The Yale expositor., 1911-10-05


The earlier prophecies of this second part
OF Ezekiel were written IL or Is years be-
| fore in $50, 5.
PLACE-It was written at Tel-abib on
the river Chebar in Babylonia, to the
! eXiles scattered throughout that region
| PLACE IN HISTORY-It belongs to the
second part of Ezekiel's prophecies, the
| object of which was to prepare the people
| for their return. 1t was like leaven work.
ing during the SO years before the people
were fitted to begin anew in Palestine.
Nebuchadnezzar, king OF Babylonia.
Daniel still living as statesman.
In our last lesson we studied the
warnings by which God, through his
prophet Ezekiel, would persuade Is
rael to so repent and return to God,
that it would not be necessary to per-
NIT Jerusalem and the Temple to be
destroyed. The people refused. The
city was destroyed. The Temple was
burned, and its treasures borne away
by the Chaldeans. The best of the
people, those in which were the great
est possibilities of good, and the larg
est capacity for being trained, were
sent into far distant exile, for their
schooling; very much as their ances-
tors were disciplined and trained in
the wilderness that they might be en-
abled to take possession Of the Prom
Used Land.
They were as sheep without a shep-
herd. Their former rulers, whom God
had placed as shepherds over his peo-
! pie in their own land, had proved
false, and instead of leading them to
the green pastures and still waters of
obedience and righteousness, had done
none of the things ruler-shepherd
ought to do. They killed the flock in
stead of feeding it. They neglected
the sick. They left the flock to be
torn by wild beasts. They let them be
scattered upon the face of the earth,
and none did search or seek after
them" Now God promised them a
true shepherd.
| Ezekiel became one Of the Society
/ of Encouragers." The new day was
/ yet nearly so years in the future, but
the promise and the hope and the goal
were from this time before their eyes.
! The possibility of redemption, of a
new life of blessing, of glorious and
perfect heaven, is one of the first es-
! sentials for escaping from life of sim
The assurance Of perfect earth, Of
the transformation of this world into
! the kingdom Of heaven, is strength,
! courage, success for those laboring for
| this object.
In order to attain this hope, and
realize this promise, it was abso-
lutely necessary that they should
have change Of heart. The heart in
! Scripture denotes the center Of mans
personal activities. 1t is the organ Of
thought, the seat of the affections, and
all moral impulses, of choice, and
! life, from wrong heart flows a wrong
life.
A homo Of worship, temple or
church, hours of Bible study and wor-
ship, sacred days, some forms of serv-
| ice or ritual, persons set apart for re-
ligious teaching-are essential to the
cultivation of religion and the prog
ress of the truth. These forms and
airs must indeed be filled With the
spirit. They that worship God must
worship him in spirit and in truth"
Hence these visions of Ezekiel. And
in fact, there grew up among the ex-
| lies, religious organizations, syra-
gogues, schools, Sabbath keeping
which prepared them for their return
and their restoration as the visible
people of God. The temple was the
symbol of Gods permanent presence.
One thing only was wanting the wa
tiers of eternal life, the Holy Spirit,
in each one who receives, a well Of
water springing up into everlasting
life. 1t is the stream of salvation,
widening into the gospel, flowing
through the centuries.
On the east side of the Jerusalem
temple there is a valley which leads
to the Dead sea. The healing waters,
"a soft flowing stream, regarded as a
symbol of the silent and unobtrusive
influence Of the divine presence in Is
rael, came from God, through his sane
tuary, the source of all good, all pow
er for salvation. So six centuries
later the powers which have changed
the world, the widened stream of sal.
walton, came from the risen Saviour.
1t cannot be useless to insist upon
a clear understanding of the relative
positions of the threshold from be-
low which the waters proceed forth,
and the Dead sea which is to be heal
ed thereby.
The river brings life, wherever its
waters flow. The Dead sea, wherein
sit Is impossible for any form of life
to flourish, not even saltwater fish,"
It fills with fish as many and great
as in the Mediterranean itself. 1t
heals the heavy sulphurous waters
and they are filled with living things.
So the new life that God was bring
ing to the exiles, would change all
their discouragemcnts and hardness
of heart, their tendencies to sin and
idolatry, all their heather surround
lngs and influences which had dead
ened their consciences and darkened