. On +this feature of Jehovah's character Ezekiel builds the +<pb n='332'/><anchor id='Pg332'/> +assurance of his people's redemption. The idea expressed +by the verses is simply the certainty that Canaan shall be +recovered from the heathen dominion for the purposes of +the kingdom of God. +</p> + +<p> +The following verses (8-15) speak of the positive aspects +of the approaching deliverance. Continuing his apostrophe +to the mountains of Israel, the prophet describes +the transformation which is to pass over them in view of +the return of the exiled nation, which is now on the eve +of accomplishment (ver. 8). It might almost seem as if +the return of the inhabitants were here treated as a mere +incident of the rehabilitation of the land. That of course +is only an appearance, caused by the peculiar standpoint +assumed throughout these chapters. Ezekiel was not one +who could look on complacently +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +Where wealth accumulates and men decay; +</quote> + +<p> +nor was he indifferent to the social welfare of his people. +On the contrary we have seen from ch. xxxiv. that he +regards that as a supreme interest in the future kingdom +of God. And even in this passage he does not make the +interests of humanity subservient to those of nature. His +leading idea is a reunion of land and people under happier +auspices than had obtained of old. Formerly the land, +in mysterious sympathy with the mind of Jehovah, had +seemed to be animated by a hostile disposition towards +its inhabitants. The reluctant and niggardly subsistence +that had been wrung from the soil justified the evil report +which the spies had brought up of it at the first as a +<q>land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof.</q><note place='foot'>Numb. xiii. 32.</note> Its inhospitable +character was known among the heathen, so that +it bore the reproach of being a land that <q>devoured men +and bereaved its nation.</q> But in the glorious future all +<pb n='333'/><anchor id='Pg333'/> +this will be changed in harmony with Jehovah's altered +relations with His people. In the language of a later +prophet,<note place='foot'>Isa. lxii. 4.</note> the land shall be <q>married</q> to Jehovah, and +endowed with exuberant fertility. Yielding its fruits freely +and generously, it will wipe off the reproach of the +heathen; its cities shall be inhabited, its ruins rebuilt, +and man and beast multiplied on its surface, so that its +last state shall be better than its first (ver. 11). And +those who till it and enjoy the benefits of its wonderful +transformation shall be none other than the house of +Israel, for whose sins it had borne the reproach of barrenness +in the past (vv. 12-15). +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>III</head> + +<p> +The next passage (vv. 16-38) deals more with the +renewal of the nation than with that of the land; and +thus forms a link of connection between the main theme +of this chapter and that of ch. xxxvii. It contains the +clearest and most comprehensive statement of the process +of redemption to be found in the whole book, exhibiting +as it does in logical order all the elements which enter +into the divine scheme of salvation. The fact that it is +inserted just at this point affords a fresh illustration of the +importance attached by the prophet to the religious associations +which gathered round the Holy Land. The land +indeed is still the pivot on which his thoughts turn; he +starts from it in his short review of God's past judgments +on His people, and finally returns to it in summing up +the world-wide effects of His gracious dealings with them +in the immediate future. Although the connection of ideas +is singularly clear, the passage throws so much light on +the deepest theological conceptions of Ezekiel that it will +be well to recapitulate the principal steps of the argument. +</p> + +<pb n='334'/><anchor id='Pg334'/> + +<p> +We need not linger on the cause of the rejection of +Israel, for here the prophet only repeats the main lesson +which we have found so often enforced in the first part of +his book. Israel went into exile because its manner of +life as a nation had been abhorrent to Jehovah, and it +had defiled the land which was Jehovah's house. As in +ch. xxii. and elsewhere bloodshed and idols are the +chief emblems of the people's sinful condition; these constitute +a real physical defilement of the land, which must +be punished by the eviction of its inhabitants: <q>So I +poured out My wrath upon them [on account of the +blood which they had shed upon the land, and the idols +wherewith they had polluted it]: and I scattered them +among the nations, and they were dispersed through the +countries.</q><note place='foot'>Vv. 18, 19. The words in brackets are wanting in the LXX.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Thus the Exile was necessary for the vindication of +Jehovah's holiness as reflected in the sanctity of His land. +But the effect of the dispersion on other nations was such +as to compromise the honour of Israel's God in another +direction. Knowing Jehovah only as a tribal god, the +heathen naturally concluded that He had been too feeble +to protect His land from invasion and His people from +captivity. They could not penetrate to the moral reasons +which rendered the chastisement inevitable; they only +saw that these were Jehovah's people, and yet they were +gone forth out of His land (ver. 20), and drew the natural +inference. The impression thus produced by the presence +of Israelites amongst the heathen was derogatory to the +majesty of Jehovah, and obscured the knowledge of the +true principles of His government which was destined +to extend to all the earth. This is all that seems to be +meant by the expression <q>profaned My holy name.</q><note place='foot'>Vv. 20, 22, 23.</note> +<pb n='335'/><anchor id='Pg335'/> +It is not implied that the exiles scandalised the heathen +by their vicious lives, and so brought disgrace on <q>that +glorious name by which they were called,</q><note place='foot'>James ii. 7.</note> although that +idea is implied in ch. xii. 16. The profanation spoken +of here was caused directly not by the sin but by the +calamities of Israel. Yet it was their sins which brought +down judgment upon them, and so indirectly gave occasion +to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. There were +probably already some of Ezekiel's compatriots who +realised the bitterness of the thought that their fate was +the means of bringing discredit on their God. Their +experience would be similar to that of the lonely exile +who composed the forty-second psalm:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me;</l> +<l>While they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?<note place='foot'>Psalm xlii. 10.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Now in this fact the prophet recognises an absolute +ground of confidence in Israel's restoration. Jehovah +cannot endure that His name should thus be held up to +derision before the eyes of mankind. To allow this would +be to frustrate the end of His government of the world, +which is to manifest His Godhead in such a way that all +men shall be brought to acknowledge it. Although He +is known as yet only as the national God of a particular +people, He must be disclosed to the world as all that the +inspired teachers of Israel know Him to be—the one +Being worthy of the homage of the human heart. There +must be some way by which His name can be sanctified +before the heathen, some means of reconciling the partial +revelation of His holiness in Israel's dispersion with the +complete manifestation of His power to the world at large. +And this reconciliation can only be effected through the +redemption of Israel. God cannot disown His ancient +<pb n='336'/><anchor id='Pg336'/> +people, for that would be to stultify the whole past +revelation of His character and leave the name by which +He had made Himself known to contempt. That is +divinely impossible; and therefore Jehovah must carry +through His purpose by sanctifying Himself in the salvation +of Israel. The outward token of salvation will be +their restoration to their own land (ver. 24); but the +inward reality of it will be a change in the national +character which will make their dwelling in the land +consistent with the revelation of Jehovah's holiness +already given by their banishment from it. +</p> + +<p> +At this point accordingly (ver. 25) Ezekiel passes to +speak of the spiritual process of regeneration by which +Israel is to be transformed into a true people of God. +This is a necessary part of the sanctification of the divine +name before the world. The new life of the people will +reveal the character of the God whom they serve, and +the change will explain the calamities that had befallen +them in the past. The world will thus see <q>that the +house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity,</q><note place='foot'>Ch. xxxix. 23.</note> +and will understand the holiness which the true God +requires in His worshippers. But for the present the +prophet's thoughts are concentrated on the operations +of the divine grace by which the renewal is effected. +His analysis of the process of conversion is profoundly +instructive, and anticipates to a remarkable degree the +teaching of the New Testament. We shall content ourselves +at present with merely enumerating the different +parts of the process. The first step is the removal of +the impurities contracted by past transgressions. This +is represented under the figure of sprinkling with clean +water, suggested by the ablutions or lustrations which +are so common a feature of the Levitical ritual (ver. 25). +<pb n='337'/><anchor id='Pg337'/> +The truth symbolised is the forgiveness of sins, the act of +grace which takes away the effect of moral uncleanness +as a barrier to fellowship with God. The second point +is what is properly called regeneration, the giving of +a new heart and spirit (ver. 26). The stony heart of +the old nation, whose obduracy had dismayed so many +prophets, making them feel that they had spent their +labour for nought and in vain, shall be taken away, and +instead of it they shall receive a heart of flesh, sensitive +to spiritual influences and responsive to the divine will. +And to this is added in the third place the promise of the +Spirit of God to be in them as the ruling principle of a +new life of obedience to the law of God (ver. 27). The +law, both moral and ceremonial, is the expression of +Jehovah's holy nature, and both the will and the power +to keep it perfectly must proceed from the indwelling of +His holy Spirit in the people.<note place='foot'>The phrase <q>cause you to walk</q> (ver. 27) is very strong in the +Hebrew, almost <q>I will bring it about that ye walk.</q></note> It is thus Jehovah +Himself who <q>saves</q> the people <q>out of all their +uncleannesses</q> (ver. 29), caused by the depravity and +infirmity of their natural hearts. When these conditions +are realised the harmony between Jehovah and Israel +will be completely restored: He will be their God, and +they shall be His people. They shall dwell for ever in +the land promised to their fathers; and the blessing of +God resting on land and people will multiply the fruit +of the tree and the produce of the field, so that they +receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations +(vv. 28-30). +</p> + +<p> +Having thus described the process of salvation as from +first to last the work of Jehovah, the prophet proceeds to +consider the impression which it will produce first on +Israel and then on the surrounding nations (vv. 31-36). +<pb n='338'/><anchor id='Pg338'/> +On Israel the effect of the goodness of God will be to +lead them to repentance. Remembering what their past +history has been, and contrasting it with the blessedness +they now enjoy, they shall be filled with shame and self-contempt, +loathing themselves for their iniquities and +their abominations. It is not meant that all feelings of +joy and gratitude will be swallowed up in the consciousness +of unworthiness; but this is the feeling that will be +called forth by the memory of their past transgressions. +Their horror of sin will be such that they cannot think of +what they have been without the deepest compunction and +self-abasement. And this sense of the exceeding sinfulness +of sin, reacting on their consciousness of themselves, +will be the best moral guarantee against their relapse into +the uncleanness from which they have been delivered. +</p> + +<p> +To the heathen, on the other hand, the state of Israel will +be a convincing demonstration of the power and godhead +of Jehovah. Men will say, <q>Yonder land, which was +desolate, has become like the garden of Eden; and the +cities that were ruined and waste and destroyed are +fenced and inhabited</q> (ver. 35). They will know that it +is Jehovah's doing, and it will be marvellous in their eyes. +</p> + +<p> +The last two verses seem to be an appendix. They +deal with a special feature of the restoration, about which +the minds of the exiles may have been exercised in +thinking of the possibility of their deliverance. Where +was the population of the new Israel to come from? The +population of Judah must have been terribly reduced by +the disastrous wars that had desolated the country since +the time of Hezekiah. How was it possible, with a few +thousands in exile, and a miserable remnant left in the +land, to build up a strong and prosperous nation? This +thought of theirs is met by the announcement of a great +increase of the inhabitants of the land. Jehovah is ready +to meet the questionings of human anxiety on this point: +<pb n='339'/><anchor id='Pg339'/> +He will <q>let Himself be inquired of</q> for this.<note place='foot'>The thirty-seventh verse hardly bears the sense which is sometimes +put upon it: <q>I am ready to do this for the house of Israel, yet I will +not do it until they have learned to pray for it.</q> That is true of spiritual +blessings generally; but Ezekiel's idea is simpler. The particle <q>yet</q> is +not adversative but temporal, and the <q>this</q> refers to what follows, and +not to what precedes. The meaning is, <q>The time shall come when +I will answer the prayer of the house of Israel,</q> etc.</note> The +remembrance of the sacrificial flocks that used to throng +the streets leading to the Temple at the time of the great +festivals supplies Ezekiel with an image of the teeming +population that shall be in all the cities of Canaan when +this prophecy is fulfilled. +</p> + +<p> +Such is in outline the scheme of redemption which +Ezekiel presents to the minds of his readers. We shall +reserve a fuller consideration of its more important +doctrines for a separate chapter.<note place='foot'>Chapter XXIII. below.</note> One general application +of its teaching, however, may be pointed out before +leaving the subject. We see that for Ezekiel the mysteries +and perplexities of the divine government find their +solution in the idea of redemption. He is aware of the +false impression necessarily produced on the heathen mind +by God's dealings with His people, as long as the process +is incomplete. On account of Israel's sin the revelation +of God in providence is gradual and fragmentary, and +seems even for a time to defeat its own end. The +omnipotence of God was obscured by the very act of +vindicating His holiness; and what was in itself a great +step towards the complete revelation of His character +came on the world in the first instance as an evidence +of His impotence. But the prophet, looking beyond this +to the final effect of God's work upon the world, sees +that Jehovah can be truly known only in the manifestation +of His redeeming grace. All the enigmas and contradictions +that arise from imperfect comprehension of His +<pb n='340'/><anchor id='Pg340'/> +purpose find their answer in this truth, that God will +yet redeem Israel from its iniquities. God is His own +interpreter, and when His work of salvation is finished +the result will be a conclusive demonstration of that lofty +conception of God to which the prophet had attained. +</p> + +<p> +Now this argument of Ezekiel's illustrates a principle +of wide application. Many objections that are advanced +against the theistic view of the universe seem to proceed +on the assumption that the actual state of the world adequately +represents the mind of its Creator. The heathen +of Ezekiel's day have their modern representatives +amongst dispassionate critics of Providence like J. S. Mill, +who prove to their own satisfaction that the world cannot +be the work of a being answering to the Christian +idea of God. Do what you will, they say, to minimise the +evils of existence, there is still an amount of undeniable +pain and misery in the world which is fatal to your +doctrine of an all-powerful and perfectly good Creator. +Omnipotence could, and benevolence would, find a remedy; +the Author of the universe, therefore, cannot possess +both. God, in short, if there be a God, may be benevolent, +or He may be omnipotent; but if benevolent He is not +omnipotent, and if omnipotent He cannot be benevolent. +How very convincing this is—from the standpoint of the +neutral, non-Christian observer! And how poor a defence +is sometimes made by the optimism which tries to make +out that most evils are blessings in disguise, and the rest +not worth minding! The Christian religion rises superior +to such criticism, mainly in virtue of its living faith in +redemption. It does not explain away evil, nor does it +profess to account for its origin. It speaks of the whole +creation groaning and travailing in pain together even +until now. But it also describes the creation as waiting +for the manifestation of the sons of God. It teaches us to +discover in history the unfolding of a purpose of redemption, +<pb n='341'/><anchor id='Pg341'/> +the end of which will be the deliverance of mankind +from the dominion of sin and their eternal blessedness in +the kingdom of our God and His Christ. What Ezekiel +foresaw in the form of a national restoration will be +accomplished in a world-wide salvation, in a new heavens +and a new earth, where there shall be no more curse. +But meanwhile to judge of God from what is, apart from +what is yet to be revealed, is to repeat the mistake of +those who judged Jehovah to be an effete tribal deity +because He had suffered His people to go forth out of +their land. Those who have been brought into sympathy +with the divine purpose, and have experienced the power +of the Spirit of God in subduing the evil of their own +hearts, can hold with unwavering confidence the hope of +a universal victory of good over evil; and in the light of +that hope the mysteries that surround the moral government +of God cease to disturb their faith in the eternal +Love which labours patiently and unceasingly for the +redemption of man. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='342'/><anchor id='Pg342'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XXII. Life From The Dead. Chapter xxxvii.</head> + +<p> +The most formidable obstacle to faith on the part +of the exiles in the possibility of a national redemption +was the complete disintegration of the ancient +people of Israel. Hard as it was to realise that Jehovah +still lived and reigned in spite of the cessation of His +worship, and hard to hope for a recovery of the land of +Canaan from the dominion of the heathen, these things +were still conceivable. What almost surpassed conception +was the restoration of national life to the feeble and +demoralised remnant who had survived the fall of the +state. It was no mere figure of speech that these exiles +employed when they thought of their nation as dead. +Cast off by its God, driven from its land, dismembered +and deprived of its political organisation, Israel as a +people had ceased to exist. Not only were the outward +symbols of national unity destroyed, but the national +spirit was extinct. Just as the destruction of the bodily +organism implies the death of each separate member and +organ and cell, so the individual Israelites felt themselves +to be as dead men, dragging out an aimless existence +without hope in the world. While Israel was alive they +had lived in her and for her; all the best part of their +life, religion, duty, liberty, and loyalty had been bound up +with the consciousness of belonging to a nation with a +proud history behind them and a brilliant future for their +<pb n='343'/><anchor id='Pg343'/> +posterity. Now that Israel had perished all spiritual and +ideal significance had gone out of their lives; there remained +but a selfish and sordid struggle for existence, and +this they felt was not life, but death in life. And thus a +promise of deliverance which appealed to them as members +of a nation seemed to them a mockery, because they +felt in themselves that the bond of national life was +irrevocably broken. +</p> + +<p> +The hardest part of Ezekiel's task at this time was +therefore to revive the national sentiment, so as to meet the +obvious objection that even if Jehovah were able to drive +the heathen from His land there was still no people of Israel +to whom He could give it. If only the exiles could be +brought to believe that Israel had a future, that although +now dead it could be raised from the dead, the spiritual +meaning of their life would be given back to them in +the form of hope, and faith in God would be possible. +Accordingly the prophet's thoughts are now directed to +the idea of the nation as the third factor of the Messianic +hope. He has spoken of the kingdom and the land, and +each of these ideals has led him on to the contemplation +of the final condition of the world, in which Jehovah's +purpose is fully manifested. So in this chapter he finds +in the idea of the nation a new point of departure, from +which he proceeds to delineate once more the Messianic +salvation in its completeness. +</p> + +<div> +<head>I</head> + +<p> +The vision of the valley of dry bones described in the +first part of the chapter contains the answer to the +desponding thoughts of the exiles, and seems indeed to +be directly suggested by the figure in which the popular +feeling was currently expressed: <q>Our bones are dried; +our hope is lost: we feel ourselves cut off</q> (ver. 11). +<pb n='344'/><anchor id='Pg344'/> +The fact that the answer came to the prophet in a state +of trance may perhaps indicate that his mind had brooded +over these words of the people for some time before the +moment of inspiration. Recognising how faithfully they +represented the actual situation, he was yet unable to +suggest an adequate solution of the difficulty by means +of the prophetic conceptions hitherto revealed to him. +Such a vision as this seems to presuppose a period of +intense mental activity on the part of Ezekiel, during +which the despairing utterance of his compatriots sounded +in his ears; and the image of the dried bones of the +house of Israel so fixed itself in his mind that he could +not escape its gloomy associations except by a direct +communication from above. When at last the hand of +the Lord came upon him, the revelation clothed itself in +a form corresponding to his previous meditations; the +emblem of death and despair is transformed into a symbol +of assured hope through the astounding vision which +unfolds itself before his inner eye. +</p> + +<p> +In the ecstasy he feels himself led out in spirit to the +plain which had been the scene of former appearances of +God to His prophet. But on this occasion he sees it +covered with bones—<q>very many on the surface of the +valley, and very dry.</q> He is made to pass round about +them, in order that the full impression of this spectacle of +desolation might sink into his mind. His attention is +engrossed by two facts—their exceeding great number, +and their parched appearance, as if they had lain there +long. In other circumstances the question might have +suggested itself, How came these bones there? What +countless host has perished here, leaving its unburied bones +to bleach and wither on the open plain? But the prophet +has no need to think of this. They are the bones which +had been familiar to his waking thoughts, the dry bones +of the house of Israel. The question he hears addressed +<pb n='345'/><anchor id='Pg345'/> +to him is not, Whence are these bones? but, Can these +bones live? It is the problem which had exercised his +faith in thinking of a national restoration which thus comes +back to him in vision, to receive its final solution from +Him who alone can give it. +</p> + +<p> +The prophet's hesitating answer probably reveals the +struggle between faith and sight, between hope and fear, +which was latent in his mind. He dare not say No, for +that would be to limit the power of Him whom he knows +to be omnipotent, and also to shut out the last gleam of +hope from his own mind. Yet in presence of that +appalling scene of hopeless decay and death he cannot +of his own initiative assert the possibility of resurrection. +In the abstract all things are possible with God; but +whether this particular thing, so inconceivable to men, is +within the active purpose of God, is a question which +none can answer save God Himself. Ezekiel does what +man must always do in such a case—he throws himself +back on God, and reverently awaits the disclosure of His +will, saying, <q>O Jehovah God, Thou knowest.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is instructive to notice that the divine answer comes +through the consciousness of a duty. Ezekiel is commanded +first of all to prophesy over these dry bones; +and in the words given him to utter the solution of his +own inward perplexity is wrapped up. <q>Say unto them, +O ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah.... Behold, +I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall +live</q> (vv. 4, 5). In this way he is not only taught that +the agency by which Jehovah will effect His purpose is +the prophetic word, but he is also reminded that the +truth now revealed to him is to be the guide of his +practical ministry, and that only in the steadfast discharge +of his prophetic duty can he hold fast the hope of Israel's +resurrection. The problem that has exercised him is not +one that can be settled in retirement and inaction. What +<pb n='346'/><anchor id='Pg346'/> +he receives is not a mere answer, but a message, and the +delivery of the message is the only way in which he can +realise the truth of it, his activity as a prophet being +indeed a necessary element in the fulfilment of his words. +Let him preach the word of God to these dry bones, and +he will know that they can live; but if he fails to do this, +he will sink back into the unbelief to which all things are +impossible. Faith comes in the act of prophesying. +</p> + +<p> +Ezekiel did as he was commanded; he prophesied over +the dry bones, and immediately he was sensible of the +effect of his words. He heard a rustling, and looking he +saw that the bones were coming together, bone to his +bone. He does not need to tell us how his heart rejoiced +at this first sign of life returning to these dead bones, and +as he watched the whole process by which they were +built up into the semblance of men. It is described in +minute detail, so that no feature of the impression produced +by the stupendous miracle may be lost. It is +divided into two stages, the restoration of the bodily +frame and the imparting of the principle of life. +</p> + +<p> +This division cannot have any special significance when +applied to the actual nation, such as that the outward +order of the state must be first established, and then the +national consciousness renewed. It belongs to the imagery +of the vision, and follows the order observed in the original +creation of man as described in the second chapter of +Genesis. God first formed man of the dust of the ground, +and afterwards breathed into his nostrils the breath of +life, so that he became a living soul. So here we have +first a description of the process by which the bodies were +built up, the skeletons being formed from the scattered +bones, and then clothed successively with sinews and flesh +and skin. The reanimation of these still lifeless bodies +is a separate act of creative energy, in which, however, +the agency is still the word of God in the mouth of the +<pb n='347'/><anchor id='Pg347'/> +prophet. He is bidden call for the breath to <q>come +from the four winds of heaven, and breathe upon these +slain that they may live.</q> In Hebrew the words for wind, +breath, and spirit are identical; and thus the wind becomes +a symbol of the universal divine Spirit which is the source +of all life, while the breath is a symbol of that Spirit as +so to speak specialised in the individual man, or in other +words of his personal life. In the case of the first man +Jehovah breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and +the idea here is precisely the same. The wind from the +four quarters of heaven which becomes the breath of this +vast assemblage of men is conceived as the breath of +God, and symbolises the life-giving Spirit which makes +each of them a living person. The resurrection is complete. +The men live, and stand up upon their feet an +exceeding great army. +</p> + +<p> +This is the simplest, as well as the most suggestive, +of Ezekiel's visions, and carries its interpretation on the +face of it. The single idea which it expresses is the +restoration of the Hebrew nationality through the quickening +influence of the Spirit of Jehovah on the surviving +members of the old house of Israel. It is not a prophecy +of the resurrection of individual Israelites who have +perished. The bones are <q>the whole house of Israel</q> +now in exile; they are alive as individuals, but as members +of a nation they are dead and hopeless of revival. This +is made clear by the explanation of the vision given in +vv. 11-14. It is addressed to those who think of themselves +as cut off from the higher interests and activities +of the national life. By a slight change of figure they are +conceived as dead and buried; and the resurrection is represented +as an opening of their graves. But the grave +is no more to be understood literally than the dry bones +of the vision itself; both are symbols of the gloomy and +despairing view which the exiles take of their own condition. +<pb n='348'/><anchor id='Pg348'/> +The substance of the prophet's message is that +the God who raises the dead and calls the things that are +not as though they were is able to bring together the +scattered members of the house of Israel and form them +into a new people through the operation of His life-giving +Spirit. +</p> + +<p> +It has often been supposed that, although the passage +may not directly teach the resurrection of the body, it nevertheless +implies a certain familiarity with that doctrine on +the part of Ezekiel, if not of his hearers likewise. If the +raising of dead men to life could be used as an analogy +of a national restoration, the former conception must have +been at least more obvious than the latter, otherwise the +prophet would be explaining <foreign rend='italic'>obscurum per obscurius</foreign>. This +argument, however, has only a superficial plausibility. It +confounds two things which are distinct—the mere conception +of resurrection, which is all that was necessary +to make the vision intelligible, and settled faith in it +as an element of the Messianic expectation. That God +by a miracle could restore the dead to life no devout +Israelite ever doubted.<note place='foot'>Cf. 1 Kings xvii.; 2 Kings iv. 13 ff., xiii. 21.</note> But it is to be noted that the +recorded instances of such miracles are all of those +recently dead; and there is no evidence of a general +belief in the possibility of resurrection for those whose +bones were scattered and dry. It is this very impossibility, +indeed, that gives point to the metaphor under +which the people here express their sense of hopelessness. +Moreover, if the prophet had presupposed the doctrine +of individual resurrection, he could hardly have used it +as an illustration in the way he does. The mere prospect +of a resuscitation of the multitudes of Israelites who had +perished would of itself have been a sufficient answer +to the despondency of the exiles; and it would have +<pb n='349'/><anchor id='Pg349'/> +been an anti-climax to use it as an argument for something +much less wonderful. We must also bear in mind +that while the resurrection of a nation may be to us little +more than a figure of speech, to the Hebrew mind it +was an object of thought more real and tangible than +the idea of personal immortality. +</p> + +<p> +It would appear therefore that in the order of revelation +the hope of the resurrection is first presented +in the promise of a resurrection of the dead nation of +Israel, and only in the second instance as the resurrection +of individual Israelites who should have passed away +without sharing in the glory of the latter days. Like +the early converts to Christianity, the Old Testament +believers sorrowed for those who fell asleep when the +Messiah's kingdom was supposed to be just at hand, +until they found consolation in the blessed hope of a +resurrection with which Paul comforted the Church at +Thessalonica.<note place='foot'>1 Thess. iv. 13 ff.</note> In Ezekiel we find that doctrine as yet +only in its more general form of a national resurrection; +but it can hardly be doubted that the form in which he +expressed it prepared the way for the fuller revelation +of a resurrection of the individual. In two later passages +of the prophetic Scriptures we seem to find clear indications +of progress in this direction. One is a difficult +verse in the twenty-sixth chapter of Isaiah—part of a +prophecy usually assigned to a period later than Ezekiel—where +the writer, after a lamentation over the disappointments +and wasted efforts of the present, suddenly breaks +into a rapture of hope as he thinks of a time when departed +Israelites shall be restored to life to join the ranks +of the ransomed people of God: <q>Let thy dead live +again! Let my dead bodies arise! Awake and rejoice, +ye that dwell in the dust, for thy dew is a dew of light, +<pb n='350'/><anchor id='Pg350'/> +and the earth shall yield up [her] shades.</q><note place='foot'>Isa. xxvi. 19.</note> There does +not seem to be any doubt that what is here predicted +is the actual resurrection of individual members of the +people of Israel to share in the blessings of the kingdom +of God. The other passage referred to is in the book of +Daniel, where we have the first explicit prediction of a +resurrection both of the just and the unjust. In the +time of trouble when the people is delivered <q>many of +them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, +some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting +contempt.</q><note place='foot'>Dan. xii. 2.</note> +</p> + +<p> +These remarks are made merely to show in what sense +Ezekiel's vision may be regarded as a contribution to the +Old Testament doctrine of personal immortality. It is so +not by its direct teaching, nor yet by its presuppositions, +but by the suggestiveness of its imagery, opening out a +line of thought which under the guidance of the Spirit of +truth led to a fuller disclosure of the care of God for the +individual life, and His purpose to redeem from the power +of the grave those who had departed this life in His faith +and fear. +</p> + +<p> +But this line of inquiry lies somewhat apart from the +main teaching of the passage before us as a message for +the Church in all ages. The passage teaches with striking +clearness the continuity of God's redeeming work in the +world, in spite of hindrances which to human eyes seem +insurmountable. The gravest hindrance, both in appearance +and in reality, is the decay of faith and vital religion +in the Church itself. There are times when earnest men +are tempted to say that the Church's hope is lost and her +bones are dried—when laxity of life and lukewarmness +in devotion pervade all her members, and she ceases to +influence the world for good. And yet when we consider +<pb n='351'/><anchor id='Pg351'/> +that the whole history of God's cause is one long process +of raising dead souls to spiritual life and building up a +kingdom of God out of fallen humanity, we see that the +true hope of the Church can never be lost. It lies in the +life-giving, regenerating power of the divine Spirit, and +the promise that the word of God does not return to Him +void but prospers in the thing whereto He sends it. That +is the great lesson of Ezekiel's vision, and although its +immediate application may be limited to the occasion that +called it forth, yet the analogy on which it is founded +is taken up by our Lord Himself and extended to the +proclamation of His truth to the world at large: <q>The +hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the +voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.</q><note place='foot'>John v. 25: cf. vv. 28, 29.</note> +We perhaps too readily empty these strong terms of their +meaning. The Spirit of God is apt to become a mere +expression for the religious and moral influences lodged +in a Christian society, and we come to rely on these +agencies for the dissemination of Christian principles +and the formation of Christian character. We forget +that behind all this there is something which is compared +to the imparting of life where there was none, something +which is the work of the Spirit of which we cannot tell +whence it cometh and whither it goeth. But in times of +low spirituality, when the love of many waxes cold, and +there are few signs of zeal and activity in the service of +Christ, men learn to fall back in faith on the invisible +power of God to make His word effectual for the revival +of His cause among men. And this happens constantly +in narrow spheres which may never attract the notice of +the world. There are positions in the Church still where +Christ's servants are called to labour in the faith of +Ezekiel, with appearances all against them, and nothing +<pb n='352'/><anchor id='Pg352'/> +to inspire them but the conviction that the word they +preach is the power of God and able even to bring life +to the dead. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II</head> + +<p> +The second half of the chapter speaks of a special +feature of the national restoration, the reunion of the +kingdoms of Judah and Israel under one sceptre. This is +represented first of all by a symbolic action. The prophet +is directed to take two pieces of wood, apparently in the +form of sceptres, and to write upon them inscriptions +dedicating them respectively to Judah and Joseph, the +heads of the two confederacies out of which the rival +monarchies were formed. The <q>companions</q> (ver. 16)—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, +allies—of Judah are the two tribes of Benjamin and +Simeon; those of Joseph are all the other tribes, who +stood under the hegemony of Ephraim. If the second +inscription is rather more complicated than the first, it +is because of the fact that there was no actual tribe of +Joseph. It therefore runs thus: <q>For Joseph, the staff +of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel his confederates.</q> +These two staves then he is to put together so that they +become one sceptre in his hand. It is a little difficult +to decide whether this was a sign that was actually +performed before the people, or one that is only imagined. +It depends partly on what we take to be meant by the +joining of the two pieces. If Ezekiel merely took two +sticks, put them end to end, and made them look like one, +then no doubt he did this in public, for otherwise there +would be no use in mentioning the circumstance at all. +But if the meaning is, as seems more probable, that when +the rods are put together they miraculously grow into +one, then we see that such a sign has a value for the +prophet's own mind as a symbol of the truth revealed to +<pb n='353'/><anchor id='Pg353'/> +him, and it is no longer necessary to assume that the +action was really performed. The purpose of the sign is +not merely to suggest the idea of political unity, which is +too simple to require any such illustration, but rather to +indicate the completeness of the union and the divine force +needed to bring it about. The difficulty of conceiving a +perfect fusion of the two parts of the nation was really +very great, the cleavage between Judah and the North +being much older than the monarchy, and having been +accentuated by centuries of political separation and +rivalry. +</p> + +<p> +To us the most noteworthy fact is the steadfastness +with which the prophets of this period cling to the hope +of a restoration of the northern tribes, although nearly +a century and a half had now elapsed since <q>Ephraim +was broken from being a people.</q><note place='foot'>Isa. vii. 8.</note> Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, +is unable to think of an Israel which does not +include the representatives of the ten northern tribes. +Whether any communication was kept up with the colonies +of Israelites that had been transported from Samaria to +Assyria we do not know, but they are regarded as still +existing, and still remembered by Jehovah. The resurrection +of the nation which Ezekiel has just predicted is +expressly said to apply to the whole house of Israel, and +now he goes on to announce that this <q>exceeding great +army</q> shall march to its land not under two banners, but +under one. +</p> + +<p> +We have touched already, in speaking of the Messianic +idea, on the reasons which lead the prophets to put so +much emphasis on this union. They felt as strongly on +the point as a High Churchman does about the sin of +schism, and it would not be difficult for the latter to show +that his point of view and his ideals closely resemble those +<pb n='354'/><anchor id='Pg354'/> +of the prophets. The rending of the body of Christ which +is supposed to be involved in a breach of external unity is +paralleled by the disruption of the Hebrew state, which +violates the unity of the one people of Jehovah. The +idea of the Church as the bride of Christ, is the same +idea under which Hosea expresses the relations between +Jehovah and Israel, and it necessarily carries with it the +unity of the people of Israel in the one case and of the +Church in the other. It must be admitted also that the +evils resulting from the division between Judah and Israel +have been reproduced, with consequences a thousand +times more disastrous to religion, in the strife and +uncharitableness, the party spirit and jealousies and animosities, +which different denominations of Christians have +invariably exhibited towards each other when they were +close enough for mutual interest. But granting all this, +and granting that what is called schism is essentially +the same thing that the prophets desired to see removed, +it does not at once follow that dissent is in itself sinful, +and still less that the sin is necessarily on the side of the +Dissenter. The question is whether the national standpoint +of the prophets is altogether applicable to the +communion of saints in Christ, whether the body of Christ +is really torn asunder by differences in organisation and +opinion, whether, in short, anything is necessary to avoid +the guilt of schism beyond keeping the unity of the Spirit +in the bond of peace. The Old Testament dealt with men +in the mass, as members of a nation, and its standards +can hardly be adequate to the polity of a religion which +has to provide for the freedom of the individual conscience +before God. At the worst the Dissenter may point out +that the Old Testament schism was necessary as a protest +against tyranny and despotism, that in this aspect it was +sanctioned by the inspired prophets of the age, that its +undoubted evils were partly compensated by a freer +<pb n='355'/><anchor id='Pg355'/> +expansion of religious life, and finally that even the +prophets did not expect it to be healed before the +millennium. +</p> + +<p> +From the idea of the reunited nation Ezekiel returns +easily to the promise of the Davidic king and the +blessings of the Messianic dispensation. The one people +implies one shepherd, and also one land, and one spirit +to walk in Jehovah's judgments and to observe His +statutes to do them. The various elements which enter +into the conception of national salvation are thus gathered +up and combined in one picture of the people's everlasting +felicity. And the whole is crowned by the promise +of Jehovah's presence with the people, sanctifying and +protecting them from His sanctuary. This final condition +of things is permanent and eternal. The sources of +internal dispeace are removed by the washing away of +Israel's iniquities, and the impossibility of any disturbance +from without is illustrated by the onslaught of the heathen +nations described in the following chapters. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='356'/><anchor id='Pg356'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XXIII. The Conversion Of Israel.</head> + +<p> +In an early chapter of this volume<note place='foot'>Chapter V., above.</note> we had occasion +to notice some theological principles which appear to +have guided the prophet's thinking from the first. It was +evident even then that these principles pointed towards +a definite theory of the conversion of Israel and the +process by which it was to be effected. In subsequent +prophecies we have seen how constantly Ezekiel's thoughts +revert to this theme, as now one aspect of it and then +another is disclosed to him. We have also glanced at +one passage<note place='foot'>Ch. xxxvi. 16-38.</note> which seemed to be a connected statement +of the divine procedure as bearing on the restoration +of Israel. But we have now reached a stage in the +exposition where all this lies behind us. In the chapters +that remain to be considered the regeneration of the +people is assumed to have taken place; their religion +and their morality are regarded as established on a stable +and permanent basis, and all that has to be done is to +describe the institutions by which the benefits of salvation +may be conserved and handed down from age to age of +the Messianic dispensation. The present is therefore a +fitting opportunity for an attempt to describe Ezekiel's +doctrine of conversion as a whole. It is all the more +desirable that the attempt should be made because the +national salvation is the central interest of the whole +<pb n='357'/><anchor id='Pg357'/> +book; and if we can understand the prophet's teaching +on this subject, we shall have the key to his whole +system of theology. +</p> + +<p> +1. The first point to be noticed, and the one most +characteristic of Ezekiel, is the divine motive for the +redemption of Israel—Jehovah's regard for His own +name. This thought finds expression in many parts of +the book, but nowhere more clearly than in the twenty-second +verse of the thirty-sixth chapter: <q>Not for your +sakes do I act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, +which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye +went.</q> Similarly in the thirty-second verse: <q>Not for +your sakes do I act, saith the Lord Jehovah, be it known +unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own +ways, O house of Israel.</q> There is an apparent harshness +in these declarations which makes it easy to present +them in a repellent light. They have been taken to mean +that Jehovah is absolutely indifferent to the weal or woe +of the people except in so far as it reflects on His own +credit with the world; that He accepts the relationship +between Him and Israel, but does so in the spirit of a +selfish parent who exerts himself to save his child from +disgrace merely in order to prevent his own name from +being dragged in the mire. It would be difficult to explain +how such a Being should be at all concerned about what +men think of Him. If Jehovah has no interest in Israel, it +is hard to see why He should be sensitive to the opinion +of the rest of mankind. That is an idea of God which +no man can seriously hold, and we may be certain that +it is a perversion of Ezekiel's meaning. Everything +depends on how much is included in the <q>name</q> of +Jehovah. If it denotes mere arbitrary power, delighting +in its own exercise and the awe which it excites, then +we might conceive of the divine action as ruled by a +boundless egoism, to which all human interests are alike +<pb n='358'/><anchor id='Pg358'/> +indifferent. But that is not the conception of God which +Ezekiel has. He is a moral Being, one who has compassion +on other things besides His own name,<note place='foot'>Ch. xxxvi. 21.</note> one +who has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that +he should turn from his way and live.<note place='foot'>Chs. xviii. 23, xxxiii. 11.</note> But when this +aspect of His character is included in the name of God, +we see that regard for His name cannot mean mere regard +for His own interests, as if these were opposed to the +interests of His creatures; but means the desire to be +known as He is, as a God of mercy and righteousness +as well as of infinite power. +</p> + +<p> +The name of God is that by which He is known amongst +men. It is more than His honour or reputation, although +that is included in it according to Hebrew idiom; it is the +expression of His character or His personality. To act +for His name's sake, therefore, is to act so that His true +character may be more fully revealed, and so that men's +thoughts of Him may more truly correspond to that which +in Himself He is. There is plainly nothing in this inconsistent +with the deepest interest in men's spiritual well-being. +Jehovah is the God of salvation, and desires to +reveal Himself as such; and whether we say that He saves +men in order that He may be known as a Saviour, or that +He makes Himself known in order to save them, does not +make any real difference. Revelation and redemption are +one thing. And when Ezekiel says that regard for His own +name is the supreme motive of Jehovah's action, he does +not teach that Jehovah is uninfluenced by care for man; +if the question had been put to him, he would have said +that care for man is one of the attributes included in the +Name which Jehovah is concerned to reveal. +</p> + +<p> +The real meaning of Ezekiel's doctrine will perhaps be +best understood from its negative statement. What is +<pb n='359'/><anchor id='Pg359'/> +meant to be excluded by the expression <q>not for your +sakes</q>? It <emph>might</emph> no doubt mean, <q>not because I care at +all for you</q>; but that we have seen to be inconsistent +with other aspects of Ezekiel's teaching about the divine +character. All that it necessarily implies is <q>not for any +good that I find in you.</q> It is a protest against the idea +of Pharisaic self-righteousness that a man may have a +legal claim upon God through his own merits. It is true +that that was not a prevalent notion amongst the people +in the time of Ezekiel. But their state of mind was one in +which such a thought might easily arise. They were convinced +of having been entirely in the wrong in their conceptions +of the relation between them and Jehovah. The +pagan notion that the people is indispensable to the god +on account of a physical bond between them had broken +down in the recent experience of Israel, and with it had +vanished every natural ground for the hope of salvation. +In such circumstances the promise of deliverance would +naturally raise the thought that there must after all be +something in Israel that was pleasing to Jehovah, and +that the prophet's denunciations of their past sins were +overdone. In order to guard against that error Ezekiel +explicitly asserts, what was involved in the whole of his +teaching, that the mercy of God was not called forth by +any good in Israel, but that nevertheless there are immutable +reasons in the divine nature on which the certainty +of Israel's redemption may be built. +</p> + +<p> +The truth here taught is therefore, in theological language, +the sovereignty of the divine grace. Ezekiel's +statement of it is liable to all the distortions and misrepresentations +to which that doctrine has been subjected at +the hands both of its friends and its enemies; but when +fairly treated it is no more objectionable than any other +expression of the same truth to be found in Scripture. In +Ezekiel's case it was the result of a penetrating analysis +<pb n='360'/><anchor id='Pg360'/> +of the moral condition of his people which led him to see +that there was nothing in them to suggest the possibility +of their being restored. It is only when he falls back on +the thought of what God is, on the divine necessity of +vindicating His holiness in the salvation of His people, +that his faith in Israel's future finds a sure point of support. +And so in general a profound sense of human sinfulness +will always throw the mind back on the idea of +God as the one immovable ground of confidence in the +ultimate redemption of the individual and the world. +When the doctrine is pressed to the conclusion that God +saves men in spite of themselves, and merely to display +His power over them, it becomes false and pernicious, and +indeed self-contradictory. But so long as we hold fast +to the truth that God is love, and that the glory of God is +the manifestation of His love, the doctrine of the divine +sovereignty only expresses the unchangeableness of that +love and its final victory over the sin of the world. +</p> + +<p> +2. The intellectual side of the conversion of Israel is +the acceptance of that idea of God which to the prophet +is summed up in the name of Jehovah. This is expressed +in the standing formula which denotes the effect of all +God's dealings with men, <q>They shall know that I am +Jehovah.</q> We need not, however, repeat what has been +already said as to the meaning of these words.<note place='foot'>See pp. <ref target='Pg075'>75</ref> f. above.</note> Nor +shall we dwell on the effect of the national judgment as a +means towards producing a right impression of Jehovah's +nature. It is possible that as time went on Ezekiel came +to see that chastisement alone would not effect the moral +change in the exiles which was necessary to bring them +into sympathy with the divine purposes. In the early +prophecy of ch. vi. the knowledge of Jehovah and +the self-condemnation which accompanies it are spoken +of as the direct result of His judgment on sin,<note place='foot'>Ch. vi. 8-10.</note> and this +<pb n='361'/><anchor id='Pg361'/> +undoubtedly was one element in the conversion of the +people to right thoughts about God. But in all other +passages this feeling of self-loathing is not the beginning +but the end of conversion; it is caused by the experience +of pardon and redemption following upon punishment.<note place='foot'>Chs. xvi. 61-63, xx. 43, 44, xxxvi. 31, 32.</note> +There is also another aspect of judgment which may +be mentioned in passing for the sake of completeness. +It is that which is expounded in the end of the twentieth +chapter. There the judgment which still stands between +the exiles and the return to their own land is represented +as a sifting process, in which those who have undergone +a spiritual change are finally separated from those who +perish in their impenitence. This idea does not occur +in the prophecies subsequent to the fall of Jerusalem, and +it may be doubtful how it fits into the scheme of redemption +there unfolded. The prophet here regards conversion +as a process wholly carried through by the operation +of Jehovah on the mind of the people; and what we have +next to consider is the steps by which this great end +is accomplished. They are these two—forgiveness and +regeneration. +</p> + +<p> +3. The forgiveness of sins is denoted in the thirty-sixth +chapter, as we have already seen, by the symbol of +sprinkling with clean water. But it must not be supposed +that this isolated figure is the only form in which the +doctrine appears in Ezekiel's exposition of the process of +salvation. On the contrary forgiveness is the fundamental +assumption of the whole argument, and is present in every +promise of future blessedness to the people. For the +Old Testament idea of forgiveness is extremely simple, +resting as it does on the analogy of forgiveness in human +life. The spiritual fact which constitutes the essence of +forgiveness is the change in Jehovah's disposition towards +<pb n='362'/><anchor id='Pg362'/> +His people which is manifested by the renewal of those indispensable +conditions of national well-being which in His +anger He had taken away. The restoration of Israel to +its own land is thus not simply a token of forgiveness, +but the act of forgiveness itself, and the only form in +which the fact could be realised in the experience of the +nation. In this sense the whole of Ezekiel's predictions +of the Messianic deliverance and the glories that follow it +are one continuous promise of forgiveness, setting forth +the truth that Jehovah's love to His people persists in +spite of their sin, and works victoriously for their redemption +and restoration to the full enjoyment of His favour. +There is perhaps one point in which we discover a difference +between Ezekiel's conception and that of his predecessors. +According to the common prophetic doctrine +penitence, including amendment, is the moral effect of +Jehovah's chastisement, and is the necessary condition of +pardon. We have seen that there is some doubt whether +Ezekiel regarded repentance as the result of judgment, +and the same doubt exists as to whether in the order +of salvation repentance is a preliminary or a consequence +of forgiveness. The truth is that the prophet appears +to combine both conceptions. In urging individuals to +prepare for the coming of the kingdom of God he makes +repentance a necessary condition of entering it; but in +describing the whole process of salvation as the work of +God he makes contrition for sin the result of reflection +on the goodness of Jehovah already experienced in the +peaceful occupation of the land of Canaan. +</p> + +<p> +4. The idea of regeneration is very prominent in +Ezekiel's teaching. The need for a radical change in +the national character was impressed on him by the +spectacle which he witnessed daily of evil tendencies and +practices persisted in, in spite of the clearest demonstration +that they were hateful to Jehovah and had been +<pb n='363'/><anchor id='Pg363'/> +the cause of the nation's calamities. And he does not +ascribe this state of things merely to the influence of +tradition and public opinion and evil example, but traces +it to its source in the hardness and corruption of the +individual nature. It was evident that no mere change +of intellectual conviction would avail to alter the currents +of life among the exiles; the heart must be renewed, out +of which are the issues both of personal and national life. +Hence the promise of regeneration is expressed as a +taking away of the stony, unimpressible heart that was in +them, and putting within them a heart of flesh, a new +heart and a new spirit. In exhorting individuals to +repentance Ezekiel calls on them to make themselves a +new heart and a new spirit,<note place='foot'>Ch. xviii. 31.</note> meaning that their repentance +must be genuine, extending to the inner motives and +springs of action, and not be confined to outward signs +of mourning.<note place='foot'>Cf. Joel's <q>Rend your heart, and not your garments</q> (Joel ii. 13).</note> But in other connections the new heart +and spirit is represented as a gift, the result of the +operation of the divine grace.<note place='foot'>Chs. xi. 19, xxxvi. 26, 27.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Closely connected with this, perhaps only the same +truth in another form, is the promise of the outpouring of +the Spirit of God.<note place='foot'>Chs. xxxvi. 27, xxxvii. 14.</note> The general expectation of a new +supernatural power infused into the national life in the +latter days is common in the prophets. It appears in +Hosea under the beautiful image of the dew,<note place='foot'>Hosea xiv. 5.</note> and in +Isaiah it is expressed in the consciousness that the +desolation of the land must continue <q>until spirit be +poured upon us from on high.</q><note place='foot'>Isa. xxxii. 15.</note> But no earlier prophet +presents the idea of the Spirit as a principle of regeneration +with the precision and clearness which the doctrine +assumes in the hands of Ezekiel. What in Hosea and +<pb n='364'/><anchor id='Pg364'/> +Isaiah may be only a divine influence, quickening and +developing the flagging spiritual energies of the people, +is here revealed as a creative power, the source of a new +life, and the beginning of all that possesses moral or +spiritual worth in the people of God. +</p> + +<p> +5. It only remains for us now to note the twofold +effect of these operations of Jehovah's grace in the +religious and moral condition of the nation. There will +be produced, in the first place, a new readiness and +power of obedience to the divine commandments.<note place='foot'>Chs. xi. 20, xxxvi. 27.</note> Like +the apostle, they will not only <q>consent unto the law that +it is good</q>;<note place='foot'>Rom. vii. 16.</note> but in virtue of the new <q>Spirit of life</q> given +to them, they will be in a real sense <q>free from the law,</q><note place='foot'>Rom. viii. 2.</note> +because the inward impulse of their own regenerate nature +will lead them to fulfil it perfectly. The inefficiency of +law as a mere external authority acting on men by hope +of reward and fear of punishment was perceived both +by Jeremiah and Ezekiel almost as clearly as by Paul, +although this conviction on the part of the prophets was +based on observation of national depravity rather than +on their personal experience. It led Jeremiah to the +conception of a new covenant under which Jehovah will +write His law on men's hearts;<note place='foot'>Jer. xxxi. 33.</note> and Ezekiel expresses +the same truth in the promise of a new Spirit inclining +the people to walk in Jehovah's statutes and to keep His +judgments. +</p> + +<p> +The second inward result of salvation is shame and +self-loathing on account of past transgressions.<note place='foot'>Chs. vi. 9, xvi. 63, xx. 43, xxxvi. 31, 32.</note> It seems +strange that the prophet should dwell so much on this as +a mark of Israel's saved condition. His strong protest +against the doctrine of inherited guilt in the eighteenth +<pb n='365'/><anchor id='Pg365'/> +chapter would have led us to expect that the members +of the new Israel would not be conscious of any responsibility +for the sins of the old. But here, as in other +instances, the conception of the personified nation proves +itself a better vehicle of religious truth from the Old +Testament standpoint than the religious relations of the +individual. The continuity of the national consciousness +sustains that profound sense of unworthiness which is an +essential element of true reconciliation to God, although +each individual Israelite in the kingdom of God knows +that he is not accountable for the iniquity of his fathers. +</p> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<p> +This outline of the prophet's conception of salvation +illustrates the truth of the remark that Ezekiel is the +first dogmatic theologian. In so far as it is the business +of a theologian to exhibit the logical connection of the +ideas which express man's relation to God, Ezekiel more +than any other prophet may claim the title. Truths +which are the presuppositions of all prophecy are to him +objects of conscious reflection, and emerge from his hands +in the shape of clearly formulated doctrines. There is +probably no single element of his teaching which may +not be traced in the writings of his predecessors, but +there is none which has not gained from him a more +distinct intellectual expression. And what is specially +remarkable is the manner in which the doctrines are +bound together in the unity of a system. In grounding +the necessity of redemption in the divine nature, Ezekiel +may be said to foreshadow the theology which is often +called Calvinistic or Augustinian, but which might more +truly be called Pauline. Although the final remedy for +the sin of the world had not yet been revealed, the +scheme of redemption disclosed to Ezekiel agrees with +much of the teaching of the New Testament regarding +the effects of the work of Christ on the individual. +<pb n='366'/><anchor id='Pg366'/> +Speaking of the passage ch. xxxvi. 16-38 Dr. Davidson +writes as follows:— +</p> + +<p> +<q>Probably no passage in the Old Testament of the +same extent offers so complete a parallel to New Testament +doctrine, particularly to that of St. Paul. It is +doubtful if the apostle quotes Ezekiel anywhere, but +his line of thought entirely coincides with his. The same +conceptions and in the same order belong to both,—forgiveness +(ver. 25); regeneration, a new heart and spirit +(ver. 26); the Spirit of God as the ruling power in the +new life (ver. 27); the issue of this, the keeping of the +requirements of God's law (ver. 27; Rom. viii. 4); the +effect of being <q>under grace</q> in softening the human +heart and leading to obedience (ver. 31; Rom. vi., vii.); +and the organic connection of Israel's history with +Jehovah's revelation of Himself to the nations (vv. 33-36; +Rom. xi.).</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='367'/><anchor id='Pg367'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XXIV. Jehovah's Final Victory. Chapters xxxviii., xxxix.</head> + +<p> +These chapters give the impression of having been +intended to stand at the close of the book of Ezekiel. +Their present position is best explained on the supposition +that the original collection of Ezekiel's prophecies actually +ended here, and that the remaining chapters (xl.-xlviii.) +form an appendix, added at a later period without disturbing +the plan on which the book had been arranged. In +chronological order, at all events, the oracle on Gog comes +after the vision of the last nine chapters. It marks the +utmost limit of Ezekiel's vision of the future of the +kingdom of God. It represents the <foreign rend='italic'>dénouement</foreign> of the +great drama of Jehovah's self-manifestation to the nations +of the world. It describes an event which is to take +place in the far-distant future, long after the Messianic +age has begun and after Israel has long been settled +peacefully in its own land. Certain considerations, which +we shall notice at the end of this lecture, brought home +to the prophet's mind the conviction that the lessons of +Israel's restoration did not afford a sufficient illustration +of Jehovah's glory or of the meaning of His past dealings +with His people. The conclusive demonstration of this +is therefore to be furnished by the destruction of Gog +and his myrmidons when in the latter days they make an +onslaught on the Holy Land. +</p> + +<p> +The idea of a great world-catastrophe, following after +<pb n='368'/><anchor id='Pg368'/> +a long interval the establishment of the kingdom of God, +is peculiar to Ezekiel amongst the prophets of the Old +Testament. According to other prophets the judgment +of the nations takes place in a <q>day of Jehovah</q> which is +the crisis of history; and the Messianic era which follows +is a period of undisturbed tranquillity in which the knowledge +of the true God penetrates to the remotest regions +of the earth. In Ezekiel, on the other hand, the judgment +of the world is divided into two acts. The nearer nations +which have played a part in the history of Israel in the +past form a group by themselves; their punishment is a +preliminary to the restoration of Israel, and the impression +produced by that restoration is for them a signal, though +not perhaps a complete,<note place='foot'>Cf. ch. xxxix. 23.</note> vindication of the Godhead of +Jehovah. But the outlying barbarians, who hover on the +outskirts of civilisation, are not touched by this revelation +of the divine power and goodness; they seem to be +represented as utterly ignorant of the marvellous course +of events by which Israel has been brought to dwell +securely in the midst of the nations.<note place='foot'>See ch. xxxviii. 11, 12.</note> These, accordingly, +are reserved for a final reckoning, in which the power of +Jehovah will be displayed with the terrible physical convulsions +which mark the great day of the Lord.<note place='foot'>Ch. xxxviii. 19-23.</note> Only +then will the full meaning of Israel's history be disclosed +to the world; in particular it will be seen that it was for +their sin that they had fallen under the power of the +heathen, and not because of Jehovah's inability to protect +them.<note place='foot'>Ch. xxxix. 23.</note> +</p> + +<p> +These are some general features of the prophecy which +at once attract attention. We shall now examine the +details of the picture, and then proceed to consider its +significance in relation to other elements of Ezekiel's +teaching. +</p> + +<pb n='369'/><anchor id='Pg369'/> + +<div> +<head>I</head> + +<p> +The thirty-eighth chapter may be divided into three +sections of seven verses each. +</p> + +<p> +i. Vv. 3-9.—The prophet having been commanded to +direct his face towards Gog in the land of Magog, is +commissioned to announce the fate that is in store for +him and his hosts in the latter days. The name of +this mysterious and formidable personage was evidently +familiar to the Jewish world of Ezekiel's time, although +to us its origin is altogether obscure. The most +plausible suggestion, on the whole, is perhaps that which +identifies it with the name of the Lydian monarch Gyges, +which appears on the Assyrian monuments in the form +<hi rend='italic'>Gugu</hi>, corresponding as closely as is possible to the +Hebrew Gog.<note place='foot'>See E. Meyer, <hi rend='italic'>Geschichte des Alterthums</hi>, p. 558; Schrader, <hi rend='italic'>Cuneiform +Inscriptions</hi>, etc., on this passage.</note> But in the mind of Ezekiel Gog is hardly +an historical figure. He is but the impersonation of the +dreaded power of the northern barbarians, already recognised +as a serious danger to the peace of the world. +His designation as prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal +points to the region east of the Black Sea as the seat +of his power.<note place='foot'>Meshech and Tubal are the Moschi and Tibareni of the Greek +geographers, lying south-east of the Black Sea. A country or tribe Rosh +has not been found.</note> He is the captain of a vast multitude of +horsemen, gorgeously arrayed, and armed with shield, +helmet, and sword. But although Gog himself belongs +to the <q>uttermost north,</q> he gathers under his banner +all the most distant nations both of the north and the +south. Not only northern peoples like the Cimmerians and +Armenians,<note place='foot'>Gomer (according to others, however, Cappadocia) and Togarmah +(ver. 6).</note> but Persians and Africans,<note place='foot'>Cush and Put (ver. 5).</note> all of them with +<pb n='370'/><anchor id='Pg370'/> +shield and helmet, swell the ranks of his motley army. +The name of Gog is thus on the way to become a symbol +of the implacable enmity of this world to the kingdom of +God; as in the book of the Revelation it appears as the +designation of the ungodly world-power which perishes in +conflict with the saints of God (Rev. xx. 7 ff.). +</p> + +<p> +Gog therefore is summoned to hold himself in readiness, +as Jehovah's reserve,<note place='foot'>Ver. 7. The LXX. reads <q>for me</q> instead of <q>unto them,</q> giving to +the word <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>mishmar</foreign> the sense of <q>reserve force.</q></note> against the last days, when the +purpose for which he has been raised up will be made +manifest. After many days he shall receive his marching +orders; Jehovah Himself will lead forth his squadrons +and the innumerable hosts of nations that follow in his +train,<note place='foot'>The words of ver. 4, <q>I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy +jaws,</q> are wanting in the best manuscripts of the LXX., and are perhaps +better omitted. Gog does not need to be dragged forth with hooks; he +comes up willingly enough, as soon as the opportunity presents itself +(vv. 11, 12).</note> and bring them up against the mountains of Israel, +now reclaimed from desolation, and against a nation +gathered from among many peoples, dwelling in peace +and security. The advance of these destructive hordes +is likened to a tempest, and their innumerable multitude +is pictured as a cloud covering all the land (ver. 9). +</p> + +<p> +ii. Vv. 10-16.—But like the Assyrian in the time of +Isaiah, Gog <q>meaneth not so</q>; he is not aware that he +is Jehovah's instrument, his purpose being to <q>destroy +and cut off nations not a few.</q><note place='foot'>Isa. x. 7.</note> Hence the prophet +proceeds to a new description of the enterprise of Gog, +laying stress on the <q>evil thought</q> that will arise in his +heart and lure him to his doom. What urges him on is +the lust of plunder. The report of the people of Israel +as a people that has amassed wealth and substance, and is +at the same time defenceless, dwelling in a land without +<pb n='371'/><anchor id='Pg371'/> +walls or bolts or gates, will have reached him. These +two verses (11, 12) are interesting as giving a picture +of Ezekiel's conception of the final state of the people of +God. They dwell in the <q>navel of the world</q>; they are +rich and prosperous, so that the fame of them has gone +forth through all lands; they are destitute of military +resources, yet are unmolested in the enjoyment of their +favoured lot because of the moral effect of Jehovah's name +on all nations that know their history. To Gog, however, +who knows nothing of Jehovah, they will seem an easy +conquest, and he will come up confident of victory to seize +spoil and take booty and lay his hand on waste places +reinhabited and a people gathered out of the heathen. +The news of the great expedition and the certainty of its +success will rouse the cupidity of the trading communities +from all the ends of the earth, and they will attach +themselves as camp-followers to the army of Gog. In +historic times this <foreign rend='italic'>rôle</foreign> would naturally have fallen to the +Phœnicians, who had a keen eye for business of this +description.<note place='foot'>An actual parallel is furnished by the crowds of slave-dealers who +followed the army of Antiochus Epiphanes when it set out to crush the +Maccabæan insurrection in 166 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi></note> But Ezekiel is thinking of a time when +Tyre shall be no more; and its place is taken by the +mercantile tribes of Arabia and the ancient Phœnician +colony of Tarshish. The whole world will then resound +with the fame of Gog's expedition, and the most distant +nations will await its issue with eager expectation. This +then is the meaning of Gog's destiny. In the time when +Israel dwells peacefully he will be restless and eager for +spoil;<note place='foot'>In ver. 14 the LXX. has <q>he stirred up</q> instead of <q>know,</q> and +gives a more forcible sense.</note> his multitudes will be set in motion, and throw +themselves on the land, covering it like a cloud. But +this is Jehovah's doing, and the purpose of it is that the +<pb n='372'/><anchor id='Pg372'/> +nations may know Him and that He may be sanctified in +Gog before their eyes. +</p> + +<p> +iii. Vv. 17-23.—These verses are in the main a description +of the annihilation of Gog's host by the fierce +wrath of Jehovah; but this is introduced by a reference +to unfulfilled prophecies which are to receive their +accomplishment in this great catastrophe. It is difficult +to say what particular prophecies are meant. Those +which most readily suggest themselves are perhaps the +fourth chapter of Joel and the twelfth and fourteenth +of Zechariah; but these probably belong to a later date +than Ezekiel. The prophecies of Zephaniah and Jeremiah, +called forth by the Scythian invasion,<note place='foot'>Zeph. i.-iii. 8; Jer. iv.-vi.</note> have also been +thought of, although the point of view there is different +from that of Ezekiel. In Jeremiah and Zephaniah the +Scythians are the scourge of God, appointed for the +chastisement of the sinful nation; whereas Gog is brought +up against a holy people, and for the express purpose of +having judgment executed on himself. On the supposition +that Ezekiel's vision was coloured by his recollection +of the Scythians, this view has no doubt the greatest +likelihood. It is possible, however, that the allusion is +not to any particular group of prophecies, but to a +general idea which pervades prophecy—the expectation +of a great conflict in which the power of the world +shall be arrayed against Jehovah and Israel, and the +issue of which shall exhibit the sole sovereignty of the +true God to all mankind.<note place='foot'>Cf. besides the passages already cited, Isa. x. 5-34, xvii. 12-14; +Micah iv. 11-13.</note> It is of course unnecessary +to suppose that any prophet had mentioned Gog by name +in a prediction of the future. All that is meant is that +Gog is the person in whom the substance of previous +oracles is to be accomplished. +</p> + +<pb n='373'/><anchor id='Pg373'/> + +<p> +The question of ver. 17 leads thus to the announcement +of the outpouring of Jehovah's indignation on the violators +of His territory. As soon as Gog sets foot on the soil of +Israel, Jehovah's wrath is kindled against him. A mighty +earthquake shall shatter the mountains and level every +wall to the ground and strike terror into the hearts of all +creatures. The host of Gog shall be panic-stricken,<note place='foot'>Ver. 21. LXX.: <q>I will summon against him every terror.</q></note> each +man turning his sword against his fellow; while Jehovah +completes the slaughter by pestilence and blood, rain and +hailstones, fire and brimstone. The deliverance of Israel +is effected without the help of any human arm; it is the +doing of Jehovah, who thus magnifies and sanctifies Himself +and makes Himself known before the eyes of many +peoples, so that they may know Him to be Jehovah. +</p> + +<p> +iv. Ch. xxxix. 1-8.—Commencing afresh with a new +apostrophe to Gog, Ezekiel here recapitulates the substance +of the previous chapter—the bringing up of Gog from the +farthest north, his destruction on the mountains of Israel, +and the effect of this on the surrounding nations. Mention +is expressly made of the bow and arrows which were +the distinctive weapons of the Scythian horsemen.<note place='foot'>ἱπποτοξόται (mounted archers) is the term applied to them by +Herodotus (iv. 46).</note> These +are struck from the grasp of Gog, and the mighty host +falls on the open field to be devoured by wild beasts and +by ravenous birds of every feather. But the judgment is +universal in its extent; it reaches to Magog, the distant +abode of Gog, and all the remote lands whence his +auxiliaries were drawn. This is the day whereof Jehovah +has spoken by His servants the prophets of Israel, the +day which finally manifests His glory to all the ends of +the earth. +</p> + +<p> +v. Vv. 9-16.—Here the prophet falls into a more prosaic +strain, as he proceeds to describe with characteristic +<pb n='374'/><anchor id='Pg374'/> +fulness of detail the sequel of the great invasion. As +the English story of the Invincible Armada would be +incomplete without a reference to the treasures cast +ashore from the wrecked galleons on the Orkneys and the +Hebrides, so the fate of Gog's ill-starred enterprise is +vividly set forth by the minute description of the traces it +left behind in the peaceful life of Israel. The irony of the +situation is unmistakable, and perhaps a touch of conscious +exaggeration is permissible in such a picture. In the first +place the weapons of the slain warriors furnish wood +enough to serve for fuel to the Israelites for the space +of seven years. Then follows a picture of the process of +cleansing the land from the corpses of the fallen enemy. +A burying-place is assigned to them in the valley of +Abarim<note place='foot'>This translation, which is given by Hitzig and Cornill, is obtained +by a change in the punctuation of the word rendered <q>passengers</q> in +ver. 11: cf. the <q>mountains of Abarim,</q> Numb. xxxiii. 47, 48; Deut. +xxxii. 49.</note> on the eastern side of the Dead Sea, outside of +the sacred territory. The whole people of Israel will be +engaged for seven months in the operation of burying +them; after this the mouth of the valley will be sealed,<note place='foot'><q>It shall stop the noses of the passengers</q> (ver. 11) gives no sense; +and the text, as it stands, is almost untranslatable. The LXX. reads, +<q>and they shall seal up the valley,</q> which gives a good enough meaning, +so far as it goes.</note> +and it will be known ever afterwards as the Valley of the +Host of Gog. But even after the seven months have +expired the scrupulous care of the people for the purity +of their land will be shown by the precautions they +take against its continued defilement by any fragment of +a skeleton that may have been overlooked. They will +appoint permanent officials, whose business will be to +search for and remove relics of the dead bodies, that +the land may be restored to its purity. Whenever any +<pb n='375'/><anchor id='Pg375'/> +passer-by lights on a bone he will set up a mark beside it +to attract the attention of the buriers. <q>Thus [in course +of time] they shall cleanse the land.</q> +</p> + +<p> +vi. Vv. 17-24.—The overwhelming magnitude of the +catastrophe is once more set forth under the image of a +sacrificial feast, to which Jehovah summons all the birds of +the air and every beast of the field (vv. 17-20). The feast +is represented as a sacrifice not in any religious sense, but +simply in accordance with ancient usage, in which the +slaughtering of animals was invariably a sacrificial act. +The only idea expressed by the figure is that Jehovah has +decreed this slaughter of Gog and his host, and that it will +be so great that all ravenous beasts and birds will eat +flesh to the full and drink the blood of princes of the earth +to intoxication. But we turn with relief from these images +of carnage and death to the moral purpose which they +conceal (vv. 21-24). This is stated more distinctly here +than in earlier passages of this prophecy. It will teach +Israel that Jehovah is indeed their God; the lingering +sense of insecurity caused by the remembrance of their +former rejection will be finally taken away by this signal +deliverance. And through Israel it will teach a lesson to +the heathen. They will learn something of the principles +on which Jehovah has dealt with His people when they +contrast this great salvation with His former desertion of +them. It will then fully appear that it was for their sins +that they went into captivity; and so the knowledge of +God's holiness and His displeasure against sin will be +extended to the nations of the world. +</p> + +<p> +vii. Vv. 25-29.—The closing verses do not strictly +belong to the oracle on Gog. The prophet returns to +the standpoint of the present, and predicts once more the +restoration of Israel, which has heretofore been assumed +as an accomplished fact. The connection with what precedes +is, however, very close. The divine attributes, +<pb n='376'/><anchor id='Pg376'/> +whose final manifestation to the world is reserved for +the far-off day of Gog's defeat, are already about to be +revealed to Israel. Jehovah's compassion for His people +and His jealousy for His own name will speedily be shown +in <q>turning the fortunes</q> of Israel, bringing them back +from the peoples, and gathering them from the land of +their enemies. The consequences of this upon the nation +itself are described in more gracious terms than in any other +passage. They shall forget their shame and all their trespasses +when they dwell securely in their own land, none +making them afraid.<note place='foot'>Ver. 26. The choice between the rendering <q>forget</q> and that of +the English Version, <q>bear,</q> depends on the position of a single dot in +the Hebrew. In the former case <q>shame</q> must be taken in the sense +of reproach (<foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>schande</foreign>); in the latter it means the inward feeling of self-abasement +(<foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>schaam</foreign>). The forgetting of past trespasses, if that is the +right reading, can only mean that they are entirely broken off and +dismissed from mind; there is nothing inconsistent with passages like +ch. xxxvi. 31. It must be understood that in any event the reference is +to the future; <q><emph>after that</emph> they have borne</q> is altogether wrong.</note> The saving knowledge of Jehovah +as their God, who led them into captivity and brought +them back again, will as far as Israel is concerned be +complete; and the gracious relation thus established shall +no more be interrupted, because of the divine Spirit which +has been poured out on the house of Israel. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II</head> + +<p> +It will be seen from this summary of the contents of +the prophecy that, while it presents many features peculiar +to itself, it also contains much in common with the general +drift of the prophet's thinking. We must now try to form +an estimate of its significance as an episode in the great +drama of Providence which unfolded itself before his +inspired imagination. +</p> + +<p> +The ideas peculiar to the passage are for the most part +<pb n='377'/><anchor id='Pg377'/> +such as might have been suggested to the mind of Ezekiel +by the remembrance of the great Scythian invasion in the +reign of Josiah. Although it is not likely that he had +himself lived through that time of terror, he must have +grown up whilst it was still fresh in the public recollection, +and the rumour of it had apparently left upon him impressions +never afterwards effaced. Several circumstances, +none of them perhaps decisive by itself, conspire to show +that at least in its imagery the oracle on Gog is based +on the conception of an irruption of Scythian barbarians. +The name of Gog may be too obscure to serve as an +indication; but his location in the extreme north, the +description of his army as composed mainly of cavalry +armed with bow and arrows, their innumerable multitude, +and the love of pillage and destruction by which they are +animated, all point to the Scythians as the originals from +whom the picture of Gog's host is drawn. Besides the +light which it casts on the genesis of the prophecy, this +fact has a certain biographical interest for the reader of +Ezekiel. That the prophet's furthest vista into the future +should be a reflection of his earliest memory reminds us +of a common human experience. <q>The thoughts of youth +are long, long thoughts,</q> reaching far into manhood and +old age; and the mind as it turns back upon them may +often discover in them that which carries it furthest in +reading the divine mysteries of life and destiny. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Thus while the Sun sinks down to rest</l> +<l>Far in the regions of the west,</l> +<l>Though to the vale no parting beam</l> +<l>Be given, not one memorial gleam,</l> +<l>A lingering light he fondly throws</l> +<l>On the dear hills where first he rose.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +For it is not merely the imagery of the prophecy that +reveals the influence of these early associations; the +thoughts which it embodies are themselves partly the +<pb n='378'/><anchor id='Pg378'/> +result of the prophet's meditation on questions suggested +by the invasion. His youthful impressions of the descent +of the northern hordes were afterwards illuminated, as +we see from his own words, by the study of contemporary +prophecies of Jeremiah and Zephaniah called forth +by the event. From these and other predictions he +learned that Jehovah had a purpose with regard to the +remotest nations of the earth which yet awaited its +accomplishment. That purpose, in accordance with his +general conception of the ends of the divine government, +could be nothing else than the manifestation of Jehovah's +glory before the eyes of the world. That this involved +an act of judgment was only too certain from the +universal hostility of the heathen to the kingdom of God. +Hence the prophet's reflections would lead directly to the +expectation of a final onslaught of the powers of this +world on the people of Israel, which would give occasion +for a display of Jehovah's might on a grander scale than +had yet been seen. And this presentiment of an impending +conflict between Jehovah and the pagan world headed +by the Scythian barbarians forms the kernel of the oracle +against Gog. +</p> + +<p> +But we must further observe that this idea, from +Ezekiel's point of view, necessarily presupposes the +restoration of Israel to its own land. The peoples +assembled under the standard of Gog are those which +have never as yet come in contact with the true God, +and consequently have had no opportunity of manifesting +their disposition towards Him. They have not sinned as +Edom and Tyre, as Egypt and Assyria have sinned, by +injuries done to Jehovah through His people. Even the +Scythians themselves, although they had approached the +confines of the sacred territory, do not seem to have +invaded it. Nor could the opportunity present itself so +long as Israel was in Exile. While Jehovah was without +<pb n='379'/><anchor id='Pg379'/> +an earthly sanctuary or a visible emblem of His government, +there was no possibility of such an infringement of +His holiness on the part of the heathen as would arrest +the attention of the world. The judgment of Gog, +therefore, could not be conceived as a preliminary to the +restoration of Israel, like that on Egypt and the nations +immediately surrounding Palestine. It could only take +place under a state of things in which Israel was once +more <q>holiness to the Lord, and the firstfruits of His +increase,</q> so that <q>all that devoured him were counted +guilty</q> (Jer. ii. 3). This enables us partly to understand +what appears to us the most singular feature of the +prophecy, the projection of the final manifestation of +Jehovah into the remote future, when Israel is already in +possession of all the blessings of the Messianic dispensation. +It is a consequence of the extension of the prophetic +horizon, so as to embrace the distant peoples that had +hitherto been beyond the pale of civilisation. +</p> + +<p> +There are other aspects of Ezekiel's teaching on which +light is thrown by this anticipation of a world-judgment +as the final scene of history. The prophet was evidently +conscious of a certain inconclusiveness and want of +finality in the prospect of the restoration as a justification +of the ways of God to men. Although all the forces of +the world's salvation were wrapped up in it, its effects +were still limited and measurable, both as to their range +of influence and their inherent significance. Not only +did it fail to impress the more distant nations, but its own +lessons were incompletely taught. He felt that it had not +been made clear to the dull perceptions of the heathen +why the God of Israel had ever suffered His land to be +desecrated and His people to be led into captivity. Even +Israel itself will not fully know all that is meant by having +Jehovah for its God until the history of revelation is +finished. Only in the summing up of the ages, and in the +<pb n='380'/><anchor id='Pg380'/> +light of the last judgment, will men truly realise all that +is implied in the terms God and sin and redemption. +The end is needed to interpret the process; and all +religious conceptions await their fulfilment in the light of +eternity which is yet to break on the issues of human +history. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='383'/><anchor id='Pg383'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Part V. The Ideal Theocracy.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XXV. The Import Of The Vision.</head> + +<p> +We have now reached the last and in every way the +most important section of the book of Ezekiel. +The nine concluding chapters record what was evidently +the crowning experience of the prophet's life. His ministry +began with a vision of God; it culminates in a vision +of the people of God, or rather of God in the midst of His +people, reconciled to them, ruling over them, and imparting +the blessings and glories of the final dispensation. Into +that vision are thrown the ideals which had been gradually +matured through twenty years of strenuous action +and intense meditation. We have traced some of the +steps by which the prophet was led towards this consummation +of his work. We have seen how, under the idea +of God which had been revealed to him, he was constrained +to announce the destruction of that which called itself the +people of Jehovah, but was in reality the means of obscuring +His character and profaning His holiness (chs. iv.-xxiv.). +We have seen further how the same fundamental +conception led him on in his prophecies against foreign +nations to predict a great clearing of the stage of history +for the manifestation of Jehovah (chs. xxv.-xxxii.). And +we have seen from the preceding section what are the processes +by which the divine Spirit breathes new life into +a dead nation and creates out of its scattered members a +people worthy of the God whom the prophet has seen. +</p> + +<p> +But there is still something more to accomplish before +<pb n='384'/><anchor id='Pg384'/> +his task is finished. All through, Ezekiel holds fast the +truth that Jehovah and Israel are necessarily related to +each other, and that Israel is to be the medium through +which alone the nature of Jehovah can be fully disclosed +to mankind. It remains, therefore, to sketch the outline +of a perfect theocracy—in other words, to describe the +permanent forms and institutions which shall express the +ideal relation between God and men. To this task the +prophet addresses himself in the chapters now before us. +That great New Year's Vision may be regarded as the ripe +fruit of all God's training of His prophet, as it is also +the part of Ezekiel's work which most directly influenced +the subsequent development of religion in Israel. +</p> + +<p> +It cannot be doubted, then, that these chapters are +an integral part of the book, considered as a record of +Ezekiel's work. But it is certainly a significant circumstance +that they are separated from the body of the +prophecies by an interval of thirteen years. For the +greater part of that time Ezekiel's literary activity was +suspended. It is probable, at all events, that the first +thirty-nine chapters had been committed to writing soon +after the latest date they mention, and that the oracle on +Gog, which marks the extreme limit of Ezekiel's prophetic +vision, was really the conclusion of an earlier form +of the book. And we may be certain that, since the +eventful period that followed the arrival of the fugitive +from Jerusalem, no new divine communication had visited +the prophet's mind. But at last, in the twenty-fifth year +of the captivity, and on the first day of a new year,<note place='foot'>The beginning of the year is that referred to in Lev. xxv. 9, the +tenth day of the seventh month (September-October). From the Exile +downwards two calendars were in use, the beginning of the sacred year +falling in the seventh month of the civil year. It was not necessary for +Ezekiel to mention the number of the month.</note> he +falls into a trance more prolonged than any he had yet +<pb n='385'/><anchor id='Pg385'/> +passed through, and he emerged from it with a new +message for his people. +</p> + +<p> +In what direction were the prophet's thoughts moving +as Israel passed into the midnight of her exile? That +they have moved in the interval—that his standpoint is +no longer quite identical with that represented in his +earlier prophecies—seems to be shown by one slight modification +of his previous conceptions, which has been already +mentioned.<note place='foot'>See pp. <ref target='Pg318'>318</ref> f.</note> I refer to the position of the prince in the +theocratic state. We find that the king is still the civil +head of the commonwealth, but that his position is hardly +reconcilable with the exalted functions assigned to the +Messianic king in ch. xxxiv. The inference seems irresistible +that Ezekiel's point of view has somewhat changed, +so that the objects in his picture present themselves in a +different perspective. +</p> + +<p> +It is true that this change was effected by a vision, and +it may be said that that fact forbids our regarding it as +indicating a progress in Ezekiel's thoughts. But the vision +of a prophet is never out of relation to his previous thinking. +The prophet is always prepared for his vision; it +comes to him as the answer to questions, as the solution +of difficulties, whose force he has felt, and apart from which +it would convey no revelation of God to his mind. It +marks the point at which reflection gives place to inspiration, +where the incommunicable certainty of the divine +word lifts the soul into the region of spiritual and eternal +truth. And hence it may help us, from our human point +of view, to understand the true import of this vision, if +from the answer we try to discover the questions which +were of pressing interest to Ezekiel in the later part of +his career. +</p> + +<p> +Speaking generally, we may say that the problem that +<pb n='386'/><anchor id='Pg386'/> +occupied the mind of Ezekiel at this time was the problem +of a religious constitution. How to secure for religion its +true place in public life, how to embody it in institutions +which shall conserve its essential ideas and transmit them +from one generation to another, how a people may best +express its national responsibility to God—these and +many kindred questions are real and vital to-day amongst +the nations of Christendom, and they were far more vital +in the age of Ezekiel. The conception of religion as an +inward spiritual power, moulding the life of the nation +and of each individual member, was at least as strong in +him as in any other prophet; and it had been adequately +expressed in the section of his book dealing with the +formation of the new Israel. But he saw that this was +not for that time sufficient. The mass of the community +were dependent on the educative influence of the institutions +under which they lived, and there was no way of +impressing on a whole people the character of Jehovah +except through a system of laws and observances which +should constantly exhibit it to their minds. The time +was not yet come when religion could be trusted to work +as a hidden leaven, transforming life from within and +bringing in the kingdom of God silently by the operation +of spiritual forces. Thus, while the last section insists on +the moral change that must pass over Israel, and the +need of a direct influence from God on the heart of the +people, that which now lies before us is devoted to the +religious and political arrangements by which the sanctity +of the nation must be preserved. +</p> + +<p> +Starting from this general notion of what the prophet +sought, we can see, in the next place, that his attention +must be mainly concentrated on matters belonging to +public worship and ritual. Worship is the direct expression +in word and act of man's attitude to God, and no +public religion can maintain a higher level of spirituality +<pb n='387'/><anchor id='Pg387'/> +than the symbolism which gives it a place in the life of +the people. That fact had been abundantly illustrated by +the experience of centuries before the Exile. The popular +worship had always been a stronghold of false religion in +Israel. The high places were the nurseries of all the +corruptions against which the prophets had to contend, +not simply because of the immoral elements that mingled +with their worship, but because the worship itself was +regulated by conceptions of the deity which were opposed +to the religion of revelation. Now the idea of using ritual +as a vehicle of the highest spiritual truth is certainly not +peculiar to Ezekiel's vision. But it is there carried +through with a thoroughness which has no parallel elsewhere +except in the priestly legislation of the Pentateuch. +And this bears witness to a clear perception on the part +of the prophet of the value of that whole side of things for +the future development of religion in Israel. No one was +more deeply impressed with the evils that had flowed +from a corrupt ritual in the past, and he conceives the +final form of the kingdom of God to be one in which +the blessings of salvation are safeguarded by a carefully +regulated system of religious ordinances. It will become +manifest as we proceed that he regards the Temple ritual +as the very centre of theocratic life, and the highest +function of the community of the true religion. +</p> + +<p> +But Ezekiel was prepared for the reception of this +vision, not only by the practical reforming bent of his +mind, but also by a combination in his own experience of +the two elements which must always enter into a conception +of this nature. If we may employ philosophical +language to express a very obvious distinction, we have to +recognise in the vision a material and a formal element. +The matter of the vision is derived from the ancient religious +and political constitution of the Hebrew state. All +true and lasting reformations are conservative at heart; +<pb n='388'/><anchor id='Pg388'/> +their object never is to make a clean sweep of the past, +but so to modify what is traditional as to adapt it to the +needs of a new era. Now Ezekiel was a priest, and possessed +all a priest's reverence for antiquity, as well as a +priest's professional knowledge of ceremonial and of consuetudinary +law. No man could have been better fitted +than he to secure the continuity of Israel's religious life +along the particular line on which it was destined to move. +Accordingly we find that the new theocracy is modelled +from beginning to end after the pattern of the ancient +institutions which had been destroyed by the Exile. If we +ask, for example, what is the meaning of some detail of +the Temple building, such as the cells surrounding the +main sanctuary, the obvious and sufficient answer is that +these things existed in Solomon's Temple, and there was +no reason for altering them. On the other hand, whenever +we find the vision departing from what had been +traditionally established, we may be sure that there is +a reason for it, and in most cases we can see what that +reason was. In such departures we recognise the working +of what we have called the formal element of the vision, +the moulding influence of the ideas which the system was +intended to express. What these ideas were we shall +consider in subsequent chapters; here it is enough to say +that they were the fundamental ideas which had been +communicated to Ezekiel in the course of his prophetic +work, and which have found expression in various forms +in other parts of his writings. That they are not peculiar +to Ezekiel, but are shared by other prophets, is true, just +as it is true on the other hand that the priestly conceptions +which occupy so large a place in his mind were an inheritance +from the whole past history of the nation. Nor +was this the first time when an alliance between the +ceremonialism of the priesthood and the more ethical and +spiritual teaching of prophecy had proved of the utmost +<pb n='389'/><anchor id='Pg389'/> +advantage to the religious life of Israel.<note place='foot'>Cf. Davidson, <hi rend='italic'>Ezekiel</hi>, pp. liv. f.</note> The unique +importance of Ezekiel's vision lies in the fact that the +great development of prophecy was now almost complete, +and that the time was come for its results to be embodied +in institutions which were in the main of a priestly +character. And it was fitting that this new era of religion +should be inaugurated through the agency of one who +combined in his own person the conservative instincts of +the priest with the originality and the spiritual intuition +of the prophet. +</p> + +<p> +It is not suggested for a moment that these considerations +account for the inception of the vision in the prophet's +mind. We are not to regard it as merely the brilliant +device of an ingenious man, who was exceptionally +qualified to read the signs of the times, and to discover +a solution for a pressing religious problem. In order +that it might accomplish the end in view, it was absolutely +necessary that it should be invested with a supernatural +sanction and bear the stamp of divine authority. Ezekiel +himself was well aware of this, and would never have +ventured to publish his vision if he had thought it all out +for himself. He had to wait for the time when <q>the +hand of the Lord was upon him,</q> and he saw in vision the +new Temple and the river of life proceeding from it, and +the renovated land, and the glory of God taking up its +everlasting abode in the midst of His people. Until that +moment arrived he was without a message as to the form +which the life of the restored Israel must assume. Nevertheless +the psychological conditions of the vision were +contained in those parts of the prophet's experience which +have just been indicated. Processes of thought which had +long occupied his mind suddenly crystallised at the touch +of the divine hand, and the result was the marvellous conception +<pb n='390'/><anchor id='Pg390'/> +of a theocratic state which was Ezekiel's greatest +legacy to the faith and hopes of his countrymen. +</p> + +<p> +That this vision of Ezekiel's profoundly influenced the +development of post-exilic Judaism may be inferred from +the fact that all the best tendencies of the restoration +period were towards the realisation of the ideals which the +vision sets forth with surpassing clearness. It is impossible, +indeed, to say precisely how far Ezekiel's influence +extended, or how far the returning exiles consciously aimed +at carrying out the ideas contained in his sketch of a theocratic +constitution. That they did so to some extent is +inferred from a consideration of some of the arrangements +established in Jerusalem soon after the return from Babylon.<note place='foot'>See Prof. W. R. Smith, <hi rend='italic'>The Old Testament in the Jewish Church</hi>, +pp. 442 f.</note> +But it is certain that from the nature of the case +the actual institutions of the restored community must have +differed very widely in many points from those described +in the last nine chapters of Ezekiel. When we look more +closely at the composition of this vision, we see that it +contains features which neither then nor at any subsequent +time have been historically fulfilled. The most remarkable +thing about it is that it unites in one picture two characteristics +which seem at first sight difficult to combine. +On the one hand it bears the aspect of a rigid legislative +system intended to regulate human conduct in all matters +of vital moment to the religious standing of the community; +on the other hand it assumes a miraculous transformation +of the physical aspect of the country, a restoration of all +the twelve tribes of Israel under a native king, and a +return of Jehovah in visible glory to dwell in the midst +of the children of Israel for ever. Now these supernatural +conditions of the perfect theocracy could not be realised +by any effort on the part of the people, and as a matter +<pb n='391'/><anchor id='Pg391'/> +of fact were never literally fulfilled at all. It must have +been plain to the leaders of the Return that for this reason +alone the details of Ezekiel's legislation were not binding +for them in the actual circumstances in which they were +placed. Even in matters clearly within the province of +human administration we know that they considered themselves +free to modify his regulations in accordance with +the requirements of the situation in which they found +themselves. It does not follow from this, however, that +they were ignorant of the book of Ezekiel, or that it gave +them no help in the difficult task to which they addressed +themselves. It furnished them with an ideal of national +holiness, and the general outline of a constitution in +which that ideal should be embodied; and this outline +they seem to have striven to fill up in the way best adapted +to the straitened and discouraging circumstances of the +time. +</p> + +<p> +But this throws us back on some questions of fundamental +importance for the right understanding of Ezekiel's +vision. Taking the vision as a whole, we have to ask +whether a fulfilment of the kind just indicated was the +fulfilment that the prophet himself anticipated. Did he +lay stress on the legislative or the supernatural aspect +of the vision—on man's agency or on God's? In other +words, does he issue it as a programme to be carried out +by the people as soon as the opportunity is presented by +their return to the land of Canaan? or does he mean that +Jehovah Himself must take the initiative by miraculously +preparing the land for their reception, and taking up His +abode in the finished Temple, the <q>place of His throne, +and the place of the soles of His feet</q>? The answer to +these questions is not difficult, if only we are careful to +look at things from the prophet's point of view, and +disregard the historical events in which his predictions +were partly realised. It is frequently assumed that the +<pb n='392'/><anchor id='Pg392'/> +elaborate description of the Temple buildings in chs. xl.-xlii. +is intended as a guide to the builders of the second +Temple, who are to make it after the fashion of that which +the prophet saw on the mount. It is quite probable that +in some degree it may have served that purpose; but it +seems to me that this view is not in keeping with the +fundamental idea of the vision. The Temple that Ezekiel +saw, and the only one of which he speaks, is a house not +made with hands; it is as much a part of the supernatural +preparation for the future theocracy as the <q>very high +mountain</q> on which it stands, or the river that flows +from it to sweeten the waters of the Dead Sea. In the +important passage where the prophet is commanded to +exhibit the plan of the house to the children of Israel +(ch. xliii. 10, 11), there is unfortunately a discrepancy +between the Hebrew and Greek texts which throws some +obscurity on this particular point. According to the +Hebrew there can hardly be a doubt that a sketch is +shown to them which is to be used as a builder's plan at +the time of the Restoration.<note place='foot'>See ver. 10, <q>let them measure the pattern</q>; ver. 11, <q>that they +may keep the whole form thereof.</q></note> But in the Septuagint, which +seems on the whole to give a more correct text, the +passage runs thus: <q>And, thou son of man, describe +the house to the house of Israel (and let them be ashamed +of their iniquities), and its form, and its construction: +and they shall be ashamed of all that they have done. +And do thou sketch the house, and its exits, and its outline; +and all its ordinances and all its laws make known to +them; and write it before them, that they may keep all +its commandments and all its ordinances, and do them.</q> +There is nothing here to suggest that the construction +of the Temple was left for human workmanship. The +outline of it is shown to the people only that they may +<pb n='393'/><anchor id='Pg393'/> +be ashamed of all their iniquities. When the arrangements +of the ideal Temple are explained to them, they will +see how far those of the first Temple transgressed the +requirements of Jehovah's holiness, and this knowledge +will produce a sense of shame for the dulness of heart +which tolerated so many abuses in connection with His +worship. No doubt that impression sank deep into the +minds of Ezekiel's hearers, and led to certain important +modifications in the structure of the Temple when it had +to be built; but that is not what the prophet is thinking of. +At the same time we see clearly that he is very much in +earnest with the legislative part of his vision. Its laws +are real laws, and are given that they may be obeyed—only +they do not come into force until all the institutions +of the theocracy, natural and supernatural alike, are in full +working order. And apart from the doubtful question as +to the erection of the Temple, that general conclusion holds +good for the vision as a whole. Whilst it is pervaded +throughout by the legislative spirit, the miraculous features +are after all its central and essential elements. When +these conditions are realised, it will be the duty of Israel +to guard her sacred institutions by the most scrupulous +and devoted obedience; but till then there is no kingdom +of God established on earth, and therefore no system of +laws to conserve a state of salvation, which can only be +brought about by the direct and visible interposition of +the Almighty in the sphere of nature and history. +</p> + +<p> +This blending of seemingly incongruous elements reveals +to us the true character of the vision with which +we have to deal. It is in the strictest sense a Messianic +prophecy—that is, a picture of the kingdom of God in +its final state as the prophet was led to conceive it. It +is common to all such representations that the human +authors of them have no idea of a long historical development +gradually leading up to the perfect manifestation +<pb n='394'/><anchor id='Pg394'/> +of God's purpose with the world. The impending crisis +in the affairs of the people of Israel is always regarded +as the consummation of human history and the establishment +of God's kingdom in the plenitude of its power +and glory. In the time of Ezekiel the next step in the +unfolding of the divine plan of redemption was the +restoration of Israel to its own land; and in so far as his +vision is a prophecy of that event, it was realised in the +return of the exiles with Zerubbabel in the first year of +Cyrus. But to the mind of Ezekiel this did not present +itself as a mere step towards something immeasurably +higher in the remote future. It is to include everything +necessary for the complete and final inbringing of the +Messianic dispensation, and all the powers of the world +to come are to be displayed in the acts by which Jehovah +brings back the scattered members of Israel to the enjoyment +of blessedness in His own presence. +</p> + +<p> +The thing that misleads us as to the real nature of the +vision is the emphasis laid on matters which seem to us of +merely temporal and earthly significance. We are apt to +think that what we have before us can be nothing else than +a legislative scheme to be carried out more or less fully +in the new state that should arise after the Exile. The +miraculous features in the vision are apt to be dismissed +as mere symbolisms to which no great significance attaches. +Legislating for the millennium seems to us a +strange occupation for a prophet, and we are hardly +prepared to credit even Ezekiel with so bold a conception. +But that depends entirely on his idea of what the millennium +will be. If it is to be a state of things in which +religious institutions are of vital importance for the +maintenance of the spiritual interests of the community +of the people of God, then legislation is the natural +expression for the ideals which are to be realised in it. +And we must remember, too, that what we have to do +<pb n='395'/><anchor id='Pg395'/> +with is a vision. Ezekiel is not the ultimate source of +this legislation, however much it may bear the impress +of his individual experience. He has seen the city of +God, and all the minute and elaborate regulations with +which these nine chapters are filled are but the exposition +of principles that determine the character of a people +amongst whom Jehovah can dwell. +</p> + +<p> +At the same time we see that a separation of different +aspects of the vision was inevitably effected by the teaching +of history. The return from Babylon was accomplished +without any of those supernatural adjuncts with which it +had been invested in the rapt imagination of the prophet. +No transformation of the land preceded it; no visible +presence of Jehovah welcomed the exiles back to their +ancient abode. They found Jerusalem in ruins, the holy +and beautiful house a desolation, the land occupied by +aliens, the seasons unproductive as of old. Yet in the +hearts of these men there was a vision even more impressive +than that of Ezekiel in his solitude. To lay +the foundations of a theocratic state in the dreary, discouraging +daylight of the present was an act of faith as +heroic as has ever been performed in the history of +religion. The building of the Temple was undertaken +amidst many difficulties, the ritual was organised, the +rudiments of a religious constitution appeared, and in all +this we see the influence of those principles of national +holiness that had been formulated by Ezekiel. But the +crowning manifestation of Jehovah's glory was deferred. +Prophet after prophet appeared to keep alive the hope +that this Temple, poor in outward appearance as it was, +would yet be the centre of a new world, and the dwelling-place +of the Eternal. Centuries rolled past, and still +Jehovah did not come to His Temple, and the eschatological +features which had bulked so largely in Ezekiel's +vision remained an unfulfilled aspiration. And when at +<pb n='396'/><anchor id='Pg396'/> +length in the fulness of time the complete revelation of +God was given, it was in a form that superseded the +old economy entirely, and transformed its most stable +and cherished institutions into adumbrations of a spiritual +kingdom which knew no earthly Temple and had need of +none. +</p> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<p> +This brings us to the most difficult and most important +of all the questions arising in connection with Ezekiel's +vision—What is its relation to the Pentateuchal Legislation? +It is obvious at once that the significance of this +section of the book of Ezekiel is immensely enhanced if +we accept the conclusion to which the critical study of +the Old Testament has been steadily driven, that in the +chapters before us we have the first outline of that great +conception of a theocratic constitution which attained its +finished expression in the priestly regulations of the +middle books of the Pentateuch. The discussion of this +subject is so intricate, so far-reaching in its consequences, +and ranges over so wide an historical field, that one is +tempted to leave it in the hands of those who have +addressed themselves to its special treatment, and to try +to get on as best one may without assuming a definite +attitude on one side or the other. But the student of +Ezekiel cannot altogether evade it. Again and again the +question will force itself on him as he seeks to ascertain +the meaning of the various details of Ezekiel's legislation, +How does this stand related to corresponding requirements +in the Mosaic law? It is necessary, therefore, in justice +to the reader of the following pages, that an attempt should +be made, however imperfectly, to indicate the position +which the present phase of criticism assigns to Ezekiel +in the history of the Old Testament legislation. +</p> + +<p> +We may begin by pointing out the kind of difficulty +that is felt to arise on the supposition that Ezekiel had +<pb n='397'/><anchor id='Pg397'/> +before him the entire body of laws contained in our +present Pentateuch. We should expect in that case that +the prophet would contemplate a restoration of the divine +institutions established under Moses, and that his vision +would reproduce with substantial fidelity the minute provisions +of the law by which these institutions were to be +maintained. But this is very far from being the case. +It is found that while Ezekiel deals to a large extent with +the subjects for which provision is made by the law, there +is in no instance perfect correspondence between the +enactments of the vision and those of the Pentateuch, +while on some points they differ very materially from one +another. How are we to account for these numerous +and, on the supposition, evidently designed divergencies? +It has been suggested that the law was found to be in +some respects unsuitable to the state of things that would +arise after the Exile, and that Ezekiel in the exercise +of his prophetic authority undertook to adapt it to the +conditions of a late age. The suggestion is in itself +plausible, but it is not confirmed by the history. For +it is agreed on all hands that the law as a whole had +never been put in force for any considerable period of +Israel's history previous to the Exile. On the other hand, +if we suppose that Ezekiel judged its provisions unsuitable +for the circumstances that would emerge after the Exile, +we are confronted by the fact that where Ezekiel's legislation +differs from that of the Pentateuch it is the latter and +not the former that regulated the practice of the post-exilic +community. So far was the law from being out of +date in the age of Ezekiel that the time was only approaching +when the first effort would be made to accept it in +all its length and breadth as the authoritative basis of an +actual theocratic polity. Unless, therefore, we are to hold +that the legislation of the vision is entirely in the air, and +that it takes no account whatever of practical considerations, +<pb n='398'/><anchor id='Pg398'/> +we must feel that a certain difficulty is presented +by its unexplained deviations from the carefully drawn +ordinances of the Pentateuch. +</p> + +<p> +But this is not all. The Pentateuch itself is not a +unity. It consists of different strata of legislation which, +while irreconcilable in details, are held to exhibit a continuous +progress towards a clearer definition of the duties +that devolve on different classes in the community, and +a fuller exposition of the principles that underlay the +system from the beginning. The analysis of the Mosaic +writings into different legislative codes has resulted in +a scheme which in its main outlines is now accepted by +critics of all shades of opinion. The three great codes +which we have to distinguish are: (1) the so-called Book +of the Covenant (Exod. xx. 24-xxiii., with which may be +classed the closely allied code of Exod. xxxiv. 10-28); +(2) the Book of Deuteronomy; and (3) the Priestly Code +(found in Exod. xxv.-xxxi., xxxv.-xl., the whole book +of Leviticus, and nearly the whole of the book of +Numbers).<note place='foot'>This last group is considered to be composed of several layers of +legislation, and one of its sections is of particular interest for us because +of its numerous affinities with the book of Ezekiel. It is the short +code contained in Lev. xvii.-xxvi., now generally known as the Law of +Holiness.</note> Now of course the mere separation of these +different documents tells us nothing, or not much, as to +their relative priority or antiquity. But we possess at +least a certain amount of historical and independent +evidence as to the times when some of them became +operative in the actual life of the nation. We know, for +example, that the Book of Deuteronomy attained the force +of statute law under the most solemn circumstances by a +national covenant in the eighteenth year of Josiah. The +distinctive feature of that book is its impressive enforcement +of the principle that there is but one sanctuary at +<pb n='399'/><anchor id='Pg399'/> +which Jehovah can be legitimately worshipped. When +we compare the list of reforms carried out by Josiah, as +given in the twenty-third chapter of 2 Kings, with the +provisions of Deuteronomy, we see that it must have +been that book and it alone that had been found in the +Temple and that governed the reforming policy of the +king. Before that time the law of the one sanctuary, if +it was known at all, was certainly more honoured in the +breach than the observance. Sacrifices were freely offered +at local altars throughout the country, not merely by the +ignorant common people and idolatrous kings, but by men +who were the inspired religious leaders and teachers of +the nation. Not only so, but this practice is sanctioned +by the Book of the Covenant, which permits the erection +of an altar in every place where Jehovah causes His name +to be remembered, and only lays down injunctions as to the +kind of altar that might be used (Exod. xx. 24-26). The +evidence is thus very strong that the Book of Deuteronomy, +at whatever time it may have been written, had not the +force of public law until the year 621 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi>, and that down +to that time the accepted and authoritative expression of +the divine will for Israel was the law embraced in the +Book of the Covenant. +</p> + +<p> +To find similar evidence of the practical adoption of +the Priestly Code we have to come down to a much later +period. It is not till the year 444 <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi>, in the time of +Ezra and Nehemiah, that we read of the people pledging +themselves by a solemn covenant to the observance of +regulations which are clearly those of the finished system +of Pentateuchal law (Neh. viii.-x.). It is there expressly +stated that this law had not been observed in Israel up +to that time (Neh. ix. 34), and in particular that the great +Feast of Tabernacles had not been celebrated in accordance +with the requirements of the law since the days of +Joshua (Neh. viii. 17). This is quite conclusive as to +<pb n='400'/><anchor id='Pg400'/> +actual practice in Israel; and the fact that the observance +of the law was thus introduced by instalments and on +occasions of epoch-making importance in the history of +the community raises a strong presumption against the +hypothesis that the Pentateuch was an inseparable literary +unity which must be known in its entirety where it was +known at all. +</p> + +<p> +Now the date of Ezekiel's vision (572) lies between +these two historic transactions—the inauguration of the +law of Deuteronomy in 621, and that of the Priestly Code +in 444; and in spite of the ideal character which belongs +to the vision as a whole, it contains a system of legislation +which admits of being compared point by point with the +provisions of the other two codes on a variety of subjects +common to all three. Some of the results of this comparison +will appear as we proceed with the exposition of +the chapters before us. But it will be convenient to state +here the important conclusion to which a number of critics +have been led by discussion of this question. It is held +that Ezekiel's legislation represents on the whole a transition +from the law of Deuteronomy to the more complex +system of the Priestly document. The three codes exhibit +a regular progression, the determining factor of which is +a growing sense of the importance of the Temple worship +and of the necessity for a careful regulation of the acts +which express the religious standing and privileges of the +community. On such matters as the feasts, the sacrifices, +the distinction between priests and Levites, the Temple +dues, and the provision for the maintenance of ordinances, +it is found that Ezekiel lays down enactments which go +beyond those of Deuteronomy and anticipate a further development +in the same direction in the Levitical legislation.<note place='foot'>This argument is most fully worked out by Wellhausen in the first +division of his <hi rend='italic'>Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels</hi>: I., <q>Geschichte des +Cultus.</q></note> +<pb n='401'/><anchor id='Pg401'/> +The legislation of Ezekiel is accordingly regarded as a +first step towards the codification of the ritual laws +which regulated the usage of the first Temple. It is not +of material consequence to know how far these laws had +been already committed to writing, or how far they had +been transmitted by oral tradition. The important point +is that down to the time of Ezekiel the great body of ritual +law had been the possession of the priests, who communicated +it to the people in the shape of particular decisions +as occasion demanded. Even the book of Deuteronomy, +except on one or two points, such as the law of leprosy +and of clean and unclean animals, does not encroach on +matters of ritual, which it was the special province of the +priesthood to administer. But now that the time was +drawing near when the Temple and its worship were to be +the very centre of the religious life of the nation, it was +necessary that the essential elements of the ceremonial +law should be systematised and published in a form +understood of the people. The last nine chapters of +Ezekiel, then, contain the first draft of such a scheme, +drawn from an ancient priestly tradition which in its +origin went back to the time of Moses. It is true that +this was not the precise form in which the law was destined +to be put in practice in the post-exilic community. +But Ezekiel's legislation served its purpose when it laid +down clearly, with the authority of a prophet, the fundamental +ideas that underlie the conception of ritual as +an aid to spiritual religion. And these ideas were not +lost sight of, though it was reserved for others, working +under the impulse supplied by Ezekiel, to perfect the +details of the system, and to adopt the principles of +the vision to the actual circumstances of the second +Temple. Through what subsequent stages the work +was carried we can hardly hope to determine with exactitude; +but it was finished in all essential respects +<pb n='402'/><anchor id='Pg402'/> +before the great covenant of Ezra and Nehemiah in the +year 444.<note place='foot'>It should perhaps be stated, even in so incomplete a sketch as this, +that there is still some difference of opinion among critics as to Ezekiel's +relation to the so-called <q>Law of Holiness</q> in Lev. xvii.-xxvi. It is agreed +that this short but extremely interesting code is the earliest complete, or +nearly complete, document that has been incorporated in the body of +the Levitical legislation. Its affinities with Ezekiel both in thought and +style are so striking that Colenso and others have maintained the theory +that the author of the Law of Holiness was no other than the prophet +himself. This view is now seen to be untenable; but whether the code +is older or more recent than the vision of Ezekiel is still a subject of +discussion among scholars. Some consider that it is an advance upon +Ezekiel in the direction of the Priests' Code; while others think that the +book of Ezekiel furnishes evidence that the prophet was acquainted with +the Law of Holiness, and had it before him as he wrote. That he was +acquainted with its <emph>laws</emph> seems certain; the question is whether he had +them before him in their present written form. For fuller information +on this and other points touched on in the above pages, the reader may +consult Driver's <hi rend='italic'>Introduction</hi> and Robertson Smith's <hi rend='italic'>Old Testament in +the Jewish Church</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Let us now consider the bearing of this theory on the +interpretation of Ezekiel's vision. It enables us to do +justice to the unmistakable practical purpose which pervades +its legislation. It frees us from the grave difficulties +involved in the assumption that Ezekiel wrote with the +finished Pentateuch before him. It vindicates the prophet +from the suspicion of arbitrary deviations from a standard +of venerable antiquity and of divine authority which was +afterwards proved by experience to be suited to the +requirements of that restored Israel in whose interest +Ezekiel legislated. And in doing so it gives a new meaning +to his claim to speak as a prophet ordaining a new system +of laws with divine authority. Whilst perfectly consistent +with the inspiration of the Mosaic books, it places that +of Ezekiel on a surer footing than does the supposition +that the whole Pentateuch was of Mosaic authorship. It +involves, no doubt, that the details of the Priestly law +<pb n='403'/><anchor id='Pg403'/> +were in a more or less fluid condition down to the time +of the Exile; but it explains the otherwise unaccountable +fact that the several parts of the law became operative +at different times in Israel's history, and explains it in +a manner that reveals the working of a divine purpose +through all the ages of the national existence. It becomes +possible to see that Ezekiel's legislation and that of the +Levitical books are in their essence alike Mosaic, as being +founded on the institutions and principles established by +Moses at the beginning of the nation's history. And an +altogether new interest is imparted to the former when +we learn to regard it as an epoch-making contribution +to the task which laid the foundation of the post-exilic +theocracy—the task of codifying and consolidating the +laws which expressed the character of the new nation as +a holy people consecrated to the service of Jehovah, the +Holy One of Israel. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='404'/><anchor id='Pg404'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XXVI. The Sanctuary. Chapters xl.-xliii.</head> + +<p> +The fundamental idea of the theocracy as conceived +by Ezekiel is the literal dwelling of Jehovah in the +midst of His people. The Temple is in the first instance +Jehovah's palace, where He manifests His gracious presence +by receiving the gifts and homage of His subjects. +But the enjoyment of this privilege of access to the +presence of God depends on the fulfilment of certain +conditions which, in the prophet's view, had been systematically +violated in the arrangements that prevailed +under the first Temple. Hence the vision of Ezekiel is +essentially the vision of a Temple corresponding in all +respects to the requirements of Jehovah's holiness, and +then of Jehovah's entrance into the house so prepared +for His reception. And the first step towards the realisation +of the great hope of the future was to lay before the +exiles a full description of this building, so that they +might understand the conditions on which alone Israel +could be restored to its own land. +</p> + +<p> +To this task the prophet addresses himself in the first +four of the chapters before us, and he executes it in a +manner which, considering the great technical difficulties +to be surmounted, must excite our admiration. He tells +us first in a brief introduction how he was transported in +prophetic ecstasy to the land of Israel, and there on the +site of the old Temple, now elevated into a <q>very high +<pb n='405'/><anchor id='Pg405'/> +mountain,</q> he sees before him an imposing pile of buildings +like the building of a city (ver. 2). It is the future +Temple, the city itself having been removed nearly two +miles to the south. At the east gate he is met by an +angel, who conducts him from point to point of the buildings, +calling his attention to significant structural details, +and measuring each part as he goes along with a measuring-line +which he carries in his hand. It is probable that the +whole description would be perfectly intelligible but for +the state of the text, which is defective throughout and in +some places hopelessly corrupt. This is hardly surprising +when we consider the technical and unfamiliar nature of +the terms employed; but it has been suspected that some +parts have been deliberately tampered with in order to +bring them into harmony with the actual construction of +the second Temple. Whether that is so or not, the description +as a whole remains in its way a masterpiece of +literary exposition, and a remarkable proof of the versatility +of Ezekiel's accomplishments. When it is necessary to +turn himself into an architectural draughtsman he discharges +the duty to perfection. No one can study the +detailed measurements of the buildings without being +convinced that the prophet is working from a ground +plan which he has himself prepared; indeed his own words +leave no doubt that this was the case (see ch. xliii. 10, 11). +And it is a convincing demonstration of his descriptive +powers that we are able, after the labours of many generations +of scholars, to reproduce this plan with a certainty +which, except with regard to a few minor features, +leaves little to be desired. It has been remarked as a +curious fact that of the three temples mentioned in the +Old Testament the only one of whose construction we can +form a clear conception is the one that was never built;<note place='foot'>Gautier, <hi rend='italic'>La Mission du Prophète Ezekiel</hi>, p. 118.</note> +and certainly the knowledge we have of Solomon's Temple +<pb n='406'/><anchor id='Pg406'/> +from the first book of Kings is very incomplete compared +with what we know of the Temple which Ezekiel saw only +in vision. +</p> + +<p> +It is impossible in this chapter to enter into all the +minutiæ of the description, or even to discuss all the +difficulties of interpretation which arise in connection with +different parts. Full information on these points will +be found in short compass in Dr. Davidson's commentary +on the passage. All that can be attempted here is to +convey a general idea of the arrangements of the various +buildings and courts of the sanctuary, and the extreme +care with which they have been thought out by the prophet. +After this has been done we shall try to discover +the meaning of these arrangements in so far as they differ +from the model supplied by the first Temple. +</p> + +<div> +<head>I</head> + +<p> +Let the reader, then, after the manner of Euclid, draw +a straight line <hi rend='smallcaps'>a b</hi>, and describe thereon a square <hi rend='smallcaps'>a b c d</hi>. +Let him divide two adjacent sides of the square (say <hi rend='smallcaps'>a b</hi> +and <hi rend='smallcaps'>a d</hi>) into ten equal parts, and let lines be drawn from +the points of section parallel to the sides of the square in +both directions. Let a side of the small squares represent +a length of fifty cubits, and the whole consequently a square +of five hundred cubits.<note place='foot'><p>The cubit which is the unit of measurement is said to be a handbreadth +longer than the cubit in common use (ver. 5). The length of the +larger cubit is variously estimated at from eighteen to twenty-two inches. +If we adopt the smaller estimate, we have only to take the half of +Ezekiel's dimensions to get the measurement in English yards. The +other, however, is more probable. Both the Egyptians and Babylonians +had a larger and a smaller cubit, their respective lengths being approximately +as follows:— +</p> +<p> +Common cubit: Egypt 17.8 in., Babylon 19.5 in.<lb/> +Royal cubit: Egypt 20.7 in., Babylon 21.9 in. +</p> +<p> +In Egypt the royal cubit exceeded the common by a handbreadth, just as +in Ezekiel. It is probable in any case that the large cubit used by the +angel was of the same order of magnitude as the royal cubit of Egypt +and Babylon—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, was between twenty and a half and twenty-two inches +long. Cf. Benzinger, <hi rend='italic'>Hebräische Archäologie</hi>, pp. 178 ff.</p></note> It will now be found that the +<pb n='407'/><anchor id='Pg407'/> +bounding lines of Ezekiel's plan run throughout on the +lines of this diagram;<note place='foot'>See the plan in Benzinger, <hi rend='italic'>Archäologie</hi>, p. 394.</note> and this fact gives a better idea than +anything else of the symmetrical structure of the Temple +and of the absolute accuracy of the measurements. +</p> + +<p> +The sides of the large square represent of course the +outer boundary of the enclosure, which is formed by a wall +six cubits thick and six high.<note place='foot'>The outer court, however, is some feet higher than the level of the +ground, being entered by an ascent of seven steps; the height of the +wall inside must therefore be less by this amount than the six cubits, +which is no doubt an outside measurement.</note> Its sides are directed to the +four points of the compass, and at the middle of the north, +east and south sides the wall is pierced by the three +gates, each with an ascent of seven steps outside. The +gates, however, are not mere openings in the wall furnished +with doors, but covered gateways similar to those that +penetrate the thick wall of a fortified town. In this case +they are large separate buildings projecting into the court +to a distance of fifty cubits, and twenty-five cubits broad, +exactly half the size of the Temple proper. On either +side of the passage are three recesses in the wall six +cubits square, which were to be used as guard-rooms by +the Temple police. Each gateway terminates towards the +court in a large hall called <q>the porch,</q> eight cubits broad +(along the line of entry) by twenty long (across): the +porch of the east gate was reserved for the use of the +prince; the purpose of the other two is nowhere specified. +</p> + +<p> +Passing through the eastern gateway, the prophet +stands in the outer court of the Temple, the place where +the people assembled for worship. It seems to have +been entirely destitute of buildings, with the exception of +<pb n='408'/><anchor id='Pg408'/> +a row of thirty cells along the three walls in which the +gates were. The outer margin of the court was paved +with stone up to the line of the inside of the gateways +(<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, fifty cubits, less the thickness of the outer wall); and +on this pavement stood the cells, the dimensions of which, +however, are not given. There were, moreover, in the +four corners of the court rectangular enclosures forty cubits +by thirty, where the Levites were to cook the sacrifices +of the people (ch. xlvi. 21-24). The purpose of the cells +is nowhere specified; but there is little doubt that they +were intended for those sacrificial feasts of a semi-private +character which had always been a prominent feature of +the Temple worship. From the edge of the pavement +to the inner court was a distance of a hundred cubits; but +this space was free only on three sides, the western side +being occupied by buildings to be afterwards described. +</p> + +<p> +The inner court was a terrace standing probably about +five feet above the level of the outer, and approached by +flights of eight steps at the three gates. It was reserved +for the exclusive use of the priests. It had three gateways +in a line with those of the outer court, and precisely +similar to them, with the single exception that the porches +were not, as we might have expected, towards the inside, +but at the ends next to the outer court. The free space +of the inner court, within the line of the gateways, was +a square of a hundred cubits, corresponding to the four +middle squares of the diagram. Right in the middle, so +that it could be seen through the gates, was the great +altar of burnt-offering, a huge stone structure rising in +three terraces to a height apparently of twelve cubits, and +having a breadth and length of eighteen cubits at the +base. That this, rather than the Temple, should be the +centre of the sanctuary, corresponds to a consciousness +in Israel that the altar was the one indispensable requisite +for the performance of sacrificial worship acceptable to +<pb n='409'/><anchor id='Pg409'/> +Jehovah. Accordingly, when the first exiles returned +to Jerusalem, before they were in a position to set about +the erection of the Temple, they reared the altar in its +place, and at once instituted the daily sacrifice and the +stated order of the festivals. And even in Ezekiel's +vision we shall find that the sacrificial consecration of +the altar is considered as equivalent to the dedication of +the whole sanctuary to the chief purpose for which it +was erected. Besides the altar there were in the inner +court certain other objects of special significance for the +priestly and sacrificial service. By the side of the north +and south gates were two cells or chambers opening +towards the middle space. The purpose for which these +cells were intended clearly points to a division of the +priesthood (which, however, may have been temporary +and not permanent) into two classes—one of which was +entrusted with the service of the Temple, and the other +with the service of the altar. The cell on the north, we +are told, was for the priests engaged in the service of +the house, and that on the south for those who officiated +at the altar (ch. xl. 45, 46). There is mention also of +tables on which different classes of sacrificial victims +were slaughtered, and of a chamber in which the burnt-offering +was washed (ch. xl. 38-43); but so obscure is +the text of this passage that it cannot even be certainly +determined whether these appliances were situated at the +east gate or the north gate, or at each of the three gates. +</p> + +<p> +The four small squares immediately adjoining the inner +court on the west are occupied by the Temple proper +and its adjuncts. The Temple itself stands on a solid +basement six cubits above the level of the inner court, +and is reached by a flight of ten steps. The breadth +of the basement (north to south) is sixty cubits: this +leaves a free space of twenty cubits on either side, which +is really a continuation of the inner court, although it +<pb n='410'/><anchor id='Pg410'/> +bears the special name of the <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>gizra</foreign> (<q>separate place</q>). +In length the basement measures a hundred and five +cubits, projecting, as we immediately see, five cubits into +the inner court in front.<note place='foot'>Smend and Stade assume that it was a hundred and ten cubits long, +and extended five cubits to the west beyond the line of the square to +which it belongs. This was not necessary, and it would imply that the +<foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>binyā</foreign> behind the Temple, to be afterwards described, was without a +wall on its eastern side, which is extremely improbable. (So Davidson.)</note> The inner space of the Temple +was divided, as in Solomon's Temple, into three compartments, +communicating with each other by folding-doors +in the middle of the partitions that separated them. +Entering by the outer door on the east, we come first to +the vestibule, which is twenty cubits broad (north to south) +by twelve cubits east to west. Next to this is the hall +or <q>palace</q> (<foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>hêkāl</foreign>), twenty cubits by forty. Beyond this +again is the innermost shrine of the Temple, the Most +Holy Place, where the glory of the God of Israel is +to take the place occupied by the ark and cherubim of +the first Temple. It is a square of twenty cubits; but +Ezekiel, although himself a priest, is not allowed to enter +this sacred space; the angel goes in alone, and announces +the measurements to the prophet, who waits without in +the great hall of the Temple. The only piece of furniture +mentioned in the Temple is an altar or table in the hall, +immediately in front of the Most Holy Place (ch. xli. 22). +The reference is no doubt to the table on which the +shewbread was laid out before Jehovah (cf. Exod. +xxv. 23-30). Some details are also given of the wood-carving +with which the interior was decorated (ch. xli. +16-20, 25), consisting apparently of cherubs and palm +trees in alternate panels. This appears to be simply a +reminiscence of the ornamentation of the old Temple, and +to have no direct religious significance in the mind of the +prophet. +</p> + +<pb n='411'/><anchor id='Pg411'/> + +<p> +The Temple was enclosed first by a wall six cubits +thick, and then on each side except the east by an outer +wall of five cubits, separated from the inner by an interval +of four cubits. This intervening space was divided into +three ranges of small cells rising in three stories one over +another. The second and third stories were somewhat +broader than the lowest, the inner wall of the house +being contracted so as to allow the beams to be laid upon +it without breaking into its surface. We must further +suppose that the inner wall rose above the cells and the +outer wall, so as to leave a clear space for the windows +of the Temple. The entire length of the Temple on the +outside is a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty cubits. +This leaves room for a passage of five cubits broad round +the edge of the elevated platform on which the main +building stood. The two doors which gave access to the +cells opened on this passage, and were placed in the +north and south sides of the outer wall. There was obviously +no need to continue the passage round the west +side of the house, and this does not appear to be contemplated. +</p> + +<p> +It will be seen that there still remains a square of a +hundred cubits behind the Temple, between it and the +west wall. The greater part of this was taken up by a +structure vaguely designated as the <q>building</q> (<foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>binyā</foreign> or +<foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>binyan</foreign>), which is commonly supposed to have been a sort +of lumber-room, although its function is not indicated. Nor +does it appear whether it stood on the level of the inner +court or of the outer. But while this building fills the +whole breadth of the square from north to south (a +hundred cubits), the other dimension (east to west) is +curtailed by a space of twenty cubits left free between it +and the Temple, the <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>gizra</foreign> (see p. <ref target='Pg410'>410</ref>) being thus continuous +round three sides of the house. +</p> + +<p> +The most troublesome part of the description is that +<pb n='412'/><anchor id='Pg412'/> +of two blocks of cells<note place='foot'>According to the Septuagint they were either five or fifteen in number +in each block.</note> situated north and south of the +Temple building (ch. xlii. 1-14). It seems clear that they +occupied the oblong spaces between the <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>gizra</foreign> north and +south of the Temple and the walls of the inner court. +Their length is said to be a hundred cubits, and their +breadth fifty cubits. But room has to be found for a +passage ten cubits broad and a hundred long, so that the +measurements do not exhibit in this case Ezekiel's usual +accuracy. Moreover, we are told that while their length +facing the Temple was a hundred cubits, the length facing +the outer court was only fifty cubits. It is extremely +difficult to gain a clear idea of what the prophet meant. +Smend and Davidson suppose that each block was divided +longitudinally into two sections, and that the passage of +ten cubits ran between them from east to west. The +inner section would then be a hundred cubits in length +and twenty in breadth. But the other section towards +the outer court would have only half this length, the +remaining fifty cubits along the edge of the inner court +being protected by a wall. This is perhaps the best +solution that has been proposed, but one can hardly help +thinking that if Ezekiel had had such an arrangement +in view he would have expressed himself more clearly. +The one thing that is perfectly unambiguous is the purpose +for which these cells were to be used. Certain sacrifices +to which a high degree of sanctity attached were consumed +by the priests, and being <q>most holy</q> things +they had to be eaten in a holy place. These chambers, +then, standing within the sacred enclosure of the inner +court, were assigned to the priests for this purpose.<note place='foot'>From a later passage (ch. xlvi. 19, 20) we learn that in some recess to +the west of the northern block of cells there was a place where these sacrifices +(the sin-, guilt-, and meal-offerings) were cooked, so that the people +in the outer court might not run any risk of being brought in contact with +them.</note> In +them also the priests were to deposit the sacred garments +<pb n='413'/><anchor id='Pg413'/> +in which they ministered, before leaving the inner court +to mingle with the people. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II</head> + +<p> +Such, then, are the leading features presented by Ezekiel's +description of an ideal sanctuary. What are the chief +impressions suggested to the mind by its perusal? The +fact no doubt that surprises us most is that our attention +is almost exclusively directed to the ground-plan of the +buildings. It is evident that the prophet is indifferent +to what seems to us the noblest element of ecclesiastical +architecture, the effect of lofty spaces on the imagination +of the worshipper. It is no part of his purpose to inspire +devotional feeling by the aid of purely æsthetic impressions. +<q>The height, the span, the gloom, the glory</q> of +some venerable Gothic cathedral do not enter into his conception +of a place of worship. The impressions he wishes +to convey, although religious, are intellectual rather than +æsthetic, and are such as could be expressed by the sharp +outlines and mathematical precision of a ground-plan. +Now of course the sanctuary was, to begin with, a place +of sacrifice, and to a large extent its arrangements were +necessarily dictated by a regard for practical convenience +and utility. But leaving this on one side, it is obvious +enough that the design is influenced by certain ruling +principles, of which the most conspicuous are these three: +separation, gradation, and symmetry. And these again +symbolise three aspects of the one great idea of holiness, +which the prophet desired to see embodied in the whole +constitution of the Hebrew state as the guarantee of +lasting fellowship between Jehovah and Israel. +</p> + +<pb n='414'/><anchor id='Pg414'/> + +<p> +In Ezekiel's teaching on the subject of holiness there +is nothing that is absolutely new or peculiar to himself. +That Jehovah is the one truly holy Being is the common +doctrine of the prophets, and it means that He alone unites +in Himself all the attributes of true Godhead. The +Hebrew language does not admit of the formation of an +adjective from the name for God like our word <q>divine,</q> +or an abstract noun corresponding to <q>divinity.</q> What +we denote by these terms the Hebrews expressed by +the words <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>qādôsh</foreign> , <q>holy,</q> and <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>qōdesh</foreign>, <q>holiness.</q> All +that constitutes true divinity is therefore summed up in +the Old Testament idea of the holiness of God. The +fundamental thought expressed by the word when applied +to God appears to be the separation or contrast between +the divine and the human—that in God which inspires +awe and reverence on the part of man, and forbids +approach to Him save under restrictions which flow from +the nature of the Deity. In the light of the New Testament +revelation we see that the only barrier to communion +with God is sin; and hence to us holiness, both in God +and man, is a purely ethical idea denoting moral purity +and perfectness. But under the Old Testament access to +God was hindered not only by sin, but also by natural +disabilities to which no moral guilt attaches. The idea of +holiness is therefore partly ethical and partly ceremonial, +physical uncleanness being as really a violation of the divine +holiness, as offences against the moral law. The consequences +of this view appear nowhere more clearly than in +the legislation of Ezekiel. His mind was penetrated with +the prophetic idea of the unique divinity or holiness of +Jehovah, and no one can doubt that the moral attributes +of God occupied the supreme place in his conception of +what true Godhead is. But along with this he has a profound +sense of what the nature of Jehovah demands in the +way of ceremonial purity. The divine holiness, in fact, +<pb n='415'/><anchor id='Pg415'/> +contains a physical as well as an ethical element; and to +guard against the intrusion of anything unclean into the +sphere of Jehovah's worship is the chief design of the +elaborate system of ritual laws laid down in the closing +chapters of Ezekiel. Ultimately no doubt the whole +system served a moral purpose by furnishing a safeguard +against the introduction of heathen practices into the +worship of Israel. But its immediate effect was to give +prominence to that aspect of the idea of holiness which +seems to us of least value, although it could not be dispensed +with so long as the worship of God took the form +of material offerings at a local sanctuary. +</p> + +<p> +Now in reducing this idea to practice it is obvious that +everything depends on the strict enforcement of the principle +of separation that lies at the root of the Hebrew +conception of holiness. The thought that underlies +Ezekiel's legislation is that the holiness of Jehovah is +communicated in different degrees to everything connected +with His worship, and in the first instance to the Temple, +which is sanctified by His presence. The sanctity of the +place is of course not fully intelligible apart from the +ceremonial rules which regulate the conduct of those who +are permitted to enter it. Throughout the ancient world +we find evidence of the existence of sacred enclosures +which could only be entered by those who fulfilled certain +conditions of physical purity. The conditions might be +extremely simple, as when Moses was commanded to take +his shoes off his feet as he stood within the holy ground +on Mount Sinai. But obviously the first essential of a +permanently sacred place was that it should be definitely +marked off from common ground, as the sphere within +which superior requirements of holiness became binding. +A holy place is necessarily a place <q>cut off,</q> separated +from ordinary use and guarded from intrusion by supernatural +sanctions. The idea of the sanctuary as a separate +<pb n='416'/><anchor id='Pg416'/> +place was therefore perfectly familiar to the Israelites long +before the time of Ezekiel, and had been exhibited in a +lax and imperfect way in the construction of the first +Temple. But what Ezekiel did was to carry out the idea +with a thoroughness never before attempted, and in such +a way as to make the whole arrangements of the sanctuary +an impressive object lesson on the holiness of +Jehovah. +</p> + +<p> +How important this notion of separateness was to +Ezekiel's conception of the sanctuary is best seen from +the emphatic condemnation of the arrangement of the +old Temple pronounced by Jehovah Himself on His entrance +into the house: <q>Son of man, [hast thou seen]<note place='foot'>So in the LXX.</note> +the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My +feet, where I shall dwell in the midst of the children of +Israel for ever? No longer shall the house of Israel +defile My holy name, they and their kings, by their +whoredom [idolatry], and by the corpses of their kings +in their death; by placing their threshold alongside of +My threshold, and their post beside My post, with only +the wall between Me and them, and defiling My holy +name by their abominations which they committed; so +that I consumed them in My anger. But now they must +remove their whoredom and the corpses of their kings +from Me, and I will dwell amongst them for ever</q> +(ch. xliii. 7-9). There is here a clear allusion to defects in +the structure of the Temple which were inconsistent with +a due recognition of the necessary separation between the +holy and the profane (ch. xlii. 20). It appears that the first +Temple had only one court, corresponding to the inner +court of Ezekiel's vision. What answered to the outer +court was simply an enclosure surrounding, not only the +Temple, but also the royal palace and the other buildings +<pb n='417'/><anchor id='Pg417'/> +of state. Immediately adjoining the Temple area on the +south was the court in which the palace stood, so that +the only division between the dwelling-place of Jehovah +and the residence of the kings of Judah was the single wall +separating the two courts. This of itself was derogatory +to the sanctity of the Temple, according to the enhanced +idea of holiness which it was Ezekiel's mission to enforce. +But the prophet touches on a still more flagrant transgression +of the law of holiness when he speaks of the dead +bodies of the kings as being interred in the neighbourhood +of the Temple. Contact with a dead body produced +under all circumstances the highest degree of ceremonial +uncleanness, and nothing could have been more abhorrent +to Ezekiel's priestly sense of propriety than the close proximity +of dead men's bones to the house in which Jehovah +was to dwell. In order to guard against the recurrence +of these abuses in the future it was necessary that all +secular buildings should be removed to a safe distance +from the Temple precincts. The <q>law of the house</q> is +that <q>upon the top of the mountain it shall stand, and all +its precincts round about shall be most holy</q> (ch. xliii. 12). +And it is characteristic of Ezekiel that the separation is +effected, not by changing the situation of the Temple, but +by transporting the city bodily to the southward; so that +the new sanctuary stood on the site of the old, but isolated +from the contact of that in human life which was common +and unclean.<note place='foot'>The actual building of the second Temple had of course to be carried +out irrespective of the bold idealism of Ezekiel's vision. The miraculous +transformation of the land had not taken place, and it was altogether +impossible to build a new metropolis in the region marked out for it by +the vision. The Temple had to be erected on its old site, and in the +immediate neighbourhood of the city. To a certain extent, however, +the requirements of the ideal sanctuary could be complied with. Since +the new community had no use for royal buildings, the whole of the +old Temple plateau was available for the sanctuary, and was actually +devoted to this purpose. The new Temple accordingly had two courts, +set apart for sacred uses; and in all probability these were laid out in a +manner closely corresponding to the plan prepared by Ezekiel.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The effect of this teaching, however, is immensely +enhanced by the principle of gradation, which is the +<pb n='418'/><anchor id='Pg418'/> +second feature exhibited in Ezekiel's description of the +sanctuary. Holiness, as a predicate of persons or things, +is after all a relative idea. That which is <q>most holy</q> +in relation to the profane every-day life of men may be +less holy in comparison with something still more closely +associated with the presence of God. Thus the whole +land of Israel was holy in contrast with the world lying +outside. But it was impossible to maintain the whole +land in a state of ceremonial purity corresponding to +the sanctity of Jehovah. The full compass of the idea +could only be illustrated by a carefully graded series +of sacred spaces, each of which entailed provisions of +sanctity peculiar to itself. First of all an <q>oblation</q> +is set apart in the middle of the tribes; and of this the +central portion is assigned for the residence of the priestly +families. In the midst of this, again, stands the sanctuary +with its wall and precinct, dividing the holy from the +profane (ch. xlii. 20). Within the wall are the two courts, +of which the outer could only be trodden by circumcised +Israelites and the inner only by the priests. Behind the +inner court stands the Temple house, cut off from the +adjoining buildings by a <q>separate place,</q> and elevated +on a platform, which still further guards its sanctity from +profane contact. And finally the interior of the house is +divided into three compartments, increasing in holiness +in the order of entrance—first the porch, then the main +hall, and then the Most Holy Place, where Jehovah Himself +dwells. It is impossible to mistake the meaning of +all this. The practical object is to secure the presence +<pb n='419'/><anchor id='Pg419'/> +of Jehovah against the possibility of contact with those +sources of impurity which are inseparably bound up with +the incidents of man's natural existence on earth.<note place='foot'>It is not necessary to dwell on the third feature of the Temple +plan, its symmetry. Although this has not the same direct religious +significance as the other two, it is nevertheless a point to which considerable +importance is attached even in matters of minute detail. +Solomon's Temple had, for example, only one door to the side chambers, +in the wall facing the south, and this was sufficient for all practical +purposes. But Ezekiel's plan provides for two such doors, one in the +south and the other in the north, for no assignable reason but to make +the two sides of the house exactly alike. There are just two slight +deviations from a strictly symmetrical arrangement that can be discerned; +one is the washing-chamber by the side of one of the gates of the inner +court, and the other the space for cooking the most holy class of sacrifices +near the block of cells on the north side of the Temple. With these +insignificant exceptions, all the parts of the sanctuary are disposed with +mathematical regularity; nothing is left to chance, regard for convenience +is everywhere subordinated to the sense of proportion which +expresses the ideal order and perfection of the whole.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Before we pass on let us return for a moment to the +primary notion of separation in space as an emblem of +the Old Testament conception of holiness. What is the +permanent religious truth underlying this representation? +We may find it in the idea conveyed by the familiar phrase +<q>draw near to God.</q> What we have just seen reminds +us that there was a stage in the history of religion when +these words could be used in the most literal sense of +every act of complete worship. The worshipper actually +came to the place where God was; it was impossible to +realise His presence in any other way. To us the expression +has only a metaphorical value; yet the metaphor +is one that we cannot dispense with, for it covers a fact of +spiritual experience. It may be true that with God there +is no far or near, that He is omnipresent, that His eyes +are in every place beholding the evil and the good. But +what does that mean? Not surely that all men everywhere +and at all times are equally under the influence of +<pb n='420'/><anchor id='Pg420'/> +the divine Spirit? No; but only that God <emph>may</emph> be found +in any place by the soul that is open to receive His grace +and truth, that place has nothing to do with the conditions +of true fellowship with Him. Translated into terms of +the spiritual life, drawing near to God denotes the act +of faith or prayer or consecration, through which we +seek the manifestation of His love in our experience. +Religion knows nothing of <q>action at a distance</q>; God +is near in every place to the soul that knows Him, +and distant in every place from the heart that loves +darkness rather than light. +</p> + +<p> +Now when the idea of access to God is thus spiritualised +the conception of holiness is necessarily transformed, but +it is not superseded. At every stage of revelation holiness +is that <q>without which no man shall see the Lord.</q><note place='foot'>Heb. xii. 14.</note> In +other words, it expresses the conditions that regulate all +true fellowship with God. So long as worship was confined +to an earthly sanctuary these conditions were so +to speak materialised. They resolved themselves into a +series of <q>carnal ordinances</q>—gifts and sacrifices, meats, +drinks, and divers washings—that could never make the +worshipper perfect as touching the conscience. These +things were <q>imposed until a time of reformation,</q> the +<q>Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holy +place had not been made manifest while as the first +tabernacle was yet standing.</q><note place='foot'>Heb. ix. 8-10.</note> And yet when we consider +what it was that gave such vitality to that persistent +sense of distance from God, of His unapproachableness, +of danger in contact with Him, what it was that inspired +such constant attention to ceremonial purity in all ancient +religions, we cannot but see that it was the obscure workings +of the conscience, the haunting sense of moral defect +cleaving to a man's common life and all his common +<pb n='421'/><anchor id='Pg421'/> +actions. In heathenism this feeling took an entirely +wrong direction; in Israel it was gradually liberated from +its material associations and stood forth as an ethical fact. +And when at last Christ came to reveal God as He is, +He taught men to call nothing common or unclean. But +He taught them at the same time that true holiness can +only be attained through His atoning sacrifice, and by +the indwelling of that Spirit which is the source of moral +purity and perfection in all His people. These are the +abiding conditions of fellowship with the Father of our +spirits; and under the influence of these great Christian +facts it is our duty to perfect holiness in the fear of God. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>III</head> + +<p> +No sooner has the prophet completed his tour of +inspection of the sacred buildings than he is conducted +to the eastern gate to witness the theophany by which +the Temple is consecrated to the service of the true God. +<q>He (the angel) led me to the gate that looks eastward, +and, lo, the glory of the God of Israel came from the +east; its sound was as the sound of many waters, and +the earth shone with its glory. The appearance which +I saw was like that which I had seen when He came to +destroy the city, and like the appearance which I saw by +the river Kebar, and I fell on my face. And the glory +of Jehovah entered the house by the gate that looks +towards the east. The Spirit caught me up, and brought +me to the inner court; and, behold, the glory of Jehovah +filled the house. Then I heard a voice from the house +speaking to me—the man was standing beside me—and +saying, Son of man, hast thou seen the place of My +throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I +shall dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for +ever?</q> (ch. xliii. 1-7). +</p> + +<pb n='422'/><anchor id='Pg422'/> + +<p> +This great scene, so simply described, is really the +culmination of Ezekiel's prophecy. Its spiritual meaning +is suggested by the prophet himself when he recalls the +terrible act of judgment which he had seen in vision on +that very spot some twenty years before (chs. ix.-xi.). +The two episodes stand in clear and conscious parallelism +with each other. They represent in dramatic form the +sum of Ezekiel's teaching in the two periods into which +his ministry was divided. On the former occasion he +had witnessed the exit of Jehovah from a Temple polluted +by heathen abominations and profaned by the presence +of men who had disowned the knowledge of the Holy +One of Israel. The prophet had read in this the death +sentence of the old Hebrew state, and the truth of his +vision had been established in the tale of horror and +disaster which the subsequent years had unfolded. Now +he has been privileged to see the return of Jehovah to a +new Temple, corresponding in all respects to the requirements +of His holiness; and he recognises it as the +pledge of restoration and peace and all the blessings +of the Messianic age. The future worshippers are still +in exile bearing the chastisement of their former iniquities; +but <q>the Lord is in His holy Temple,</q> and the +dispersed of Israel shall yet be gathered home to enter +His courts with praise and thanksgiving. +</p> + +<p> +To us this part of the vision symbolises, under forms +derived from the Old Testament economy, the central +truth of the Christian dispensation. We do no injustice +to the historic import of Ezekiel's mission when we say +that the dwelling of Jehovah in the midst of His people +is an emblem of reconciliation between God and man, +and that his elaborate system of ritual observances +points towards the sanctification of human life in all its +relations through spiritual communion with the Father +revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ. Christian interpreters +<pb n='423'/><anchor id='Pg423'/> +have differed widely as to the manner in which the vision +is to be realised in the history of the Church; but on one +point at least they are agreed, that through the veil of +legal institutions the prophet saw the day of Christ. And +although Ezekiel himself does not distinguish between the +symbol and the reality, it is nevertheless possible for us +to see, in the essential ideas of his vision, a prophecy of +that eternal union between God and man which is brought +to pass by the work of Christ. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='424'/><anchor id='Pg424'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XXVII. The Priesthood. Chapter xliv.</head> + +<p> +In the last chapter we saw how the principle of holiness +through separation was exhibited in the plan of a new +Temple, round which the Theocracy of the future was to +be constituted. We have now to consider the application +of the same principle to the <emph>personnel</emph> of the Sanctuary, +the priests and others who are to officiate within its +courts. The connection between the two is obvious. As +has been already remarked, the sanctity of the Temple is +not intelligible apart from the ceremonial purity required +of the persons who are permitted to enter it. The degrees +of holiness pertaining to its different areas imply an +ascending scale of restrictions on access to the more +sacred parts. We may expect to find that in the observance +of these conditions the usage of the first Temple left +much to be desired from the point of view represented by +Ezekiel's ideal. Where the very construction of the +sanctuary involved so many departures from the strict +idea of holiness it was inevitable that a corresponding +laxity should prevail in the discharge of sacred functions. +Temple and priesthood in fact are so related that a reform +of the one implies of necessity a reform of the other. It +is therefore not in itself surprising that Ezekiel's legislation +should include a scheme for the reorganisation of +<pb n='425'/><anchor id='Pg425'/> +the Temple priesthood. But these general considerations +hardly prepare us for the sweeping and drastic changes +contemplated in the forty-fourth chapter of the book. It +requires an effort of imagination to realise the situation +with which the prophet has to deal. The abuses for +which he seeks a remedy and the measures which he +adopts to counteract them are alike contrary to preconceived +notions of the order of worship in an Israelite +sanctuary. Yet there is no part of the prophet's programme +which shows the character of the earnest practical +reformer more clearly than this. If we might regard +Ezekiel as a mere legislator we should say that the boldest +task to which he set his hand was a reformation of the +Temple ministry, involving the degradation of an influential +class from the priestly status and privileges to which +they aspired. +</p> + +<div> +<head>I</head> + +<p> +The first and most noteworthy feature of the new +scheme is the distinction between priests and Levites. +The passage in which this instruction is given is so important +that it may be quoted here at length. It is an +oracle communicated to the prophet in a peculiarly impressive +manner. He has been brought into the inner +court in front of the Temple, and there, in full view of the +glory of God, he falls on his face, when Jehovah speaks to +him as follows:— +</p> + +<p> +<q>Son of man, give heed and see with thine eyes and +hear with thine ears all that I speak to thee concerning +all the ordinances and all the laws of Jehovah's house. +Mark well the [rule of] entrance into the house, and all +the outgoings in the sanctuary. And say to the house +of rebellion, the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord +Jehovah, It is high time to desist from all your abominations, +<pb n='426'/><anchor id='Pg426'/> +O house of Israel, in that ye bring in aliens uncircumcised +in heart and uncircumcised in flesh to be in My +sanctuary, profaning it, while ye offer My bread, the fat +and the blood; thus ye have broken My covenant, in +addition to all your [other] abominations; and ye have +not kept the charge of My holy things, but have appointed +them as keepers of My charge in My sanctuary. Therefore +thus saith the Lord Jehovah, No alien uncircumcised +in heart and flesh shall enter into My sanctuary, of all +the foreigners who are amongst the Israelites. But the +Levites who departed from Me when Israel went astray +from Me after their idols, <emph>they</emph> shall bear their guilt, and +shall minister in My sanctuary in charge at the gates of +the house and as ministers of the house; they shall slay +the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and +stand before them to minister to them. Because they +ministered to them before their idols, and were to the +house of Israel an occasion of guilt, therefore I lift My +hand against them, saith the Lord Jehovah, and they +shall bear their guilt, and shall not draw near to Me to +act as priests to Me or to touch any of My holy things, +the most holy things, but shall bear their shame and the +abominations which they have committed. I will make +them keepers of the charge of the house, for all its servile +work and all that has to be done in it. But the priest-Levites, +the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of My +sanctuary when the Israelites strayed from Me—they shall +draw near to Me to minister to Me, and shall stand before +Me to present to Me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord +Jehovah. They shall enter into My sanctuary, and they +shall draw near to My table to minister to Me, and shall +keep My charge</q> (xliv. 5-16). +</p> + +<p> +Now the first thing to be noticed here is that the new +law of the priesthood is aimed directly against a particular +abuse in the practice of the first Temple. It appears that +<pb n='427'/><anchor id='Pg427'/> +down to the time of the Exile uncircumcised aliens were +not only admitted to the Temple, but were entrusted with +certain important functions in maintaining order in the +sanctuary (ver. 8). It is not expressly stated that they +took any part in the performance of the worship, although +this is suggested by the fact that the Levites who are +installed in their place had to slay the sacrifices for the +people and render other necessary services to the worshippers +(ver. 11). In any case the mere presence of +foreigners while sacrifice was being offered (ver. 7) was +a profanation of the sanctity of the Temple which was +intolerable to a strict conception of Jehovah's holiness. +It is therefore of some consequence to discover who these +aliens were, and how they came to be engaged in the +Temple. +</p> + +<p> +For a partial answer to this question, we may turn first +to the memorable scene of the coronation of the young +king Joash as described in the eleventh chapter of the +second book of Kings (<hi rend='italic'>c.</hi> <hi rend='smallcaps'>b.c.</hi> 837). The moving spirit +in that transaction was the chief priest Jehoiada, a man +who was honourably distinguished by his zeal for the +purity of the national religion. But although the priest's +motives were pure he could only accomplish his object by +a palace revolution, carried out with the assistance of the +captains of the royal bodyguard. Now from the time of +David the royal guard had contained a corps of foreign +mercenaries recruited from the Philistine country; and on +the occasion with which we are dealing we find mention +of a body of Carians, showing that the custom was kept +up in the end of the ninth century. During the coronation +ceremony these guards were drawn up in the most +sacred part of the inner court, the space between the +Temple and the altar, with the new king in their midst +(ver. 11). Moreover we learn incidentally that keeping +watch in the Temple was part of the regular duty of the +<pb n='428'/><anchor id='Pg428'/> +king's bodyguard, just as much as the custody of the +palace (vv. 5-7). In order to understand the full significance +of this arrangement, it must be borne in mind that +the Temple was in the first instance the royal sanctuary, +maintained at the king's expense and subject to his +authority. Hence the duty of keeping order in the +Temple courts naturally devolved on the troops that +attended the king's person and acted as the palace guard. +So at an earlier period of the history we read that as often +as the king went into the house of Jehovah, he was +accompanied by the guard that kept the door of the king's +house (1 Kings xiv. 27, 28). +</p> + +<p> +Here, then, we have historical evidence of the admission +to the sanctuary of a class of foreigners answering in all +respects to the uncircumcised aliens of Ezekiel's legislation. +That the practice of enlisting foreign mercenaries for +the guard continued till the reign of Josiah seems to be +indicated by an allusion in the book of Zephaniah, where +the prophet denounces a body of men in the service of the +king who observed the Philistine custom of <q>leaping over +the threshold</q> (Zeph. i. 9: cf. 1 Sam. v. 5). We have +only to suppose that this usage, along with the subordination +of the Temple to the royal authority, persisted to the +close of the monarchy, in order to explain fully the abuse +which excited the indignation of our prophet. It is +possible no doubt that he had in view other uncircumcised +persons as well, such as the Gibeonites (Josh. ix. 27), who +were employed in the menial service of the sanctuary. +But we have seen enough to show at all events that pre-exilic +usage tolerated a freedom of access to the sanctuary +and a looseness of administration within it which would +have been sacrilegious under the law of the second Temple. +It need not be supposed that Ezekiel was the only one +who felt this state of things to be a scandal and an injury +to religion. We may believe that in this respect he only +<pb n='429'/><anchor id='Pg429'/> +expressed the higher conscience of his order. Amongst +the more devout circles of the Temple priesthood there +was probably a growing conviction similar to that which +animated the early Tractarian party in the Church of +England, a conviction that the whole ecclesiastical system +with which their spiritual interests were bound up fell +short of the ideal of sanctity essential to it as a divine +institution. But no scheme of reform had any chance +of success so long as the palace of the kings stood hard +by the Temple, with only a wall between them. The +opportunity for reconstruction came with the Exile, and +one of the leading principles of the reformed Temple is +that here enunciated by Ezekiel, that no <q>alien uncircumcised +in heart and uncircumcised in flesh</q> shall +henceforth enter the sanctuary. +</p> + +<p> +In order to prevent a recurrence of these abuses +Ezekiel ordains that for the future the functions of the +Temple guard and other menial offices shall be discharged +by the Levites who had hitherto acted as priests of the +idolatrous shrines throughout the kingdom (vv. 11-14). +This singular enactment becomes at once intelligible when +we understand the peculiar circumstances brought about +by the enforcement of the Deuteronomic Law in the +reformation of the year 621. Let us once more recall +the fact that the chief object of that reformation was to +do away with all the provincial sanctuaries and to concentrate +the worship of the nation in the Temple at Jerusalem. +It is obvious that by this measure the priests +of the local sanctuaries were deprived of their means of +livelihood. The rule that they who serve the altar shall +live by the altar applied equally to the priests of the +high places and to those in the Temple at Jerusalem. +All the priests indeed throughout the country were +members of a landless caste or tribe; the Levites had no +portion or inheritance like the other tribes, but subsisted +<pb n='430'/><anchor id='Pg430'/> +on the offerings of the worshippers at the various shrines +where they ministered. Now the law of Deuteronomy +recognises the principle of compensation for the vested +interests that were thus abolished. Two alternatives +were offered to the Levites of the high places: they +might either remain in the villages or townships where +they were known, or they might proceed to the central +sanctuary and obtain admission to the ranks of the priesthood +there. In the former case, the Lawgiver commends +them earnestly, along with other destitute members of +the community, to the charity of their well-to-do fellow-townsmen +and neighbours. If, on the other hand, they +elected to try their fortunes in the Temple at Jerusalem, +he secures their full priestly status and equal rights +with their brethren who regularly officiated there. On this +point the legislation is quite explicit. Any Levite from +any district of Israel who came of his own free will to the +place which Jehovah had chosen might minister in the +name of Jehovah his God, as all his brethren the Levites +did who stood there before Jehovah, and have like +portions to eat (Deut. xviii. 6-8). In this matter, however, +the humane intention of the law was partly frustrated +by the exclusiveness of the priests who were already in +possession of the sacred offices in the Temple. The +Levites who were brought up from the provinces to +Jerusalem were allowed their proper share of the priestly +dues, but were not permitted to officiate at the altar.<note place='foot'>2 Kings xxiii. 9. The sense of the passage is undoubtedly that given +above; but the expression <q>unleavened bread</q> as a general name for the +priests' portion is peculiar. It has been proposed to read, with a change +merely of the punctuation, instead of מַצּוֹת, מִצְוֹת = <q>statutory portions,</q> +as in Neh. xiii. 5.</note> It +is not probable that a large number of the provincial +Levites availed themselves of this grudging provision +for their maintenance. In the idolatrous reaction which +<pb n='431'/><anchor id='Pg431'/> +set in after the death of Josiah the worship of the high +places was revived, and the great body of the Levites +would naturally be favourable to the re-establishment +of the old order of things with which their professional +interests were identified. Still, there would be a certain +number who for conscientious motives attached themselves +to the movement for a purer and stricter conception of the +worship of Jehovah, and were willing to submit to the irksome +conditions which this movement imposed on them. +They might hope for a time when the generous provisions +of the Deuteronomic Code would be applied to them; but +their position in the meantime was both precarious and +humiliating. They had to bear the doom pronounced +long ago on the sinful house of Eli: <q>Every one that is +left in thine house shall come and bow down to him +(the high priest of the line of Zadok) for a piece of silver +and a loaf of bread, and shall say, Thrust me, I pray thee, +into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a morsel of +bread.</q><note place='foot'>1 Sam. ii. 36.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We see thus that Ezekiel's legislation on the subject +of the Levites starts from a state of things created by +Josiah's reformation, and, let us remember, a state of +things with which the prophet was familiar in his earlier +days when he was himself a priest in the Temple. On +the whole he justifies the exclusive attitude of the Temple +priesthood towards the new-comers, and carries forward +the application of the idea of sanctity from the point where +it had been left by the law of Deuteronomy. That law +recognises no sacerdotal distinctions within the ranks of +the priesthood. Its regular designation of the priests of +the Temple is <q>the priests, the Levites</q>; that of the +provincial priests is simply <q>the Levites.</q> All priests +are brethren, all belong to the same tribe of Levi; and it +<pb n='432'/><anchor id='Pg432'/> +is assumed, as we have seen, that any Levite, whatever +his antecedents, is qualified for the full privileges of the +priesthood in the central sanctuary if he choose to claim +them. But we have also seen that the distinction emerged +as a consequence of the enforcement of the fundamental +law of the single sanctuary. There came to be a class +of Levites in the Temple whose position was at first indeterminate. +They themselves claimed the full standing of +the priesthood, and they could appeal in support of their +claim to the authority of the Deuteronomic legislation. +But the claim was never conceded in practice, the influence +of the legitimate Temple priests being strong enough to +exclude them from the supreme privilege of ministering +at the altar. This state of things could not continue. +Either the disparity of the two orders must be effaced by +the admission of the Levites to a footing of equality with +the other priests, or else it must be emphasised and based +on some higher principle than the jealousy of a close +corporation for its traditional rights. Now such a principle +is supplied by the section of Ezekiel's vision with which +we are dealing. The permanent exclusion of the Levites +from the priesthood is founded on the unassailable moral +ground that they had forfeited their rights by their +unfaithfulness to the fundamental truths of the national +religion. They had been a <q>stumbling-block of iniquity</q> +to the house of Israel through their disloyalty to Jehovah's +cause during the long period of national apostasy, when +they lent themselves to the popular inclination towards +impure and idolatrous worship. For this great betrayal +of their trust they must bear the guilt and shame in their +degradation to the lowest offices in the service of the new +sanctuary. They are to fill the place formerly occupied +by uncircumcised foreigners, as keepers of the gates and +servants of the house and the worshipping congregation; +but they may not draw near to Jehovah in the exercise +<pb n='433'/><anchor id='Pg433'/> +of priestly prerogatives, nor put their hands to the most +holy things. The priesthood of the new Temple is +finally vested in the <q>sons of Zadok</q>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the body of +Levitical priests who had ministered in the Temple since +its foundation by Solomon. Whatever the faults of these +Zadokites had been—and Ezekiel certainly does not judge +them leniently<note place='foot'>Cf. ch. xxii. 26.</note>—they had at least steadfastly maintained +the ideal of a central sanctuary, and in comparison with +the rural clergy they were doubtless a purer and better-disciplined +body. The judgment is only a relative one, as +all class judgments necessarily are. There must have been +individual Zadokites worse than an ordinary Levite from +the country, as well as individual Levites who were +superior to the average Temple priest. But if it was +necessary that in the future the interests of religion should +be mainly confided to a priesthood, there could be no +question that as a class the old priestly aristocracy of the +central sanctuary were those best qualified for spiritual +leadership. +</p> + +<p> +In Ezekiel's vision we thus seem to find the beginning +of a statutory and official distinction between priests and +Levites. This fact forms one of the arguments chiefly +relied on by those who hold that the book of Ezekiel +precedes the introduction of the Priestly Code of the +Pentateuch. Two things, indeed, appear to be clearly +established. In the first place the tendency and significance +of Ezekiel's legislation is adequately explained by +the historical situation that existed in the generation +immediately preceding the Exile. In the second place the +Mosaic books, apart from Deuteronomy, had no influence +on the scheme propounded in the vision. It is felt that +these results are difficult to reconcile with the view that +the middle books of the Pentateuch were known to the +<pb n='434'/><anchor id='Pg434'/> +prophet as part of a divinely ordained constitution for the +Israelite theocracy. We should have expected in that +case that the prophet would simply have fallen back on +the provisions of the earlier legislation, where the division +between priests and Levites is formulated with perfect +clearness and precision. Or, looking at the matter from +the divine point of view, we should have expected that the +revelation given to Ezekiel would endorse the principles +of the revelation that had already been given. It is +equally hard to suppose that any existing law should +have been unknown to Ezekiel, or to suggest a reason for +his ignoring it if it was known. The facts that have come +before us seem thus, so far as they go, to be in favour of +the theory that Ezekiel stands midway between Deuteronomy +and the Priestly Code, and that the final codification +and promulgation of the latter took place after his time. +</p> + +<p> +It is nearer our purpose, however, to note the probable +effect of these regulations on the <emph>personnel</emph> of the second +Temple. In the book of Ezra we are told that in the first +colony of returning exiles there were four thousand two +hundred and eighty-nine priests and only seventy-four +Levites.<note place='foot'>Ezra ii. 36-40.</note> One man in every ten was a priest, and the +total number was probably in excess of the requirements +of a fully equipped Temple. The number of Levites, on +the other hand, would have been quite insufficient for the +duties required of them under the new arrangements, had +there not been a contingent of nearly four hundred of the +old Temple servants to supply their lack of service.<note place='foot'>Ezra ii. 58.</note> +Again, when Ezra came up from Babylon in the year +458, we find that not a single Levite volunteered to +accompany him. It was only after some negotiations that +about forty Levites were induced to go up with him to +Jerusalem; and again they were far outnumbered by the +<pb n='435'/><anchor id='Pg435'/> +Nethinim or Temple slaves.<note place='foot'>Ezra viii. 15-20.</note> These figures cannot possibly +represent the proportionate strength of the tribe of +Levi under the old monarchy. They indicate unmistakably +that there was a great reluctance on the part of the +Levites to share the perils and glory of the founding of +the new Jerusalem. Is it not probable that the new +conditions laid down by Ezekiel's legislation were the +cause of this reluctance? That, in short, the prospect of +being servants in a Temple where they had once claimed +to be priests was not sufficiently attractive to the majority +to lead them to break up their comfortable homes in exile, +and take their proper place in the ranks of those who were +forming the new community of Israel? And ought we +not to spare a moment's admiration even at this distance +of time for the public-spirited few who in self-sacrificing +devotion to the cause of God willingly accepted a position +which was scorned by the great mass of their tribesmen? +If this was their spirit, they had their reward. Although +the position of a Levite was at first a symbol of inferiority +and degradation, it ultimately became one of very great +honour. When the Temple service was fully organised, +the Levites were a large and important order, second in +dignity in the community only to the priests. Their ranks +were swelled by the incorporation of the Temple musicians, +as well as other functionaries; and thus the Levites are +for ever associated in our minds with the magnificent +service of praise which was the chief glory of the second +Temple. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II</head> + +<p> +The remainder of the forty-fourth chapter lays down +the rules of ceremonial holiness to be observed by the +priests, the duties they have to perform towards the +<pb n='436'/><anchor id='Pg436'/> +community, and the provision to be made for their maintenance. +A few words must here suffice on each of these +topics. +</p> + +<p> +1. The sanctity of the priests is denoted, first of all, by +the obligation to wear special linen garments when they +enter the inner court, which is the sphere of their peculiar +ministrations. Vestries were provided, as we have seen +from the description of the Temple, between the inner and +outer courts, where these garments were to be put on and +off as the priests passed to and from the discharge of their +sacred duties. The general idea underlying this regulation +is too obvious to require explanation. It is but an +application of the fundamental principle that approach to +the Deity, or entrance into a place sanctified by His +presence, demands a condition of ceremonial purity which +cannot be maintained and must not be imitated by persons +of a lower degree of religious privilege. A strange but +very suggestive extension of the principle is found in the +injunction to put off the garments before going into the +outer court, lest the ordinary worshipper should be sanctified +by chance contact with them. That both holiness +and uncleanness are propagated by contagion is of the +very essence of the ancient idea of sanctity; but the +remarkable thing is that in some circumstances communicated +holiness is as much to be dreaded as communicated +uncleanness. It is not said what would be the fate of an +Israelite who should by chance touch the sacred vestments, +but evidently he must be disqualified for participation in +worship until he had purged himself of his illegitimate +sanctity.<note place='foot'>On this peculiar affinity between holiness and uncleanness see +the interesting argument in Robertson Smith's <hi rend='italic'>Religion of the Semites</hi>, +pp. 427 ff. The passage Hag. ii. 12-14 does not appear to be inconsistent +with what is there said. The meaning is that <q>very indirect contact +with the holy does not make holy, but very direct contact with the +unclean makes unclean</q> (Wellhausen, <hi rend='italic'>Die Kleinen Propheten</hi>, p. 170).</note> +</p> + +<p> +In the next place the priests are under certain permanent +obligations with regard to signs of mourning, marriage, +<pb n='437'/><anchor id='Pg437'/> +and contact with death, which again are the mark of the +peculiar sanctity of their caste. The rules as to mourning—prohibition +of shaving the head and letting the hair flow +dishevelled<note place='foot'>Cf. ch. xxiv. 17; Lev. x. 6, xxi. 5, 10.</note>—have been thought to be directed against +heathen customs arising out of the worship of the dead. +In marriage the priest may only take a virgin of the house +of Israel or the widow of a priest. And only in the case +of his nearest relatives—parent, child, brother, and unmarried +sister—may he defile himself by rendering the +last offices to the departed, and even these exceptions +involve exclusion from the sacred office for seven days.<note place='foot'>It is remarkable that neither here nor in Leviticus (ch. xxi. 1-3) is the +priest's wife mentioned as one for whom he may defile himself at her +death.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The relations of these requirements to the corresponding +parts of the Levitical law are somewhat complicated. +The great point of difference is that Ezekiel knows +nothing of the unique privileges and sanctity of the high +priest. It might seem at first sight as if this implied a +deliberate departure from the known usage of the first +Temple. It is certain that there were high priests under +the monarchy, and indeed we can discover the rudiments +of a hierarchy in a distribution of authority between the +high priest, second priest, keepers of the threshold, and +chief officers of the house.<note place='foot'>Cf. 2 Kings xii. 11, xxiii. 14, xxv. 18; Jer. xx. 1.</note> But the silence of Ezekiel +does not necessarily mean that he contemplated any +innovation on the established order of things. The +historical books afford no ground for supposing that the +high priest in the old Temple had a religious standing +distinguished from that of his colleagues. He was <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>primus +<pb n='438'/><anchor id='Pg438'/> +inter pares</foreign>, the president of the priestly college and the +supreme authority in the internal administration of the +Temple affairs, but probably nothing more. Such an +office was almost necessary in the interest of order and +authority, and there is nothing in Ezekiel's regulations +inconsistent with its continuance.<note place='foot'>Hence it does not seem to me that any argument can be based on +the fact that a high priest was at the head of the returning exiles either +for or against the existence of the Priestly Code at that date.</note> On the other hand it +must be admitted that his silence would be strange if he +had in view the position assigned to the high priest under +the law. For there the high priest is as far elevated +above his colleagues as these are above the Levites. He +is the concentration of all that is holy in Israel, and the +sole mediator of the nearest approach to God which the +symbolism of Temple worship permitted. He is bound +by the strictest conditions of ceremonial sanctity, and +any transgression on his part has to be atoned for by +a rite similar to that required for a transgression of +the whole congregation.<note place='foot'>Lev. iv. 3, 13: cf. Lev. xvi. 6.</note> The omission of this striking +figure from the pages of Ezekiel makes a comparison +between his enactments concerning the priesthood and +those of the law difficult and in some degree uncertain. +Nevertheless there are points both of likeness and +contrast which cannot escape observation. Thus the +laws of this chapter on defilement by a dead body are +identical with those enjoined in Lev. xxi. 1-3 (the <q>Law +of Holiness</q>) for ordinary priests; while the high priest +is there forbidden to touch any dead body whatsoever. +On the other hand Ezekiel's regulations as to priestly +marriages seem as it were to strike an average between +the restrictions imposed in the law on ordinary priests +and those binding on the high priest. The former may +marry any woman that is not violated or a harlot or a +<pb n='439'/><anchor id='Pg439'/> +divorced wife; but the high priest is forbidden to marry +any one but a virgin of his own people. Again, the +priestly garments, according to Exod. xxviii. 39-42, +xxxix. 27, are made partly of linen and partly of byssus +(? cotton), which certainly looks like a refinement on the +simpler attire prescribed by Ezekiel. But it is impossible +to pursue this subject further here. +</p> + +<p> +2. The duties of the priests towards the people are few, +but exceedingly important. In the first place they have +to instruct the people in the distinctions between the holy +and the profane and between the clean and the unclean. +It will not be supposed that this instruction took the form +of set lectures or homilies on the principles of ceremonial +religion. The verb translated <q>teach</q> in ver. 23 means +to give an authoritative decision in a special case; and +this had always been the form of priestly instruction in +Israel. The subject of the teaching was of the utmost +importance for a community whose whole life was regulated +by the idea of holiness in the ceremonial sense. To +preserve the land in a state of purity befitting the dwelling-place +of Jehovah required the most scrupulous care on +the part of all its inhabitants; and in practice difficult +questions would constantly occur which could only be +settled by an appeal to the superior knowledge of the +priest. Hence Ezekiel contemplates a perpetuation of +the old ritual Torah or direction of the priests even in the +ideal state of things to which his vision looks forward. +Although the people are assumed to be all righteous in +heart and responsive to the will of Jehovah, yet they +could not all have the professional knowledge of ritual +laws which was necessary to guide them on all occasions, +and errors of inadvertence were unavoidable. Jeremiah +could look forward to a time when none should teach his +neighbour or his brother, saying, Know Jehovah, because +the religion which consists in spiritual emotions and affections +<pb n='440'/><anchor id='Pg440'/> +becomes the independent possession of every one +who is the subject of saving grace. But Ezekiel, from his +point of view, could not anticipate a time when all the +Lord's people should be priests; for ritual is essentially an +affair of tradition and technique, and can only be maintained +by a class of experts specially trained for their +office. Ritualism and sacerdotalism are natural allies; and +it is not wholly accidental that the great ritualistic Churches +of Christendom are those organised on the sacerdotal +principle. +</p> + +<p> +But, secondly, the priests have to act as judges or +arbitrators in cases of disagreement between man and +man (ver. 24). This again was an important department of +priestly Torah in ancient Israel, the origin of which went +back to the personal legislation of Moses in the wilderness.<note place='foot'>Exod. xviii. 25 ff.</note> +Cases too hard for human judgment were referred to the +decision of God at the sanctuary, and the judgment was +conveyed through the agency of the priest. It is impossible +to over-estimate the service thus rendered by +the priesthood to the cause of religion in Israel; and +Hosea bitterly complains of the defection of the priests +from the Torah of their God as the source of the widespread +moral corruption of his time.<note place='foot'>Hosea iv. 6.</note> In the book of +Deuteronomy the Levitical priests of the central sanctuary +are associated with the civil magistrate as a court of ultimate +appeal in matters of controversy that arise within +the community; and this is by no means a tribute to the +superior legal acumen of the clerical mind, but a reassertion +of the old principle that the priest is the mouthpiece +of Jehovah's judgment.<note place='foot'>Cf. Deut. i. 17: <q>judgment is God's.</q></note> That the priests should be the +sole judges in Ezekiel's ideal polity was to be expected +from the high position assigned to the order generally; +<pb n='441'/><anchor id='Pg441'/> +but there is another reason for it. We have once more +to keep in mind that we are dealing with the Messianic +community, when the people are anxious to do the right +when they know it, and only cases of honest perplexity +require to be resolved. The priests' decision had never +been backed up by executive authority, and in the kingdom +of God no such sanction will be necessary. By this +simple judicial arrangement the ethical demands of Jehovah's +holiness will be made effective in the ordinary life +of the community. +</p> + +<p> +Finally, the priests have complete control of public +worship, and are responsible for the due observance +of the festivals and for the sanctification of the Sabbath +(ver. 24). +</p> + +<p> +3. With regard to the provisions for the support of +the priesthood, the old law continues in force that the +priests can hold no landed property and have no possession +like the other tribes of Israel (ver. 28). It is +true that a strip of land, measuring about twenty-seven +square miles, was set apart for their residence;<note place='foot'>See below, p. <ref target='Pg493'>493</ref>.</note> but +this was probably not to be cultivated, and at all events +it is not reckoned as a possession yielding revenue for +their maintenance. The priests' inheritance is Jehovah +Himself, which means that they are to live on the +offerings of the community presented to Jehovah at the +sanctuary. In the practice of the first Temple this +ancient rule appears to have been interpreted in a broad +and liberal spirit, greatly to the advantage of the Zadokite +priests. The Temple dues consisted partly of money +payments by the worshippers; and at least the fines +for ceremonial trespasses which took the place of the sin- +and guilt-offerings were counted the lawful perquisites +of the priests.<note place='foot'>2 Kings xii. 4-16.</note> Ezekiel knows nothing of this system; +<pb n='442'/><anchor id='Pg442'/> +and if it remained in force down to his time, he undoubtedly +meant to abolish it. The tribute of the +sanctuary is to be paid wholly in kind, and out of this +the priests are to receive a stated allowance. In the +first place those sacrifices which are wholly made over +to the Deity, and yet are not consumed on the altar, +have to be eaten by the priests in a holy place. These +are the meal-offering, the sin-offering, and the guilt-offering; +of which more hereafter. For precisely the +same reason all that is <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>ḥerem</foreign>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, <q>devoted</q> irrevocably +to Jehovah—becomes the possession of the priests, His +representatives, except in the cases where it had to be +absolutely destroyed. Besides this they have a claim to +the best (an indefinite portion) of the firstfruits and +<q>oblations</q> (<foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>terûmah</foreign>) brought to the sanctuary in +accordance with ancient custom to be consumed by the +worshipper and his friends.<note place='foot'>They also receive the best of the <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>arîsoth</foreign>, a word of uncertain meaning, +probably either dough or coarse meal. This offering is said to bring +a blessing on the household.</note> +</p> + +<p> +These regulations are undoubtedly based on pre-exilic +usages, and consequently leave much to be supplied from +the people's knowledge of use and wont. They do not +differ very greatly from the enumeration of the priestly +dues in the eighteenth chapter of Deuteronomy. There, +as in Ezekiel, we find that the two great sources from +which the priests derive their maintenance are the sacrifices +and the firstfruits. The Deuteronomic Code, however, +knows nothing of the special class of sacrifices called sin- +and guilt-offerings, but simply assigns to the priest certain +portions of each victim,<note place='foot'>Deut. xviii. 3.</note> except of course the burnt-offerings, +which were consumed entire on the altar. The priest's +share of natural produce is the <q>best</q> of corn, new wine, +oil, and wool,<note place='foot'>Deut. xviii. 4.</note> and would be selected as a matter of course +<pb n='443'/><anchor id='Pg443'/> +from the tithe and <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>terûmah</foreign> brought to the sanctuary; so +that on this point there is practically complete agreement +between Ezekiel and Deuteronomy. On the other hand +the differences of the Levitical legislation are considerable, +and all in the direction of a fuller provision for the Temple +establishment. Such an increased provision was called +for by the peculiar circumstances of the second Temple. +The revenue of the sanctuary obviously depended on the +size and prosperity of the constituency to which it ministered. +The stipulations of Deut. xviii. were no doubt +sufficient for the maintenance of the priesthood in the old +kingdom of Judah; and similarly those of Ezekiel's legislation +would amply suffice in the ideal condition of the +people and land presupposed by the vision. But neither +could have been adequate for the support of a costly ritual +in a small community like that which returned from +Babylon where one man in ten was a priest. Accordingly +we find that the arrangements made under Nehemiah for +the endowment of the Temple ministry are conformed to +the extended provisions of the Priestly Code (Neh. x. +32-39).<note place='foot'>The regulations of the Priests' Code with regard to the revenues of +the Temple clergy are most comprehensively given in Numb. xviii. 8-32. +The first thing that strikes us there is the distinction between the due +of the priests and that of the Levites. The absence of any express provision +for the latter is a somewhat remarkable feature in Ezekiel's legislation, +when we consider the care with which he has defined the status +and duties of the order. It is evident, however, that no complete +arrangements could be made for the Temple service without some law +on this point such as is contained in the passage Num. xviii. and +referred to in Neh. x. 37-39; and this is closely connected with a +disposition of the tithes and firstlings different from the directions of +Deuteronomy, and probably also from the tacit assumption of Ezekiel. +The book of Deuteronomy leaves no doubt that both the tithes of natural +produce and the firstlings of the flock and herd were intended to furnish +the material for sacrificial feasts at the sanctuary (cf. chs. xii. 6, 7, 11, 12, +xiv. 22-27). The priest received the usual portions of the firstlings +(ch. xviii. 3), and also a share of the tithe; but the rest was eaten by the +worshipper and his guests. In Numb. xviii., on the other hand, all the +firstlings are the property of the priest (ver. 15), and the whole of the +tithes is assigned to the Levites, who in turn are required to hand over a +tenth of the tithe to the priests (vv. 24-32). The portion of the priests +consists of the following items: (1) The meal-offering, sin-offering, and +guilt-offering (as in Ezekiel); (2) the best of oil, new wine, and corn +(as in Deuteronomy) (ver. 12); (3) all the firstfruits (an advance on +Ezekiel) (ver. 13); (4) every devoted thing (Ezekiel) (ver. 14); (5) all +the firstlings (vv. 15-18); (6) the breast and right thigh of all ordinary +private sacrifices (ver. 18: cf. Lev. vii. 31-34) (like Deuteronomy, but +choicer portions); (7) the tenth of the Levites' tithe. It will be seen +from this enumeration that the Temple tariff of the Priestly law +includes, with some slight modification, all the requirements of Deuteronomy +and Ezekiel, besides the two important additions referred to +above.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='444'/><anchor id='Pg444'/> + +<div> +<head>III</head> + +<p> +In conclusion, let us briefly consider the significance of +this great institution of the priesthood in Ezekiel's scheme +of an ideal theocracy. It would of course be an utter +mistake to suppose that the prophet is merely legislating +in the interests of the sacerdotal order to which he himself +belonged. It was necessary for him to insist on the +peculiar sanctity and privileges of the priests, and to draw +a sharp line of division between them and ordinary +members of the community. But he does this, not in the +interest of a privileged caste within the nation, but in +the interest of a religious ideal which embraced priests +and people alike and had to be realised in the life of the +nation as a whole. That ideal is expressed by the word +<q>holiness,</q> and we have already seen how the idea of holiness +demanded ceremonial conditions of immediate access +to Jehovah's presence which the ordinary Israelite could +not observe. But <q>exclusion</q> could not possibly be the last +word of a religion which seeks to bring men into fellowship +with God. Access to God might be hedged about by +<pb n='445'/><anchor id='Pg445'/> +restrictions and conditions of the most onerous kind, but +access there must be if worship was to have any meaning +and value for the nation or the individual. Although the +worshipper might not himself lay his victim on the altar, +he must at least be permitted to offer his gift and receive +the assurance that it was accepted. If the priest stood +between him and God, it was not merely to separate but +also to mediate between them, and through the fulfilment +of superior conditions of holiness to establish a communication +between him and the holy Being whose face he +sought. Hence the great function of the priesthood in +the theocracy is to maintain the intercourse between +Jehovah and Israel which was exhibited in the Temple +ritual by acts of sacrificial worship. +</p> + +<p> +Now it is manifest that this system of ideas rests on +the representative character of the priestly office. If the +principal idea symbolised in the sanctuary is that of +holiness through separation, the fundamental idea of +priesthood is holiness through representation. It is the +holiness of Israel concentrated in the priesthood which +qualifies the latter for entrance within the inner circle of +the divine presence. Or perhaps it would be more correct +to say that the presence of Jehovah first sanctifies the +priests in an eminent degree, and then through them, +though in a less degree, the whole body of the people. +The idea of national solidarity was too deeply rooted in +the Hebrew consciousness to admit of any other interpretation +of the priesthood than this. The Israelite did +not need to be told that his standing before God was +secured by his membership in the religious community on +whose behalf the priests ministered at the altar and before +the Temple. It would not occur to him to think of his +personal exclusion from the most sacred offices as a religious +disability; it was enough for him to know that the nation +to which he belonged was admitted to the presence of +<pb n='446'/><anchor id='Pg446'/> +Jehovah in the persons of its representatives, and that he +as an individual shared in the blessings which accrued +to Israel through the privileged ministry of the priests. +Thus to a Temple poet of a later age than Ezekiel's the +figure of the high priest supplies a striking image of the +communion of saints and the blessing of Jehovah resting +on the whole people:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Behold, how good and how pleasant it is</l> +<l>That they who are brethren should also dwell together!</l> +<l>Like the precious oil on the head,</l> +<l>That flows down on the beard,</l> +<l>The beard of Aaron,</l> +<l>That flows down on the hem of his garments—</l> +<l>Like the Hermon-dew that descends on the hills of Zion;</l> +<l>For there hath Jehovah ordained the blessing,</l> +<l>Life for evermore.<note place='foot'>Psalm cxxxiii.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='447'/><anchor id='Pg447'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XXVIII. Prince And People. Chapters xliv.-xlvi. <hi rend='italic'>passim</hi>.</head> + +<p> +It was remarked in a previous lecture that the <q>prince</q> +of the closing vision appears to occupy a less exalted +position than the Messianic king of ch. xxxiv. or ch. xxxvii. +The grounds on which this impression rests require, +however, to be carefully considered, if we are not to carry +away a thoroughly false conception of the theocratic state +foreshadowed by Ezekiel. It must not be supposed that +the prince is a personage of less than royal rank, or that +his authority is overshadowed by that of a priestly caste. +He is undoubtedly the civil head of the nation, owing no +allegiance within his own province to any earthly superior. +Nor is there any reason to doubt that he is the heir of +the Davidic house and holds his office in virtue of the +divine promise which secured the throne to David's descendants. +It would therefore be a mistake to imagine +that we have here an anticipation of the Romish theory +of the subordination of the secular to the spiritual power. +It may be true that in the state of things presupposed by +the vision very little is left for the king to do, whilst a +variety of important duties falls to the priesthood; but +at all events the king is there and is supreme in his own +sphere. Ezekiel does not show the road to Canossa. If +the king is overshadowed, it is by the personal presence +of Jehovah in the midst of His people; and that which +<pb n='448'/><anchor id='Pg448'/> +limits his prerogative is not the sacerdotal power, but the +divine constitution of the theocracy as revealed in the +vision itself, under which both king and priests have their +functions defined and regulated with a view to the religious +ends for which the community as a whole exists. +</p> + +<p> +Our purpose in the present chapter is to put together +the scattered references to the duties of the prince which +occur in chs. xliv.-xlvi., so as to gain as clear a picture as +possible of the position of the monarchy in the theocratic +state. It must be remembered, however, that the picture +will necessarily be incomplete. National life in its secular +aspects, with which the king is chiefly concerned, is hardly +touched on in the vision. Everything being looked upon +from the point of view of the Temple and its worship, +there are but few allusions in which we can detect anything +of the nature of a civil constitution. And these +few are introduced incidentally, not for their own sake, +but to explain some arrangement for securing the sanctity +of the land or the community. This fact must never be +lost sight of in judging of Ezekiel's conception of the +monarchy. From all that appears in these pages we +might conclude that the prince is a mere ornamental figurehead +of the constitution, and that the few real duties +assigned to him could have been equally well performed +by a committee of priests or laymen elected for the purpose. +But this is to forget that outside the range of subjects +here touched upon there is a whole world of secular +interests, of political and social action, where the king +has his part to play in accordance with the precedents +furnished by the best days of the ancient monarchy. +</p> + +<p> +Let us glance first of all at Ezekiel's institutes of the +kingdom in its more political relations. The notices here +are all in the form of constitutional checks and safeguards +against an arbitrary and oppressive exercise of the royal +authority. They are instructive, not only as showing the +<pb n='449'/><anchor id='Pg449'/> +interest which the prophet had in good government and +his care for the rights of the subject, but also for the light +they cast on certain administrative methods in force +previous to the Exile. +</p> + +<p> +The first point that calls for attention is the provision +made for the maintenance of the prince and his court. +It would seem that the revenue of the prince was to be +derived mainly, if not wholly, from a portion of territory +reserved as his exclusive property in the division of the +country among the tribes.<note place='foot'>Chs. xlv. 7, 8, xlviii. 21, 22.</note> These crown lands are situated +on either side of the sacred <q>oblation</q> around the +sanctuary, set apart for the use of the priests and Levites; +and they extend to the sea on the west and to the Jordan +Valley on the east. Out of these he is at liberty to +assign a possession to his sons in perpetuity, but any +estate bestowed on his courtiers reverts to the prince in +the <q>year of liberty.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>I.e.</hi>, either the seventh year, as in Jer. xxxiv. 14, or the year of +Jubilee, the fiftieth year (Lev. xxv. 10); more probably the former.</note> The object of this last regulation +apparently is to prevent the formation of a new +hereditary aristocracy between the royal family and the +peasantry. A life peerage, so to speak, or something +less, is deemed a sufficient reward for the most devoted +service to the king or the state. And no doubt the +certainty of a revision of all royal grants every seventh +year would tend to keep some persons mindful of their +duty. The whole system of royal demesnes which the +king might dispose of as appanages for his younger +children or his faithful retainers presents a curious resemblance +to a well-known feature of feudalism in the Middle +Ages; but it was never practically enforced in Israel. +Before the Exile it was evidently unknown, and after the +Exile there was no king to provide for. But why does +the prophet bestow so much care on a mere detail of a +<pb n='450'/><anchor id='Pg450'/> +political system in which, as a whole, he takes so little +interest? It is because of his concern for the rights of +the common people against the high-handed tyranny of +the king and his nobles. He recalls the bad times of the +old monarchy when any man was liable to be ejected +from his land for the benefit of some court favourite, or +to provide a portion for a younger son of the king. The +cruel evictions of the poorer peasant proprietors, which +all the early prophets denounce as an outrage against +humanity, and of which the story of Naboth furnished a +typical example, must be rendered impossible in the new +Israel; and as the king had no doubt been the principal +offender in the past, the rule is firmly laid down in his +case that on no pretext must he take the people's inheritance. +And this, be it observed, is an application of +the religious principle which underlies the constitution of +the theocracy. The land is Jehovah's, and all interference +with the ancient landmarks which guard the rights of +private ownership is an offence against the holiness of the +true divine King who has His abode amongst the tribes +of Israel. This suggests developments of the idea of +holiness which reach to the very foundations of social +well-being. A conception of holiness which secures each +man in the possession of his own vine and fig tree is at +all events not open to the charge of ignoring the practical +interests of common life for the sake of an unprofitable +ceremonialism. +</p> + +<p> +In the next place, we come across a much more startling +revelation of the injustice habitually practised by the +Hebrew monarchs. Just as later sovereigns were wont +to meet their deficits by debasing the currency, so the +kings of Judah had learned to augment their revenue by +a systematic falsification of weights and measures. We +know from the prophet Amos<note place='foot'>Amos viii. 5.</note> that this was a common +<pb n='451'/><anchor id='Pg451'/> +trick of the wealthy landowners who sold grain at exorbitant +prices to the poor whom they had driven from their +possessions. They <q>made the ephah small and the +shekel great, and dealt falsely with balances of deceit.</q> +But it was left for Ezekiel to tell us that the same fraud +was a regular part of the fiscal system of the Judæan +kingdom. There is no mistaking the meaning of his +accusation: <q>Have done, O princes of Israel, with your +violent and oppressive rule; execute judgment and justice, +and take away your exactions from My people, saith +Jehovah God. <emph>Ye shall have just balances, and a just +ephah, and a just bath.</emph></q><note place='foot'>Ezek. xlv. 9, 10. In the translation of ver. 9 I have followed an +emendation proposed by Cornill. The sense is not affected, but the +grammatical construction seems to demand some alteration on the +Massoretic text.</note> That is to say, the taxes were +surreptitiously increased by the use of a large shekel (for +weighing out money payments) and a large bath and +ephah (for measuring tribute paid in kind). And if it +was impossible for the poor to protect themselves against +the rapacity of private dealers, poor and rich alike were +helpless when the fraud was openly practised in the +king's name. This Ezekiel had seen with his own eyes, +and the shameful injustice of it was so branded on his +spirit that even in a vision of the last days it comes back +to him as an evil to be sedulously guarded against. It +was eminently a case for legislation. If there was to be +such a thing as fair dealing and commercial probity in the +community, the system of weights and measurement must +be fixed beyond the power of the royal caprice to alter it. +It was as sacred as any principle of the constitution. +Accordingly he finds a place in his legislation for a +corrected scale of weights and measures, restored no +doubt to their original values. The ephah for dry measure +and the bath for liquid measure are each fixed at +<pb n='452'/><anchor id='Pg452'/> +the tenth part of a homer. <q>The shekel shall be twenty +geras:<note place='foot'>In Exod. xxx. 13, Lev. xxvii. 25, Numb. iii. 47 (Priests' Code) the +shekel of twenty geras is described as the <q>shekel of the sanctuary,</q> or +<q>sacred shekel,</q> clearly implying that another shekel was in common use.</note> five shekels shall be five, and ten shekels shall be +ten, and fifty shekels shall be your maneh.</q><note place='foot'>Ezek. xlv. 12, according to the LXX.</note> +</p> + +<p> +These regulations extend far beyond the immediate +object for which they are introduced, and have both a +moral and a religious bearing. They express a truth +often insisted on in the Old Testament, that commercial +morality is a matter in which the holiness of Jehovah is +involved: <q>A false balance is an abomination to Jehovah, +but a just weight is His delight.</q><note place='foot'>Prov. xi. 1.</note> In the Law of Holiness +an ordinance very similar to Ezekiel's occurs amongst +the conditions by which the precept is to be fulfilled: <q>Be +ye holy, for I am holy.</q><note place='foot'>Lev. xix. 35, 36.</note> It is evident that the Israelites +had learned to regard with a religious abhorrence all +tampering with the fixed standards of value on which the +purity of commercial life depended. To overreach by +lying words was a sin; but to cheat by the use of a false +balance was a species of profanity comparable to a false +oath in the name of Jehovah. +</p> + +<p> +These rules about weights and measures required, however, +to be supplemented by a fixed tariff, regulating the +taxes which the prince might impose on the people.<note place='foot'>Ezek. xlv. 13-16.</note> It +is not quite clear whether any part of the prince's own +income was to be derived from taxation. The tribute is +called an <q>oblation,</q> and there is no doubt that it was +intended principally for the support of the Temple ritual, +which in any case must have been the heaviest charge on +the royal exchequer. But the oblation was rendered to +the prince in the first instance; and the prophet's anxiety +to prevent unjust exactions springs from a fear that the +<pb n='453'/><anchor id='Pg453'/> +king might make the Temple tax a pretext for increasing +his own revenue. At all events the people's duty to +contribute to the support of public ordinances according +to their ability is here explicitly recognised. Compared +with the provision of the Levitical law the scale of +charges here proposed must be pronounced extremely +moderate. The contribution of each householder varies +from one-sixtieth to one-twohundredth of his income +and is wholly paid in kind.<note place='foot'>The exact figures are, one part in sixty of cereal produce (wheat and +barley), one share in a hundred of oil, and one animal out of every two +hundred from the flock (ch. xlv. 13-15).</note> The proper equivalent +under the second Temple of Ezekiel's <q>oblation</q> was a +poll-tax of one-third of a shekel, voluntarily undertaken +at the time of Nehemiah's covenant <q>for the service of +the house of our God; for the shewbread and for the +continual meal-offering, and for the continual burnt-offering, +of the Sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, +and for the holy things, and for the sin-offerings to make +atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house +of our God.</q><note place='foot'>Neh. x. 32, 33: cf. Ezek. xlv. 15.</note> In the Priestly Code this tax is fixed at +half a shekel for each man.<note place='foot'>Exod. xxx. 11-16. Whether the third of a shekel in the book of +Nehemiah is a concession to the poverty of the people, or whether the +law represents an increased charge found necessary for the full Temple +service, is a question that need not be discussed here.</note> But in addition to this money +payment the law required a tenth of all produce of the +soil and the flock to be given to the priests and Levites. +In Ezekiel's legislation the tithes and firstfruits are still +left for the use of the owner, who is expected to consume +them in sacrificial feasts at the sanctuary. The +only charge, therefore, of the nature of a fixed tribute +for religious purposes is the oblation here required for +the regular sacrifices which represent the stated worship +rendered on behalf of the community as a whole. +</p> + +<pb n='454'/><anchor id='Pg454'/> + +<p> +This brings us now to the more important aspect of +the kingly office—its religious privileges and duties. Here +there are three points which require to be noticed. +</p> + +<p> +1. In the first place it is the duty of the prince to +supply the material of the public sacrifices offered in +the name of the people.<note place='foot'>Ch. xlv. 17.</note> Out of the tribute levied on +the people for this purpose he has to furnish the altar +with the stated number of victims for the daily service, +the Sabbaths, and new moons, and the great yearly festivals. +It is clear that some one must be charged with +the responsibility of this important part of the worship, +and it is significant of Ezekiel's relations to the past +that the duty does not yet devolve directly on the priests. +They seem to exercise no authority outside of the Temple, +the king standing between them and the community as +a sort of patron of the sanctuary. But the position of +the prince is not simply that of an official receiver, +collecting the tribute, and then handing it over to the +Temple as it was required. He is the representative of +the religious unity of the nation, and in this capacity he +presents in person the regular sacrifices offered on behalf +of the community. Thus on the day of the Passover he +presents a sin-offering for himself and the people,<note place='foot'>Ch. xlv. 22.</note> as the +high priest does in the ceremonial of the Great Day of +Atonement.<note place='foot'>Lev. xvi. 11, 15.</note> And so all the sacrifices of the stated ritual +are his sacrifices, officiating as the head of the nation in +its acts of common worship. In this respect the prince +succeeds to the rights exercised by the kings of Judah +in the ritual of the first Temple, although on a different +footing. Before the Exile the king had a proprietary +interest in the central sanctuary, and the expense of the +stated service was defrayed as a matter of course out +of the royal revenues. Part of this revenue, as we see +<pb n='455'/><anchor id='Pg455'/> +in the case of Joash, was raised by a system of Temple +dues paid by the worshippers and expended on the repairs +of the house; but at a much later date than this we find +Ahaz assuming absolute control over the daily sacrifices,<note place='foot'>2 Kings xvi. 15, 16.</note> +which were doubtless maintained at his expense. +</p> + +<p> +Now the tendency of Ezekiel's legislation is to bring +the whole community into a closer and more personal +connection with the worship of the sanctuary, and to +leave no part of it subject to the arbitrary will of the +prince. But still the idea is preserved that the prince +is the religious as well as the civil representative of the +nation; and although he is deprived of all control over +the performance of the ritual, he is still required to provide +the public sacrifices and to offer them in the name of his +people. +</p> + +<p> +2. In virtue of his representative character the prince +possesses certain privileges in his approaches to God in the +sanctuary not accorded to ordinary worshippers. In this +connection it is necessary to explain some details regulating +the use of the sanctuary by the people. The outer +court might be entered by prince or people either through +the north or south gate, but not from the east. The +eastern gate was that by which Jehovah had entered His +dwelling-place, and the doors of it are for ever closed. +No foot might cross its threshold. But the prince—and +this is one of his peculiar rights—might enter the gateway +from the court to eat his sacrificial meals.<note place='foot'>Ch. xliv. 1-3.</note> It seems +therefore to have served the same purpose for the prince +as the thirty cells along the wall did for common worshippers. +The east gate of the inner court was also shut +as a rule, and was probably never used as a passage even +by the priests. But on the Sabbaths and new moons it +was thrown open to receive the sacrifices which the prince +<pb n='456'/><anchor id='Pg456'/> +had to bring on these days, and it remained open till +the evening. On days when the gate was open the +worshipping congregation assembled at its door, while +the prince entered as far as the threshold and looked on +while the priests presented his offering; then he went out +by the way he had entered. If on any other occasion he +presented a voluntary sacrifice in his private capacity, the +east gate was opened for him as before, but was shut as +soon as the ceremony was over. On those occasions +when the eastern gate was not opened, as at the great +annual festivals, the people probably gathered round the +north and south gates, from which they could see the +altar; and at these seasons the prince enters and departs +in the common throng of worshippers. A very peculiar +regulation, for which no obvious reason appears, is that +each man must leave the Temple by the gate opposite to +that at which he entered; if he entered by the north, he +must leave by the south, and <hi rend='italic'>vice versâ</hi>.<note place='foot'>See ch. xlvi. 1-12. The Syriac Version indeed makes an exception +to this rule in the case of the prince. Ver. 10 reads: <q>But the prince +in their midst shall go out by the gate by which he entered.</q> But why +the prince more than any other body should go back by the road he +came, or what particular honour there was in that, is a mystery; and it +is probable that the reading is an error originating in repetition of ver. 8. +The real meaning of the verse seems to be that the prince must go in +and out without the retinue of foreigners who used to give <foreign rend='italic'>éclat</foreign> to royal +visits to the sanctuary.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Many of these arrangements were no doubt suggested +by Ezekiel's acquaintance with the practice in the first +Temple, and their precise object is lost to us. But one +or two facts stand out clearly enough, and are very instructive +as to the whole conception of Temple worship. +The chief thing to be noticed is that the principal sacrifices +are representative. The people are merely spectators of +a transaction with God on their behalf, the efficacy of +which in no way depends on their co-operation. Standing +<pb n='457'/><anchor id='Pg457'/> +at the gates of the inner court, they see the priests performing +the sacred ministrations; they bow themselves in +humble reverence before the presence of the Most High; +and these acts of devotion may have been of the utmost +importance for the religious life of the individual Israelite. +But the congregation takes no real part in the worship; +it is done for them, but not by them; it is an <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>opus operatum</foreign> +performed by the prince and the priests for the good of +the community, and is equally necessary and equally valid +whether there is a congregation present to witness it or +not. Those who attend are themselves but representatives +of the nation of Israel, in whose interest the ritual +is kept up. But the supreme representative of the people +is the king, and we note how everything is done to +emphasise his peculiar dignity within the sanctuary. It +was necessary perhaps to do something to compensate +for the loss of distinction caused by the exclusion of the +royal body-guard from the Temple. The prince is still +the one conspicuous figure in the outer court. Even his +private sacrificial meals are eaten in solitary state, in the +eastern gateway, which is used for no other purpose. +And in the great functions where the prince appears in his +representative character he approaches nearer to the altar +than is permitted to any other layman. He ascends the +steps of the eastern gateway in the sight of the people, +and passing through he presents his offerings on the +verge of the inner court which none but the priests may +enter. His whole position is thus one of great importance +in the celebration of public ordinances. In detail his +functions are no doubt determined by ancient prescriptive +usages not known to us, but modified in accordance with +the stricter ideal of holiness which Ezekiel's vision was +intended to enforce. +</p> + +<p> +3. Finally, we have to observe that the prince is +rigorously excluded from properly priestly offices. It is +<pb n='458'/><anchor id='Pg458'/> +true that in some respects his position is analogous to +that of the high priest under the law. But the analogy +extends only to that aspect of the high priest's functions +in which he appears as the head and representative of the +religious community, and ceases the moment he enters +upon priestly duties. So far as the special degree of +sanctity which characterises the priesthood is concerned, +the prince is a layman, and as such he is jealously debarred +from approaching the altar, and even from intruding into +the sacred inner court where the priests minister. Now +this fact has perhaps a deeper historical importance +than we are apt to imagine. There is good reason to +believe that in the old Temple the kings of Judah frequently +officiated in person at the altar. At the time +when the monarchy was established it was the rule that +any man might sacrifice for himself and his household, +and that the king as the representative of the nation +should sacrifice on its behalf was an extension of the +principle too obvious to require express sanction. Accordingly +we find that both Saul and David on public occasions +built altars and offered sacrifice to Jehovah. The older +theory indeed seems to have been that priestly rights +were inherent in the kingly office, and that the acting +priests were the ministers to whom the king delegated +the greater part of his priestly functions. Although the +king might not appoint any one to this duty without +respect to the Levitical qualification, he exercised within +certain limits the right of deposing one family and installing +another in the priesthood of the royal sanctuary. +The house of Zadok itself owed its position to such an act +of ecclesiastical authority on the part of David and Solomon. +</p> + +<p> +The last occasion on which we read of a king of +Judah officiating in person in the Temple is at the +dedication of the new altar of Ahaz, when the king not +only himself sacrificed, but gave directions to the priests +<pb n='459'/><anchor id='Pg459'/> +as to the future observance of the ritual. The occasion +was no doubt unusual, but there is not a word in the +narrative to indicate that the king was committing an +irregular action or exceeding the recognised prerogatives +of his position. It would be unsafe, however, to conclude +that this state of things continued unchanged till the close +of the monarchy. After the time of Isaiah the Temple +rose greatly in the religious estimation of the people, and +a very probable result of this would be an increasing +sense of the importance of the ministration of the official +priesthood. The silence of the historical books and of +Deuteronomy may not count for much in an argument on +this question; but Ezekiel's own decisions lack the emphasis +and solemnity with which he introduces an absolute +innovation like the separation between priests and Levites +in ch. xliv. It is at least possible that the later kings +had gradually ceased to exercise the right of sacrifice, so +that the privilege had lapsed through desuetude. Nevertheless +it was a great step to have the principle affirmed +as a fundamental law of the theocracy; and this Ezekiel +undoubtedly does. If no other practical object were +gained, it served at least to illustrate in the most emphatic +way the idea of holiness, which demanded the exclusion +of every layman from unhallowed contact with the most +sacred emblems of Jehovah's presence. +</p> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<p> +It will be seen from all that has been said that the real +interest of Ezekiel's treatment of the monarchy lies far +apart from modern problems which might seem to have a +superficial affinity with it. No lessons can fairly be +deduced from it on the relations between Church and State, +or the propriety of endowing and establishing the Christian +religion, or the duty of rulers to maintain ordinances for +the benefit of their subjects. Its importance lies in +another direction. It shows the transition in Israel from +<pb n='460'/><anchor id='Pg460'/> +a state of things in which the king is both <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>de jure</foreign> and +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>de facto</foreign> the source of power and the representative of the +nation and where his religious status is the natural consequence +of his civic dignity, to a very different state +of things, where the forms of the ancient constitution are +retained although the power has largely vanished from +them. The prince now requires to have his religious +duties imposed on him by an abstract political system +whose sole sanction is the authority of the Deity. It is +a transition which has no precise parallel anywhere else, +although resemblances more or less instructive might +doubtless be instanced from the history of Catholicism. +Nowhere does Ezekiel's idealism appear more wonderfully +blended with his equally characteristic conservatism than +here. There is no real trace of the tendency attributed +to the prophet to exalt the priesthood at the expense +of the monarchy. The prince is after all a much more +imposing personage even in the ceremonial worship than +any priest. Although he lacks the priestly quality of +holiness, his duties are quite as important as those of the +priests, while his dignity is far greater than theirs. The +considerations that enter in to limit his power and importance +come from another quarter. They are such as these: +first, the loss of military leadership, which is at least +to be presumed in the circumstances of the Messianic +kingdom; second, the welfare of the people at large; and +third, the principle of holiness, whose supremacy has to +be vindicated in the person of the king no less than in +that of his meanest subject. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps the most remarkable thing is that the transition +referred to was not actually accomplished even in the +history of Israel itself. It was only in a vision that the +monarchy was ever to be represented in the form which +it bears here. From the time of Ezekiel no native +king was ever to rule over Israel again save the priest-princes +<pb n='461'/><anchor id='Pg461'/> +of the Asmonean dynasty, whose constitutional +position was defined by their high-priestly dignity. +Ezekiel's vision is therefore a preparation for the kingless +state of post-exilic Judaism. The foreign potentates to +whom the Jews were subject did in some instances +provide materials for the Temple worship, but their local +representatives were of course unqualified to fill the position +assigned to the prince by the great prophet of the +Exile. The community had to get along as best it could +without a king, and the task was not difficult. The +Temple dues were paid directly to the priests and Levites, +and the function of representing the community before +the altar was assigned to the High Priest. It was then +indeed that the High Priesthood came to the front and +blossomed out into all the magnificence of its legal position. +It was not only the religious part of the prince's +duties that fell to it, but a considerable share of his +political importance as well. As the only hereditary +institution that had survived the Exile, it naturally became +the chief centre of social order in the community. By +degrees the Persian and Greek kings found it expedient +to deal with the Jews through the High Priest, whose +authority they were bound to respect, and thus to leave +him a free hand in the internal affairs of the commonwealth. +The High Priesthood, in fact, was a civil as well +as a priestly dignity. We can see that this great revolution +would have broken the continuity of Hebrew history +far more violently than it did, but for the stepping-stone +furnished by the ideal <q>prince</q> of Ezekiel's vision. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='462'/><anchor id='Pg462'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XXIX. The Ritual. Chapters xlv., xlvi.</head> + +<p> +It is difficult to go back in imagination to a time when +sacrifice was the sole and sufficient form of every +complete act of worship.<note place='foot'>Smith, <hi rend='italic'>Religion of the Semites</hi>, pp. 196 f.</note> That the slaughter of an +animal, or at least the presentation of a material offering +of some sort, should ever have been considered of the +essence of intercourse with the Deity may seem to us +incredible in the light of the idea of God which we now +possess. Yet there can be no doubt that there was a +stage of religious development which recognised no true +approach to God except as consummated in a sacrificial +action. The word <q>sacrifice</q> itself preserves a memorial +of this crude and early type of religious service. Etymologically +it denotes nothing more than a sacred act. +But amongst the Romans, as amongst ourselves, it was +regularly applied to the offerings at the altar, which +were thus marked out as <emph>the</emph> sacred actions <foreign rend='italic'>par excellence</foreign> +of ancient religion. It would be impossible to explain +the extraordinary persistence and vitality of the institution +amongst races that had attained a relatively high +degree of civilisation, unless we understand that the +ideas connected with it go back to a time when sacrifice +was the typical and fundamental form of primitive +worship. +</p> + +<pb n='463'/><anchor id='Pg463'/> + +<p> +By the time of Ezekiel, however, the age of sacrifice in +this strict and absolute sense may be said to have passed +away, at least in principle. Devout Jews who had lived +through the captivity in Babylon and found that Jehovah +was there to them <q>a little of a sanctuary,</q><note place='foot'>Ch. xi. 16.</note> could not +possibly fall back into the belief that their God was only +to be approached and found through the ritual of the +altar. And long before the Exile, the ethical teaching of +the prophets had led Israel to appreciate the external +rites of sacrifice at their true value. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Wherewithal shall I come before Jehovah</l> +<l>Or bow myself before God on high?</l> +<l>Shall I come before Him with burnt-offerings,</l> +<l>With calves of a year old?</l> +<l>Is Jehovah pleased with thousands of rams,</l> +<l>With myriads of rivers of oil?</l> +<l>Shall I give my firstborn as an atonement for me,</l> +<l>The fruit of my body as a sin-offering for my life?</l> +<l>He hath showed thee, O man, what is good;</l> +<l>And what does Jehovah require of thee,</l> +<l>But to do justice and to love mercy,</l> +<l>And to walk humbly with thy God?<note place='foot'>Micah vi. 6-8.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +This great word of spiritual religion had been uttered +long before Ezekiel, as a protest against the senseless +multiplication of sacrifices which came in in the reign of +Manasseh. Nor can we suppose that Ezekiel, with all his +engrossment in matters of ritual, was insensible to the +lofty teaching of his predecessors, or that his conception +of God was less spiritual than theirs. As a matter of +fact the worship of Israel was never afterwards wholly +absorbed in the routine of the Temple ceremonies. The +institution of the synagogue with its purely devotional +exercises of prayer and reading of the Scriptures must have +been nearly coeval with the second Temple, and prepared +the way far more than the latter for the spiritual worship +<pb n='464'/><anchor id='Pg464'/> +of the New Testament. But even the Temple worship was +spiritualised by the service of praise and the marvellous +development of devotional poetry which it called forth. +<q>The emotion with which the worshipper approaches the +second Temple, as recorded in the Psalter, has little to do +with sacrifice, but rests rather on the fact that the whole +wondrous history of Jehovah's grace to Israel is vividly +and personally realised as he stands amidst the festal +crowd at the ancient seat of God's throne, and adds his +voice to the swelling song of praise.</q><note place='foot'>Smith, <hi rend='italic'>Old Testament in Jewish Church</hi>, p. 379.</note> +</p> + +<p> +How then, it may be asked, are we to account for the +fact that the prophet shows such intense interest in the +details of a system which was already losing its religious +significance? If sacrifice was no longer of the essence +of worship, why should he be so careful to legislate for +a scheme of ritual in which sacrifice is the prominent +feature, and say nothing of the inward state of heart which +alone is an acceptable offering to God? The chief reason +no doubt is that the ritual elements of religion were the +only matters, apart from moral duties, which admitted of +being reduced to a legal system, and that the formation +of such a system was demanded by the circumstances +with which the prophet had to deal. The time was not +yet come when the principle of a central national sanctuary +could be abandoned, and if such a sanctuary was to be +maintained without danger to the highest interests of +religion it was necessary that its service should be regulated +with a view to preserve the deposit of revealed truth +that had been committed to the nation through the prophets. +The essential features of the sacrificial institutions were +charged with a deep religious significance, and there +existed in the popular mind a great mass of sound religious +impression and sentiment clustering around that central +<pb n='465'/><anchor id='Pg465'/> +rite. To dispense with the institution of sacrifice would +have rendered worship entirely impossible for the great +body of the people, while to leave it unregulated was to +invite a recurrence of the abuses which had been so fruitful +a source of corruption in the past. Hence the object of +the ritual ordinances which we are about to consider is +twofold: in the first place to provide an authorised code of +ritual free from everything that savoured of pagan usages, +and in the second to utilise the public worship as a means +of deepening and purifying the religious conceptions of +those who could be influenced in no other way. Ezekiel's +legislation has a special regard for the wants of the +<q>common rude man</q> whose religious life needs all the +help it can get from external observances. Such persons +form the majority of every religious society; and to train +their minds to a deeper sense of sin and a more vivid +apprehension of the divine holiness proved to be the only +way in which the spiritual teaching of the prophets could +be made a practical power in the community at large. It +is true that the highest spiritual needs were not satisfied +by the legal ritual. But the irrepressible longings of the +soul for nearer fellowship with God cannot be dealt with +by rigid formal enactments. Ezekiel is content to leave +them to the guidance of that Spirit whose saving operations +will have changed the heart of Israel and made it a true +people of God. The system of external observances which +he foreshadows in his vision was not meant to be the life +of religion, but it was, so to speak, the trellis-work which +was necessary to support the delicate tendrils of spiritual +piety until the time when the spirit of filial worship should +be the possession of every true member of the Church of +God. +</p> + +<p> +Bearing these facts in mind, we may now proceed to +examine the scheme of sacrificial worship contained in +chapters xlv. and xlvi. Only its leading features can here +<pb n='466'/><anchor id='Pg466'/> +be noticed, and the points most deserving of attention +may be grouped under three heads: the Festivals, the +Representative Service, and the Idea of Atonement. +</p> + +<p> +I. <hi rend='smallcaps'>The Yearly Feasts.</hi>—The most striking thing in +Ezekiel's festal calendar<note place='foot'>Ch. xlv. 18-25.</note> is the division of the ecclesiastical +year into two precisely similar parts. Each half +of the year commences with an atoning sacrifice for the +purification of the sanctuary from defilement contracted +during the previous half.<note place='foot'>Vv. 18-20. In ver. 20 we should read with the LXX. <q>in the seventh +month, on the first day of the month,</q> etc.</note> Each contains a great festival—in +the one case the Passover, beginning on the fourteenth +day of the first month and lasting seven days, and in the +other the Feast of Tabernacles (simply called the Feast), +beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and +also lasting for seven days.<note place='foot'>Vv. 21-25. Some critics, as Smend and Cornill, think that in ver. 14 +we should read fifteenth instead of fourteenth, to perfect the symmetry of +the two halves of the year. There is no MS. authority for the proposed +change.</note> The passage is chiefly +devoted to a minute regulation of the public sacrifices to be +offered on these occasions, other and more characteristic +features of the celebration being assumed as well known +from tradition. +</p> + +<p> +It is difficult to see what is the precise meaning of the +proposed rearrangement of the feasts in two parallel +series. It may be due simply to the prophet's love of +symmetry in all departments of public life, or it may have +been suggested by the fact that at this time the Babylonian +calendar, according to which the year begins in +spring, was superimposed on the old Hebrew year commencing +in the autumn.<note place='foot'>Smend.</note> At all events it involved a +breach with pre-exilic tradition, and was never carried +<pb n='467'/><anchor id='Pg467'/> +out in practice. The earlier legislation of the Pentateuch +recognises a cycle of three festivals—Passover and Unleavened +Bread, the Feast of Harvest or of Weeks +(Pentecost), and the Feast of Ingathering or of Tabernacles.<note place='foot'>Exod. xxiii. 14-17 (Book of the Covenant, with which the other code—Exod. +xxxiv. 18-22—agrees); Deut. xvi. 1-17.</note> +In order to carry through his symmetrical +division of the sacred year Ezekiel has to ignore one of +these, the Feast of Pentecost, which seems to have always +been counted the least important of the three. It is not +to be supposed that he contemplated its abolition, for +he is careful not to alter in any particular the positive +regulations of Deuteronomy; only it did not fall into his +scheme, and so he does not think it of sufficient importance +to prescribe regular public sacrifices for it. After +the Exile, however, Jewish practice was regulated by the +canons of the Priestly Code, in which, along with other +festivals, the ancient threefold cycle is continued, and +stated sacrifices are prescribed for Pentecost, just as for +the other two.<note place='foot'>Cf. Lev. xxiii. 4-44 (Law of Holiness); Numb. xxviii., xxix.</note> Similarly, the two atoning ceremonies in +the beginning of the first and seventh months,<note place='foot'>It is usual to speak of these ceremonies in Ezekiel as festivals. +But this seems to go beyond the prophet's meaning. Only a single +sacrifice, a sin-offering, is mentioned; and there is no hint of any public +assemblage of the people on these days. It was the priests' business to +see that the sanctuary was purified, and there was no occasion for the +people to be present at the ceremony. The congregation would be the +ordinary congregation at the new moon feast, which of course did not +represent the whole population of the country. No doubt, as we see +from the references below, the ceremony developed into a special feast +after the Exile.</note> which +are not mentioned in the older legislation, are replaced in +the Priests' Code by the single Day of Atonement on the +tenth day of the seventh month, whilst the beginning of +the year is celebrated by the Feast of Trumpets on the +first day of the same month.<note place='foot'>Cf. Lev. xxiii. 23-32; Numb. xxix. 1-11.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='468'/><anchor id='Pg468'/> + +<p> +But although the details of Ezekiel's system thus +proved to be impracticable in the circumstances of the +restored Jewish community, it succeeded in the far more +important object of infusing a new spirit into the celebration +of the feasts, and impressing on them a different +character. The ancient Hebrew festivals were all +associated with joyous incidents of the agricultural year. +The Feast of Unleavened Bread marked the beginning of +harvest, when <q>the sickle was first put into the corn.</q><note place='foot'>Cf. Deut. xvi. 9, with Lev. xxiii. 10 f., 15 t. In the one case the seven +weeks to Pentecost are reckoned from the putting of the sickle into the +corn, in the other from the presentation of a first sheaf of ripe corn in +the Temple, which falls within the Passover week. The latter can only +be regarded as a more precise determination of the former, and thus +Unleavened Bread must have coincided with the beginning of barley +harvest.</note> +At this time also the firstlings of the flock and herd were +sacrificed. The seven weeks which elapse till Pentecost +are the season of the cereal harvest, which is then brought +to a close by the Feast of Harvest, when the goodness +of Jehovah is acknowledged by the presentation of part +of the produce at the sanctuary. Finally the Feast of +Tabernacles celebrates the most joyous occasion of the +year, the storing of the produce of the winepress and the +threshing-floor.<note place='foot'>Deut. xvi. 13.</note> The nature of the festivals is easily +seen from the events with which they are thus associated. +They are occasions of social mirth and festivity, and the +religious rites observed are the expressions of the nation's +heart-felt gratitude to Jehovah for the blessing that has +rested on the labours of husbandman and shepherd +throughout the year. The Passover with its memories +of anxiety and escape was no doubt of a more sombre +character than the others, but the joyous and festive +nature of Pentecost and Tabernacles is strongly insisted +on in the book of Deuteronomy. By these institutions +<pb n='469'/><anchor id='Pg469'/> +religion was closely intertwined with the great interests of +every-day life, and the fact that the sacred seasons of the +Israelites' year were the occasions on which the natural +joy of life was at its fullest, bears witness to the simple-minded +piety which was fostered by the old Hebrew +worship. There was, however, a danger that in such a +state of things religion should be altogether lost sight of +in the exuberance of natural hilarity and expressions +of social good-will. And indeed no great height of +spirituality could be nourished by a type of worship +in which devotional feeling was concentrated on the +expression of gratitude to God for the bountiful gifts of +His providence. It was good for the childhood of the +nation, but when the nation became a man it must put +away childish things. +</p> + +<p> +The tendency of the post-exilic ritual was to detach +the sacred seasons more and more from the secular +associations which had once been their chief significance. +This was done partly by the addition of new festivals +which had no such natural occasion, and partly by a +change in the point of view from which the older +celebrations were regarded. No attempt was made to +obliterate the traces of the affinity with events of common +life which endeared them to the hearts of the people, +but increasing importance was attached to their historic +significance as memorials of Jehovah's gracious dealings +with the nation in the period of the Exodus. At the +same time they take on more and more the character +of religious symbols of the permanent relations between +Jehovah and His people. The beginnings of this process +can be clearly discerned in the legislation of Ezekiel. +Not indeed in the direction of a historic interpretation +of the feasts, for this is ignored even in the case of the +Passover, where it was already firmly established in the +national consciousness. But the institution of a special +<pb n='470'/><anchor id='Pg470'/> +series of public sacrifices, which was the same for the +Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles, and particularly +the prominence given to the sin-offering, obviously tended +to draw the mind of the people away from the passing +interest of the occasion, and fix it on those standing +obligations imposed by the holiness of Jehovah on which +the continuance of all His bounties depended. We cannot +be mistaken in thinking that one design of the new ritual +was to correct the excesses of unrestrained animal enjoyment +by deepening the sense of guilt and the fear of +possible offences against the sanctity of the divine +presence. For it was at these festivals that the prince +was required to offer the atoning sacrifice for himself and +the people.<note place='foot'>Ch. xlv. 22.</note> Thus the effect of the whole system was to +foster the sensitive and tremulous tone of piety which +was characteristic of Judaism, in contrast to the hearty, +if undisciplined, religion of the ancient Hebrew feasts. +</p> + +<p> +II. <hi rend='smallcaps'>The Stated Service.</hi>—In the course of this chapter +we have had occasion more than once to touch on the +prominence given in Ezekiel's vision to sacrifices offered +in accordance with a fixed rubric in the name of the +whole community. The significance of this fact may best +be seen from a comparison with the sacrificial regulations +of the book of Deuteronomy. These are not numerous, +but they deal exclusively with private sacrifices. The +person addressed is the individual householder, and the +sacrifices which he is enjoined to render are for himself +and his family. There is no explicit allusion in the +whole book to the official sacrifices which were offered +by the regular priesthood and maintained at the king's +expense. In Ezekiel's scheme of Temple worship the +case is exactly the reverse. Here there is no mention of +<pb n='471'/><anchor id='Pg471'/> +private sacrifice except in the incidental notices as to the +free-will offerings and the sacrificial meal of the prince,<note place='foot'>Ch. xlvi. 12: cf. xliv. 3.</note> +while on the other hand great attention is paid to the +maintenance of the regular offerings provided by the +prince for the congregation. This of course does not +mean that there were no statutory sacrifices in the old +Temple, or that Ezekiel contemplated the cessation of +private sacrifice in the new. Deuteronomy passes over +the public sacrifices because they were under the jurisdiction +of the king, and the people at large were not directly +responsible for them; and similarly Ezekiel is silent as +to private offerings because their observance was assured +by all the traditions of the sanctuary. Still it is a noteworthy +fact that of two codes of Temple worship, separated +by only half a century, each legislates exclusively for that +element of the ritual which is taken for granted by the +other. +</p> + +<p> +What it indicates is nothing less than a change in the +ruling conception of public worship. Before the Exile the +idea that Jehovah could desert His sanctuary hardly +entered into the mind of the people, and certainly did not +in the least affect the confidence with which they availed +themselves of the privileges of worship. The Temple +was there and God was present within it, and all that +was necessary was that the spontaneous devotion of the +worshippers should be regulated by the essential conditions +of ceremonial propriety. But the destruction of the Temple +had proved that the mere existence of a sanctuary was no +guarantee of the favour and protection of the God who +was supposed to dwell within it. Jehovah might be driven +from His Temple by the presence of sin among the people, +or even by a neglect of the ceremonial precautions which +were necessary to guard against the profanation of His +<pb n='472'/><anchor id='Pg472'/> +holiness. On this idea the whole edifice of the later +ritual is built up, and here as in other respects Ezekiel +has shown the way. In his view the validity and efficiency +of the whole Temple service hangs on the due performance +of the public rites which preserve the nation in a condition +of sanctity and continually represent it as a holy +people before God. Under cover of this representative +service the individual may draw near with confidence to +seek the face of his God in acts of private homage, but +apart from the regular official ceremonial his worship +has no reality, because he can have no assurance that +Jehovah will accept his offering. His right of access to +God springs from his fellowship with the religious community +of Israel, and hence the indispensable presupposition +of every act of worship is that the standing of the community +before Jehovah be preserved intact by the rites +appointed for that purpose. And, as has been already +said, these rites are representative in character. Being +performed on behalf of the nation, the obligation of +presenting them rests with the prince in his representative +capacity, and the share of the people in them is indicated +by the tribute which the prince is empowered to levy for +this end. In this way the ideal unity of the nation finds +continual expression in the worship of the sanctuary, and +the supreme interest of religion is transferred from the +mere act of personal homage to the abiding conditions of +acceptance with God symbolised by the stated service. +</p> + +<p> +Let us now look at some details of the scheme in which +this important idea is embodied. The foundation of the +whole system is the daily burnt-offering—the <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>tāmîd</foreign>. +Under the first Temple the daily offering seems to have +been a burnt-offering in the morning and a meal-offering +(<foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>minhah</foreign>) in the evening,<note place='foot'>2 Kings xvi. 15: cf. 1 Kings xviii. 29, 36.</note> and this practice seems to +have continued down to the time of Ezra.<note place='foot'>Ezra ix. 5.</note> According to +<pb n='473'/><anchor id='Pg473'/> +the Levitical law it consists of a lamb morning and evening, +accompanied on each occasion by a minhah and a +libation of wine.<note place='foot'>Numb. xxviii. 3-8; Exod. xxix. 38-42.</note> Ezekiel's ordinance occupies a middle +position between these two. Here the tamîd is a lamb +for a burnt-offering in the morning, along with a minhah +of flour mingled with oil; and there is no provision for an +evening sacrifice.<note place='foot'>Ch. xlvi. 13-15.</note> The presentation of this sacrifice on +the altar in the morning, as the basis on which all other +offerings through the day were laid, may be taken to +symbolise the truth that the acceptance of all ordinary +acts of worship depended on the representation of the +community before God in the regular service. To the +spiritual perception of a Psalmist it may have suggested +the duty of commencing each day's work with an act of +devotion:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Jehovah, in the morning shalt Thou hear my voice;</l> +<l>In the morning will I set [my prayer] in order before Thee, and will look out.<note place='foot'>Psalm v. 3, probably used at the presentation of the morning tamîd. +A more distinct recognition of the spiritual significance of the <emph>evening</emph> +sacrifice is found in Psalm cxli. 2.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The offerings for the Sabbaths and new moons may be +considered as amplifications of the daily sacrifice. They +consist exclusively of burnt-offerings. On the Sabbath six +lambs are presented, perhaps one for each working day of +the week, together with a ram for the Sabbath itself +(Smend). At the new moon feast this offering is repeated +with the addition of a bullock. It may be noted here once +for all that each burnt sacrifice is accompanied by a corresponding +minhah, according to a fixed scale. For sin-offerings, +on the other hand, no minhah seems to be +appointed. +</p> + +<p> +At the annual (or rather half-yearly) celebrations the +<pb n='474'/><anchor id='Pg474'/> +sin-offering appears for the first time among the stated +sacrifices. The sacrifice for the cleansing of the sanctuary +at the beginning of each half of the year consists of a +young bullock for a sin-offering, in addition of course to +the burnt-offerings which were prescribed for the first day +of the month. For the Passover and the Feast of +Tabernacles the daily offering is a he-goat for a sin-offering, +and seven bullocks and seven rams for a burnt-offering +during the week covered by these festivals. Besides this, +at Passover, and probably also at Tabernacles, the prince +presents a bullock as a sin-offering for himself and the +people. We have now to consider more particularly the +place which this class of sacrifices occupies in the ritual. +</p> + +<p> +III. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Atoning Sacrifices.</hi>—It is evident, even from this +short survey, that the idea of atonement holds a conspicuous +place in the symbolism of Ezekiel's Temple. He is, +indeed, the earliest writer (setting aside the Levitical Code) +who mentions the special class of sacrifices known as sin- and +guilt-offerings. Under the first Temple ceremonial +offences were regularly atoned for at one time by money +payments to the priests, and these fines are called by the +names afterwards applied to the expiatory sacrifices.<note place='foot'>2 Kings xii. 17.</note> It +does not follow, of course, that such sacrifices were +unknown before the time of Ezekiel, nor is such a conclusion +probable in itself. The manner in which the +prophet alludes to them rather shows that the idea was +perfectly familiar to his contemporaries. But the prominence +of the sin-offering in the public ritual may be +safely set down as a new departure in the Temple service, +as it is one of the most striking symptoms of the change +that passed over the spirit of Israel's religion at the time +of the Exile. +</p> + +<pb n='475'/><anchor id='Pg475'/> + +<p> +Of the elements that contributed to this change the +most important was the deepened consciousness of sin +that had been produced by the teaching of the prophets +as verified in the terrible calamity of the Exile. We +have seen how frequently Ezekiel insists on this effect +of the divine judgment; how, even in the time of her +pardon and restoration, he represents Israel as ashamed +and confounded, not opening her mouth any more for +the remembrance of all that she had done. We are +therefore prepared to find that full provision is made +for the expression of this abiding sense of guilt in the +revised scheme of worship. This was done not by new +rites invented for the purpose, but by seizing on those +elements of the old ritual which represented the wiping +out of iniquity, and by so remodelling the whole sacrificial +system as to place these prominently in the foreground. +Such elements were found chiefly in the sin-offering +and guilt-offering, which occupied a subsidiary position +in the old Temple, but are elevated to a place of commanding +importance in the new. The precise distinction +between these two kinds of sacrifice is an obscure point of +the Levitical ritual which has never been perfectly cleared +up. In the system of Ezekiel, however, we observe that +the guilt-offering plays no part in the stated service, and +must therefore have been reserved for private transgressions +of the law of holiness. And in general it may be +remarked that the atoning sacrifices differ from others, +not in their material, but in certain features of the sacred +actions to be observed with regard to them. We cannot +here enter upon the details of the symbolism, but the +most important fact is that the flesh of the victims is +neither offered on the altar as in the burnt-offering, nor +eaten by the worshippers as in the peace-offering, but +belongs to the category of most holy things, and must +be consumed by the priests in a holy place. In certain +<pb n='476'/><anchor id='Pg476'/> +extreme cases, however, it has to be burned without the +sanctuary.<note place='foot'>Cf. ch. xliii. 21.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Now in the chapters before us the idea of sacrificial +atonement is chiefly developed in connection with the +material fabric of the sanctuary. The sanctuary may contract +defilement by involuntary lapses from the stringent +rules of ceremonial purity on the part of those who use it, +whether priests or laymen. Such errors of inadvertence +were almost unavoidable under the complicated set of +formal regulations into which the fundamental idea of +holiness branched out, yet they are regarded as endangering +the sanctity of the Temple, and require to be carefully +atoned for from time to time, lest by their accumulation +the worship should be invalidated and Jehovah driven +from His dwelling-place. But besides this the Temple +(or at least the altar) is unfit for its sacred functions +until it has undergone an initial process of purification. +The principle involved still survives in the consecration +of ecclesiastical buildings in Christendom, although its +application had doubtless a much more serious import +under the old dispensation than it can possibly have +under the new. +</p> + +<p> +A full account of this initial ceremony of purification +is given in the end of the forty-third chapter, and a +glance at the details of the ritual may be enough to +impress on us the conceptions that underlie the process. +It is a protracted operation, extending apparently over +eight days.<note place='foot'>Another explanation, however, is possible, and is adopted by Smend +and Davidson. Assuming that a burnt-offering was offered on the +first day, and holding the whole description to be somewhat elliptical, +they bring the entire process within the limits of the week. This +certainly looks more satisfactory in itself. But would Ezekiel be likely +to admit an ellipsis in describing so important a function? I have taken +for granted above that the seven days of the double sacrifice are counted +from the <q>second day</q> of ver. 22.</note> The first and fundamental act is the +offering of a sin-offering of the highest degree of sanctity, +the victim being a bullock and the flesh being burned +<pb n='477'/><anchor id='Pg477'/> +outside the sanctuary. The blood alone is sprinkled on +the four horns of the altar, the four corners of the <q>settle,</q> +and the <q>border</q>: this is the first stage in the dedication +of the altar. Then for seven days a he-goat is offered +for a sin-offering, the same rites being observed, and after +it a burnt-offering consisting of a bullock and a ram. +These sacrifices are intended only for the purification of +the altar, and only on the day after their completion is +the altar ready to receive ordinary public or private gifts—burnt-offerings +and peace-offerings. Now four expressions +are used to denote the effect of these ceremonies +on the altar. The most general is <q>consecrate,</q> literally +<q>fill its hand</q><note place='foot'>Ver. 26.</note>—a phrase used originally of the installation +of a priest into his office, and then applied metaphorically +to consecration or initiation in general. The others +are <q>purify,</q><note place='foot'>טִהֵר (ver. 20).</note> <q>unsin,</q><note place='foot'>הִטֵּא a denominative form from הֵטְא = sin (ver. 22).</note> (the special effect of the <hi rend='italic'>sin-offering</hi>) +and <q>expiate.</q><note place='foot'>כִּפֵּר (ver. 26).</note> Of these the last is the most +important. It is the technical priestly term for atonement +for sin, the reference being of course generally to persons. +As to the fundamental meaning of the word, there has +been a great deal of discussion, which has not yet led to +a decisive result. The choice seems to lie between two +radical ideas, either to <q>wipe out</q> or to <q>cover,</q> and so +render inoperative.<note place='foot'>See Smith, <hi rend='italic'>Old Testament in Jewish Church</hi>, p. 381.</note> But either etymology enables us to +understand the use of the word in legal terminology. It +means to undo the effect of a transgression on the religious +status of the offender, or, as in the case before us, to +<pb n='478'/><anchor id='Pg478'/> +remove natural or contracted impurity from a material +object. And whether this is conceived as a covering up +of the fault so as to conceal it from view, or a wiping out +of it, amounts in the end to the same thing. The significant +fact is that the same word is applied both to persons +and things. It furnishes another illustration of the intimate +way in which the ideas of moral guilt and physical +defect are blended in the ceremonial of the Old Testament. +</p> + +<p> +The meaning of the two atoning services appointed +for the beginning of the first and the seventh month is +now clear. They are intended to renew periodically the +holiness of the sanctuary established by the initiatory +rites just described. For it is evident that no indelible +character can attach to the kind of sanctity with which +we are here dealing. It is apt to be lost, if not by mere +lapse of time, at least by the repeated contact of frail men +who with the best intentions are not always able to fulfil +the conditions of a right use of sacred things. Every +failure and mistake detracts from the holiness of the +Temple, and even unnoticed and altogether unconscious +offences would in course of time profane it if not purged +away. Hence <q>for every one that erreth and for him +that is simple</q><note place='foot'>Ch. xlv. 20.</note> atonement has to be made for the house +twice a year. The ritual to be observed on these occasions +bears a general resemblance to that of the inaugural +ceremony, but is simpler, only a single bullock being +presented for a sin-offering. On the other hand, it expressly +symbolises a purification of the Temple as well +as of the altar. The blood is sprinkled not only on the +<q>settle</q> of the altar, but also on the doorposts of the +house, and the posts of the eastern gate of the inner +court. +</p> + +<p> +We may now pass on to the second application made +<pb n='479'/><anchor id='Pg479'/> +by Ezekiel of the idea of sacrificial atonement. These +purifications of the sanctuary, which bulk so largely in +his system, have their counterpart in atonements made +directly for the faults of the people. For this purpose, +as we have already seen, a sin-offering was to be presented +at each of the great annual festivals by the prince, for +himself and the nation which he represented. But it is +important to observe that the idea of atonement is not +confined to one particular class of sacrifices. It lies +at the foundation of the whole system of the stated +service, the purpose of which is expressly said to be +<q>to make atonement for the house of Israel.</q><note place='foot'>Ch. xlv. 15, 17.</note> Thus +while the half-yearly sin-offering afforded a special opportunity +for confession of sin on the part of the people, +we are to understand that the holiness of the nation +was secured by the observance of every part of the +prescribed ritual which regulated its intercourse with +God. And since the nation is in itself imperfectly holy +and stands in constant need of forgiveness, the maintenance +of its sanctity by sacrificial rites was equivalent to +a perpetual act of atonement. Special offences of individuals +had of course to be expiated by special sacrifices, +but beneath all particular transgressions lay the broad +fact of human impurity and infirmity; and in the constant +<q>covering up</q> of this by a divinely instituted system of +religious ordinances we recognise an atoning element in +the regular Temple service. +</p> + +<p> +The sacrificial ritual may therefore be regarded as a +barrier interposed between the natural uncleanness of the +people and the awful holiness of Jehovah seated in His +Temple. That men should be permitted to approach +Him at all is an unspeakable privilege conferred on Israel +in virtue of its covenant relation to God. But that the +<pb n='480'/><anchor id='Pg480'/> +approach is surrounded by so many precautions and +restrictions is a perpetual witness to the truth that God +is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity and one with whom +evil cannot dwell. If these precautions could have been +always perfectly observed, it is probable that no periodical +purification of the sanctuary would have been enjoined. The +ordinary ritual would have sufficed to maintain the nation +in a state of holiness corresponding with the requirements +of Jehovah's nature. But this was impossible on account +of the slowness of men's minds and their liability to err +in their most sacred duties. Sin is so subtle and pervasive +that it is conceived as penetrating the network of ordinances +destined to intercept it, and reaching even to the +dwelling-place of Jehovah Himself. It is to remove such +accidental, though inevitable, violations of the majesty of +God that the ritual edifice is crowned by ceremonies for +the purification of the sanctuary. They are, so to speak, +atonements in the second degree. Their object is to +compensate for defects in the ordinary routine of worship, +and to remove the arrears of guilt which had accumulated +through neglect of some part of the ceremonial scheme. +This idea appears quite clearly in Ezekiel's legislation, +but it is far more impressively exhibited in the Levitical +law, where different elements of Ezekiel's ritual are +gathered up into one celebration in the Great Day of +Atonement, the most solemn and imposing of the whole +year. +</p> + +<p> +Hence we see that the whole system of sacrificial +worship is firmly knit together, being pervaded from end +to end by the one principle of expiation, behind which +lay the assurance of pardon and acceptance to all who +approached God in the use of the appointed means of +grace. Herein lay the chief value of the Temple ritual +for the religious life of Israel. It served to impress +on the mind of the people the great realities of sin and +<pb n='481'/><anchor id='Pg481'/> +forgiveness, and so to create that profound consciousness +of sin which has passed over, spiritualised but not +weakened, into Christian experience. Thus the law +proved itself a schoolmaster to bring men to Christ, in +whose atoning death the evil of sin and the eternal +conditions of forgiveness are once for all and perfectly +revealed. +</p> + +<p> +The positive truths taught or suggested by the ritual +of atonement are too numerous to be considered here. +It is a remarkable fact that neither in Ezekiel nor in +any other part of the Old Testament is an authoritative +interpretation given of the most essential features of the +ritual. The people seem to have been left to explain the +symbolism as best they could, and many points which are +obscure and uncertain to us must have been perfectly +intelligible to the least instructed amongst them. For us +the only safe rule is to follow the guidance of the New +Testament writers in their use of sacrificial institutions +as types of the death of Christ. The investigation is too +large and intricate to be attempted in this place. But it +may be well in conclusion to point out one or two general +principles, which ought never to be overlooked in the +typical interpretation of the expiatory sacrifices of the +Old Testament. +</p> + +<p> +In the first place atonement is provided only for sins +committed in ignorance; and moral and ceremonial offences +stand precisely on the same footing in the eye of the law. +In Ezekiel's system, indeed, it was only sins of inadvertence +that needed to be considered. He has in view the +final state of things in which the people, though not +perfect nor exempt from liability to error, are wholly +inclined to obey the law of Jehovah so far as their knowledge +and ability extend. But even in the Levitical legislation +there is no legal dispensation for guilt incurred +through wanton and deliberate defiance of the law of +<pb n='482'/><anchor id='Pg482'/> +Jehovah. To sin thus is to sin <q>with a high hand,</q><note place='foot'>As distinguished from sins, בִּשִׁנָנָה, or through inadvertence. See +Numb. xv. 30, 31.</note> and +such offences have to be expiated by the death of the +sinner, or at least his exclusion from the religious community. +And whether the precept belong to what we +call the ceremonial or to the moral side of the law, the +same principle holds good, although of course its application +is one-sided, strictly moral transgressions being for +the most part voluntary, while ritual offences may be +either voluntary or inadvertent. But for wilful and high-handed +departure from any precept, whether ethical or +ceremonial, no atonement is provided by the law; the +guilty person <q>falls into the hands of the living God,</q> +and forgiveness is possible only in the sphere of personal +relations between man and God, into which the law does +not enter. +</p> + +<p> +This leads to a second consideration. Atoning sacrifices +do not purchase forgiveness. That is to say, they +are never regarded as exercising any influence on God, +moving Him to mercy towards the sinner. They are +simply the forms to which, by Jehovah's own appointment, +the promise of forgiveness is attached. Hence +sacrifice has not the fundamental significance in Old +Testament religion that the death of Christ has in the +New. The whole sacrificial system, as we see quite +clearly from Ezekiel's prophecy, presupposes redemption; +the people are already restored to their land and sanctified +by Jehovah's presence amongst them before these institutions +come into operation. The only purpose that they +serve in the system of religion to which they belong is +to secure that the blessings of salvation shall not be lost. +Both in this vision and throughout the Old Testament +the ultimate ground of confidence in God lies in historic +<pb n='483'/><anchor id='Pg483'/> +acts of redemption in which Jehovah's sovereign grace +and love to Israel are revealed. Through the sacrifices +the individual was enabled to assure himself of his interest +in the covenant blessings promised to his nation. They +were the sacraments of his personal acceptance with +Jehovah, and as such were of the highest importance for +his normal religious life. But they were not and could +not be the basis of the forgiveness of sins, nor did later +Judaism ever fall into the error of seeking to appease the +Deity by a multiplication of sacrificial gifts. When the +insufficiency of the ritual system to give true peace of +conscience or to bring back the outward tokens of God's +favour is dwelt upon, the ancient Church falls back on the +spiritual conditions of forgiveness already enunciated by +the prophets. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Thou desirest not sacrifice that I should give it,</l> +<l>Thou delightest not in burnt-offering.</l> +<l>The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:</l> +<l>A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.<note place='foot'>Psalm li. 16, 17.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Finally, we have learned from Ezekiel that the idea of +atonement is not lodged in any particular rite, but pervades +the sacrificial system as a whole. Suggestive as +the ritual of the sin-offering is to the Christian conscience, +it must not be isolated from other developments of the +sacrificial idea or taken to embody the whole permanent +meaning of the institution. There are at least two other +aspects of sacrifice which are clearly expressed in the +ritual legislation of the Old Testament—that of homage, +chiefly symbolised by the burnt-offering, and that of +communion, symbolised by the peace-offering and the +sacrificial feast observed in connection with it. And +although, both in Ezekiel and the Levitical law, these two +elements are thrown into the shade by the idea of expiation, +<pb n='484'/><anchor id='Pg484'/> +yet there are subtle links of affinity between all three, +which will have to be traced out before we are in a position +to understand the first principles of sacrificial worship. +The brilliant and learned researches of the late Professor +Robertson Smith have thrown a flood of light on the +original rite of sacrifice and the important place which it +occupies in ancient religion.<note place='foot'>See his Burnet Lectures on the <hi rend='italic'>Religion of the Semites</hi>, to which, as +well as to his <hi rend='italic'>Old Testament in the Jewish Church</hi>, the present chapter is +largely indebted.</note> He has sought to explain +the intricate system of the Levitical legislation as an +unfolding, under varied historical influences, of different +aspects of the idea of communion between God and men, +which is the essence of primitive sacrifice. In particular +he has shown how special atoning sacrifices arise through +emphasising by appropriate symbolism the element of +reconciliation which is implicitly contained in every act +of religious communion with God. This at least enables +us to understand how the atoning ritual with all its +distinctive features yet resembles so closely that which +is common to all types of sacrifice, and how the idea +of expiation, although concentrated in a particular class +of sacrifices, is nevertheless spread over the whole surface +of the sacrificial ritual. It would be premature as well as +presumptuous to attempt here to estimate the consequences +of this theory for Christian theology. But it certainly +seems to open up the prospect of a wider and deeper +apprehension of the religious truths which are differentiated +and specialised in the Old Testament dispensation, +to be reunited in that great Atoning Sacrifice, in which +the blood of the new covenant has been shed for many for +the remission of sins. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='485'/><anchor id='Pg485'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter XXX. Renewal And Allotment Of The Land. Chapters xlvii., xlviii.</head> + +<p> +In the first part of the forty-seventh chapter the +visionary form of the revelation, which had been +interrupted by the important series of communications +on which we have been so long engaged, is again resumed. +The prophet, once more under the direction of his angelic +guide, sees a stream of water issuing from the Temple +buildings and flowing eastward into the Dead Sea.<note place='foot'>Ch. xlvii. 1-12.</note> +Afterwards he receives another series of directions relating +to the boundaries of the land and its division among the +twelve tribes.<note place='foot'>Chs. xlvii. 13-xlviii. 35.</note> With this the vision and the book find +their appropriate close. +</p> + +<div> +<head>I</head> + +<p> +The Temple stream, to which Ezekiel's attention is now +for the first time directed, is a symbol of the miraculous +transformation which the land of Canaan is to undergo in +order to fit it for the habitation of Jehovah's ransomed +people. Anticipations of a renewal of the face of nature +are a common feature of Messianic prophecy. They have +their roots in the religious interpretation of the possession +of the land as the chief token of the divine blessing on +the nation. In the vicissitudes of agricultural or pastoral +life the Israelite read the reflection of Jehovah's attitude +<pb n='486'/><anchor id='Pg486'/> +towards Himself and His people: fertile seasons and +luxuriant harvests were the sign of His favour; drought +and famine were the proof that He was offended. Even at +the best of times, however, the condition of Palestine left +much to be desired from the husbandman's point of view, +especially in the kingdom of Judah. Nature was often +stern and unpropitious, the cultivation of the soil was +always attended with hardship and uncertainty, large +tracts of the country were given over to irreclaimable +barrenness. There was always a vision of better things +possible, and in the last days the prophets cherished the +expectation that that vision would be realised. When all +causes of offence are removed from Israel and Jehovah +smiles on His people, the land will blossom into supernatural +fertility, the ploughman overtaking the reaper, and +the treader of grapes him that soweth seed, the mountains +dropping new wine and the hills melting.<note place='foot'>Amos ix. 13.</note> Such idyllic +pictures of universal plenty and comfort abound in the +writings of the prophets, and are not wanting in the pages +of Ezekiel. We have already had one in the description +of the blessings of the Messianic kingdom;<note place='foot'>Ch. xxxiv. 25-29.</note> and we shall +see that in this closing vision a complete remodelling of +the land is presupposed, rendering it all alike suitable for +the habitation of the tribes of Israel. +</p> + +<p> +The river of life is the most striking presentation of +this general conception of Messianic felicity. It is one of +those vivid images from Eastern life which, through the +Apocalypse, have passed into the symbolism of Christian +eschatology. <q>And he showed me a pure river of water +of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of +God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, +and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, +which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruits +every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the +<pb n='487'/><anchor id='Pg487'/> +healing of the nations.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. xxii. 1, 2.</note> So writes the seer of Patmos, +in words whose music charms the ear even of those to +whom running water means much less than it did to a +native of thirsty Palestine. But John had read of the +mystic river in the pages of his favourite prophet before +he saw it in vision. The close resemblance between the +two pictures leaves no doubt that the origin of the conception +is to be sought in Ezekiel's vision. The underlying +religious truth is the same in both representations, +that the presence of God is the source from which the influences +flow forth that renew and purify human existence. +The tree of life on each bank of the river, which yields +its fruit every month and whose leaves are for healing, +is a detail transferred directly from Ezekiel's imagery to +fill out the description of the glorious city of God into +which the nations of them that are saved are gathered. +</p> + +<p> +But with all its idealism, Ezekiel's conception presents +many points of contact with the actual physiography of +Palestine; it is less universal and abstract in its significance +than that of the Apocalypse. The first thing that +might have suggested the idea to the prophet is that the +Temple mount had at least one small stream, whose <q>soft-flowing</q> +waters were already regarded as a symbol of the +silent and unobtrusive influence of the divine presence in +Israel.<note place='foot'>Isa. viii. 6.</note> The waters of this stream flowed eastward, but +they were too scanty to have any appreciable effect on the +fertility of the region through which they passed. Further, +to the south-east of Jerusalem, between it and the Dead +Sea, stretched the great wilderness of Judah, the most +desolate and inhospitable tract in the whole country. +There the steep declivity of the limestone range refuses +to detain sufficient moisture to nourish the most meagre +vegetation, although the few spots where wells are found, +as at Engedi, are clothed with almost tropical luxuriance. +<pb n='488'/><anchor id='Pg488'/> +To reclaim these barren slopes and render them fit for +human industry, the Temple waters are sent eastward, +making the desert to blossom as the rose. Lastly, there +was the Dead Sea itself, in whose bitter waters no living +thing can exist, the natural emblem of resistance to the +purposes of Him who is the God of life. These different +elements of the physical reality were familiar to Ezekiel, +and come back to mind as he follows the course of the +new Temple river, and observes the wonderful transformation +which it is destined to effect. He first sees it +breaking forth from the wall of the Temple at the right-hand +side of the entrance, and flowing eastward through +the courts by the south side of the altar. Then at the +outer wall he meets it rushing from the south side of the +eastern gate, and still pursuing its easterly course. At a +thousand cubits from the sanctuary it is only ankle deep, +but at successive distances of a thousand cubits it reaches +to the knees, to the loins, and becomes finally an impassable +river. The stream is of course miraculous from +source to mouth. Earthly rivers do not thus broaden +and deepen as they flow, except by the accession of +tributaries, and tributaries are out of the question here. +Thus it flows on, with its swelling volume of water, +through <q>the eastern circuit,</q> <q>down to the Arabah</q> +(the trough of the Jordan and the Dead Sea), and reaching +the sea it sweetens its waters so that they teem with +fishes of all kinds like those of the Mediterranean. Its +uninviting shores become the scene of a busy and thriving +industry; fishermen ply their craft from Engedi to +Eneglaim,<note place='foot'>Engedi, <q>well of the kid,</q> is at the middle of the western shore; +Eneglaim, <q>well of two calves,</q> is unknown, but probably lay at the +north end. The eastern side is left to the Arabian nomads.</note> and the food supply of the country is materially +increased. The prophet may not have been greatly +concerned about this, but one characteristic detail illustrates +<pb n='489'/><anchor id='Pg489'/> +his careful forethought in matters of practical +utility. It is from the Dead Sea that Jerusalem has +always obtained its supply of salt. The purification of +this lake might have its drawbacks if the production of +this indispensable commodity should be interfered with. +Salt, besides its culinary uses, played an important part +in the Temple ritual, and Ezekiel was not likely to forget +it. Hence the strange but eminently practical provision +that the shallows and marshes at the south end of the +lake shall be exempted from the influence of the healing +waters. <q>They are given for salt.</q><note place='foot'>Ver. 11.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We may venture to draw one lesson for our own instruction +from this beautiful prophetic image of the +blessings that flow from a pure religion. The river of +God has its source high up in the mount where Jehovah +dwells in inaccessible holiness, and where the white-robed +priests minister ceaselessly before Him; but in its descent +it seeks out the most desolate and unpromising region in +the country, and turns it into a garden of the Lord. +While the whole land of Israel is to be renewed and +made to minister to the good of man in fellowship with +God, the main stream of fertility is expended in the +apparently hopeless task of reclaiming the Judæan desert +and purifying the Dead Sea. It is an emblem of the +earthly ministry of Him who made Himself the friend of +publicans and sinners, and lavished the resources of His +grace and the wealth of His affection on those who were +deemed beyond ordinary possibility of salvation. It is to +be feared, however, that the practice of most Churches +has been too much the reverse of this. They have been +tempted to confine the water of life within fairly respectable +channels, amongst the prosperous and contented, the +occupants of happy homes, where the advantages of +<pb n='490'/><anchor id='Pg490'/> +religion are most likely to be appreciated. That seems +to have been found the line of least resistance, and in +times when spiritual life has run low it has been counted +enough to keep the old ruts filled and leave the waste +places and stagnant waters of our civilisation ill provided +with the means of grace. Nowadays we are +sometimes reminded that the Dead Sea must be drained +before the gospel can have a fair chance of influencing +human lives, and there may be much wisdom in the suggestion. +A vast deal of social drainage may have to be +accomplished before the word of God has free course. +Unhealthy and impure conditions of life may be mitigated +by wise legislation, temptations to vice may be removed, +and vested interests that thrive on the degradation of +human lives may be crushed by the strong arm of the +community. But the true spirit of Christianity can +neither be confined to the watercourses of religious habit, +nor wait for the schemes of the social reformer. Nor will +it display its powers of social salvation until it carries the +energies of the Church into the lowest haunts of vice and +misery with an earnest desire to seek and to save that +which is lost. Ezekiel had his vision, and he believed in +it. He believed in the reality of God's presence in the +sanctuary and in the stream of blessings that flowed +from His throne, and he believed in the possibility of +reclaiming the waste places of his country for the kingdom +of God. When Christians are united in like faith in the +power of Christ and the abiding presence of His Spirit, we +may expect to see times of refreshing from the presence +of God and the whole earth filled with the knowledge of +the Lord as the waters cover the sea. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II</head> + +<p> +Ezekiel's map of Palestine is marked by something of +the same mathematical regularity which was exhibited in +<pb n='491'/><anchor id='Pg491'/> +his plan of the Temple. His boundaries are like those we +sometimes see on the map of a newly settled country like +America or Australia—that is to say, they largely follow +the meridian lines and parallels of latitude, but take advantage +here and there of natural frontiers supplied by +rivers and mountain ranges. This is absolutely true of +the internal divisions of the land between the tribes. +Here the northern and southern boundaries are straight +lines running east and west over hill and dale, and terminating +at the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan Valley, +which form of course the western and eastern limits. As to +the external delimitation of the country it is unfortunately +not possible to speak with certainty. The eastern frontier +is fixed by the Jordan and the Dead Sea so far as they +go, and the western is the sea. But on the north and +south the lines of demarcation cannot be traced, the places +mentioned being nearly all unknown. The north frontier +extends from the sea to a place called Hazar-enon, said +to lie on the border of Hauran. It passes the <q>entrance +to Hamath,</q> and has to the north not only Hamath, but +also the territory of Damascus. But none of the towns +through which it passes—Hethlon, Berotha, Sibraim—can +be identified, and even its general direction is altogether +uncertain.<note place='foot'>I do not myself see much objection to supposing that it leaves the +sea near Tyre and proceeds about due east to Hazar-enon, which may +be near the foot of Hermon, where Robinson located it. In this case the +<q>entrance to Hamath</q> would be the south end of the <hi rend='italic'>Beḳa'</hi>, where one +strikes north to go to Hamath. This would correspond nearly to the +extent of the country actually occupied by the Hebrews under the +judges and the monarchy. The statement that the territory of Damascus +lies to the north presents some difficulty on any theory. It may be +added that Hazar-hattikon in ver. 16 is the same as Hazar-enon; it is +probably, as Cornill suggests, a scribe's error for נצרה ענון (the locative +ending being mistaken for the article).</note> +</p> + +<p> +From Hazar-enon the eastern border stretches southward +<pb n='492'/><anchor id='Pg492'/> +till it reaches the Jordan, and is prolonged south +of the Dead Sea to a place called Tamar, also unknown. +From this we proceed westwards by Kadesh till we strike +the river of Egypt, the Wady el-Arish, which carries the +boundary to the sea. It will be seen that Ezekiel, for +reasons on which it is idle to speculate, excludes the +transjordanic territory from the Holy Land. Speaking +broadly, we may say that he treats Palestine as a rectangular +strip of country, which he divides into transverse +sections of indeterminate breadth, and then proceeds to +parcel out these amongst the twelve tribes. +</p> + +<p> +A similar obscurity rests on the motives which determined +the disposition of the different tribes within the +sacred territory. We can understand, indeed, why seven +tribes are placed to the north and only five to the south +of the capital and the sanctuary. Jerusalem lay much +nearer the south of the land, and in the original distribution +all the tribes had their settlements to the north of +it except Judah and Simeon. Ezekiel's arrangement seems +thus to combine a desire for symmetry with a recognition +of the claims of historical and geographic reality. We +can also see that to a certain extent the relative positions +of the tribes correspond with those they held before the +Exile, although of course the system requires that they +shall lie in a regular series from north to south. Dan, +Asher, and Naphtali are left in the extreme north, Manasseh +and Ephraim to the south of them, while Simeon lies +as of old in the south with one tribe between it and the +capital. But we cannot tell why Benjamin should be +placed to the south and Judah to the north of Jerusalem, +why Issachar and Zebulun are transferred from the far +north to the south, or why Reuben and Gad are taken +from the east of the Jordan to be settled one to the north +and the other to the south of the city. Some principle +of arrangement there must have been in the mind of the +<pb n='493'/><anchor id='Pg493'/> +prophet, and several have been suggested; but it is +perhaps better to confess that we have lost the key to +his meaning.<note place='foot'>Smend, for example, points out that if we count the Levites' portion +as a tribal inheritance, and include Manasseh and Ephraim under the +house of Joseph (as is done in the naming of the gates of the city), we +have the sons of Rachel and Leah evenly distributed on either side of +the <q>oblation.</q> Then at the farthest distance from the Temple are the +sons of Jacob's handmaids, Gad in the extreme south, and Dan, Asher, +and Naphtali in the north. This is ingenious, but not in the least +convincing.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The prophet's interest is centred on the strip of land +reserved for the sanctuary and public purposes, which is +subdivided and measured out with the utmost precision. +It is twenty-five thousand cubits (about 8-1/3 miles) broad, +and extends right across the country. The two extremities +east and west are the crown lands assigned to the prince +for the purposes we have already seen. In the middle a +square of twenty-five thousand cubits is marked off; this +is the <q>oblation</q> or sacred offering of land, in the middle +of which the Temple stands. This again is subdivided +into three parallel sections, as shown in the accompanying +diagram. The most northerly, ten thousand cubits in +<pb n='494'/><anchor id='Pg494'/> +breadth, is assigned to the Levites; the central portion, +including the sanctuary, to the priests; and the remaining +five thousand cubits is a <q>profane place</q> for the city and +its common lands. The city itself is a square of four +thousand five hundred cubits, situated in the middle of +this southmost section of the oblation. With its free +space of two hundred and fifty cubits in width belting the +wall it fills the entire breadth of the section; the communal +possessions flanking it on either hand, just as the +prince's domain does the <q>oblation</q> as a whole. The +produce of these lands is <q>for food to them that <q>serve</q> +[<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, inhabit] the city.</q><note place='foot'>Ver. 18.</note> Residence in the capital, it +appears, is to be regarded as a public service. The +maintenance of the civic life of Jerusalem was an object +in which the whole nation was interested, a truth symbolised +by naming its twelve gates after the twelve sons of Jacob.<note place='foot'>Vv. 31-34. It is difficult to trace a clear connection between the +positions of the gates and the geographical distribution of the tribes in +the country. The fact that here Levi is counted as a tribe and Ephraim +and Manasseh are united under the name of Joseph indicates perhaps +that none was intended.</note> +Hence, also, its population is to be representative of all +the tribes of Israel, and whoever comes to dwell there is +to have a share in the land belonging to the city.<note place='foot'>Ver. 19.</note> But +evidently the legislation on this point is incomplete. How +were the inhabitants of the capital to be chosen out of +all the tribes? Would its citizenship be regarded as a +privilege or as an onerous responsibility? Would it be +necessary to make a selection out of a host of applications, +or would special inducements have to be offered to procure +a sufficient population? To these questions the vision +furnishes no answer, and there is nothing to show whether +Ezekiel contemplated the possibility that residence in the +new city might present few attractions and many disadvantages +<pb n='495'/><anchor id='Pg495'/> +to an agricultural community such as he had +in view. It is a curious incident of the return from the +Exile that the problem of peopling Jerusalem emerged in +a more serious form than Ezekiel from his ideal point +of view could have foreseen. We read that <q>the rulers +of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people +also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem, +the holy city, and nine parts in [other] cities. And the +people blessed all the men that willingly offered themselves +to dwell at Jerusalem.</q><note place='foot'>Neh. xi. 1, 2.</note> There may have been +causes for this general reluctance which are unknown to +us, but the principal reason was doubtless the one which +has been hinted at, that the new colony lived mainly by +agriculture, and the district in the immediate vicinity of +the capital was not sufficiently fertile to support a large +agricultural population. The new Jerusalem was at first +a somewhat artificial foundation, and a city too largely +developed for the resources of the community of which +it was the centre. Its existence was necessary more for +the protection and support of the Temple than for the +ordinary ends of civilisation; and hence to dwell in it +was for the majority an act of self-sacrifice by which a +man was felt to deserve well of his country. And the +only important difference between the actual reality and +Ezekiel's ideal is that in the latter the supernatural fertility +of the land and the reign of universal peace obviate the +difficulties which the founders of the post-exilic theocracy +had to encounter. +</p> + +<p> +This seeming indifference of the prophet to the secular +interests represented by the metropolis strikes us as a +singular feature in his programme. It is strange that the +man who was so thoughtful about the salt-pans of the +Dead Sea should pass so lightly over the details of +<pb n='496'/><anchor id='Pg496'/> +the reconstruction of a city. But we have had several +intimations that this is not the department of things in +which Ezekiel's hold on reality is most conspicuous. We +have already remarked on the boldness of the conception +which changes the site of the capital in order to guard the +sanctity of the Temple. And now, when its situation and +form are accurately defined, we have no sketch of municipal +institutions, no hint of the purposes for which the +city exists, and no glimpse of the busy and varied +activities which we naturally connect with the name. If +Ezekiel thought of it at all, except as existing on paper, +he was probably interested in it as furnishing the representative +congregation on minor occasions of public +worship, such as the Sabbaths and new moons, when the +whole people could not be expected to assemble. The +truth is that the idea of the city in the vision is simply an +abstract religious symbol, a sort of epitome and concentration +of theocratic life. Like the figure of the prince in +earlier chapters, it is taken from the national institutions +which perished at the Exile; the outline is retained, the +typical significance is enhanced, but the form is shadowy +and indistinct, the colour and variety of concrete reality are +absent. It was perhaps a stage through which political +conceptions had to pass before their religious meaning +could be apprehended. And yet the fact that the symbol +of the Holy City is preserved is deeply suggestive and +indeed scarcely less important in its own way than the +retention of the type of the king. Ezekiel can no more +think of the land without a capital than of the state without +a prince. The word <q>city</q>—synonym of the fullest +and most intense form of life, of life regulated by law +and elevated by devotion to a common ideal, in which +every worthy faculty of human nature is quickened by the +close and varied intercourse of men with each other—has +definitely taken its place in the vocabulary of religion. +<pb n='497'/><anchor id='Pg497'/> +It is there, not to be superseded, but to be refined and +spiritualised, until the city of God, glorified in the praises +of Israel, becomes the inspiration of the loftiest thought +and the most ardent longing of Christendom. And even +for the perplexing problems that the Church has to face +at this day there is hardly a more profitable exercise of +the Christian imagination than to dream with practical +intent of the consecration of civic life through the subjection +of all its influences to the ends of the Redeemer's +kingdom. +</p> + +<p> +On the other hand we must surely recognise that this +vision of a Temple and a city separated from each other—where +religious and secular interests are as it were concentrated +at different points, so that the one may be more +effectually subordinated to the other—is not the final and +perfect vision of the kingdom of God. That ideal has +played a leading and influential part in the history of +Christianity. It is essentially the ideal formulated in +Augustine's great work on the city of God, which ruled +the ecclesiastical polity of the mediæval Church. The +State is an unholy institution; it is an embodiment of the +power of this present evil world: the true city of God is +the visible Catholic Church, and only by subjection to the +Church can the State be redeemed from itself and be made +a means of blessing. That theory served a providential +purpose in preserving the traditions of Christianity through +dark and troubled ages, and training the rude nations of +Europe in purity and righteousness and reverence for that +by which God makes Himself known. But the Reformation +was, amongst other things, a protest against this +conception of the relation of Church to State, of the sacred +to the secular. By asserting the right of each believer to +deal with Christ directly without the mediation of Church +or priest it broke down the middle wall of partition +between religion and every-day duty; it sanctified common +<pb n='498'/><anchor id='Pg498'/> +life by showing how a man may serve God as a citizen +in the family or the workshop better than in the cloister +or at the altar. It made the kingdom of God to be a +present power wherever there are lives transformed by +love to Christ and serving their fellow-men for His sake. +And if Catholicism may find some plausible support for +its theory in Ezekiel and the Old Testament theocracy +in general, Protestants may perhaps with better right +appeal to the grander ideal represented by the new Jerusalem +of the Apocalypse—the city that needs no Temple, +because the Lord Himself is in her midst. +</p> + +<p> +<q>And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming +down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride +adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out +of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with +men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His +people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their +God.... And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord +God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And +the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to +shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the +Lamb is the light thereof.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. xxi. 2, 3, 22, 23.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It may be difficult for us amid the entanglements of the +present to read that vision aright—difficult to say whether +it is on earth or in heaven that we are to look for the +city in which there is no Temple. Worship is an essential +function of the Church of Christ; and so long as we are +in our earthly abode worship will require external symbols +and a visible organisation. But this at least we know, +that the will of God must be done on earth as it is in +heaven. The true kingdom of God is within us; and +His presence with men is realised, not in special religious +services which stand apart from our common life, but in +<pb n='499'/><anchor id='Pg499'/> +the constant influence of His Spirit, forming our characters +after the image of Christ, and permeating all the channels +of social intercourse and public action, until everything +done on earth is to the glory of our Father which is in +heaven. That is the ideal set forth by the coming of the +holy city of God, and only in this way can we look for +the fulfilment of the promise embodied in the new name of +Ezekiel's city, Jehovah-shammah,— +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>The Lord is There.</hi> +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +</body> +<back rend="page-break-before: right"> + <div id="footnotes"> + <index index="toc" /> + <index index="pdf" /> + <head>Footnotes</head> + <divGen type="footnotes"/> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> + <divGen type="pgfooter" /> + </div> +</back> +</text> +</TEI.2> diff --git a/46975-tei/images/cover.jpg b/46975-tei/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0e6fdc2 --- /dev/null +++ b/46975-tei/images/cover.jpg |
