Evening star., 1922-07-01
Sunday School Lesson

by giving to Ezekiel vision of
heaven and of God.
There Were false prophets among
the eXiles who predicted that the ma
tion was indispensable to Jehovah
and that He would soon restore them
to Jerusalem. 1t was to oppose this
popular and baseless hope that God
called Ezekiel TO become His prophet
and the pastor of the Jewish exiles.
He had wept with jeremiah over the
failure of the nation to repent and
return TO Gods service when he was
in Jerusalem and enjoyed the privi-
lege of the temple service. The news
that reached him from the homeland
enabled the young priest to see the
coming catastrophe that would blot
Judah out from the ranks of the ma
tions of the earth unless they re-
pented and returned to the worship
of Jehovah.
Uprooted from his native land. there
came to Ezekiel in the darkness of
despair and depression of the exiIes
the truth that God was not limited to
any nation or to any place. The huge
figures that guarded the royal palaces
and pagan places of Babylon appeal
ed to Ezekiel -and in the vision that
God gave him when He called him 10
become His prophet He revealed TO
His servant their spiritual signif1-
canoe. The truth dawned upon
Ezekiel that Jehovah was greater
than local deity. for he came to see
in the vision of the Lord something
of His power. majesty and glory as
Supreme Ruler of all nations and
men. This fact called for every soul
to worship Him and gave 10 ne
prophet his religious message 1t was
amidst the trials and tribulations of
the exile that Judaism. as we'll as de-
mocracy, was born with a spiritual
message that gave the Jewish race d.
worldwide mission and power. 1t
was largely due to the leadership and
teachings of Ezekiel who responded
to Gods call for him to be watch
man. that the Hebrew people received
their spiritual salvation and We're re-
stored to Palestine after the exile had
freed them from the taints of idola-
try and iniquity.
Ezekiers call differed from that of
all other prophets. His message was
to be based upon the truths of the
scriptures He was called to be an
expositor of Gods word. He was
not to preach until he had first mas,
tered and been filed with the divine
message. His ministry is closely
linked up with that of jeremiah. In
| the early days that preceded the
downfall of Judah. which event we
studied in our last two lessons, Eze-
kiel called upon the people to repent
that God might eXalt them. Calvin
has well said that God made Jere-
arraigning the Jews as guilty and
holding up before them the sentence
of condemnation" The early portion
of his prophecy referred peculiarly to
the perils and punishment of the peo-
pie. He delivered his message of
condemnation in acted para bles and
pictured symbols so that the people
could clearly understand his visions
of Gods justice and mercy.
The preacher of judgment has no
easy task. The condemnation OF
Judah was not vindication or
heathenism. Ezekiel proclaimed that
the same law governed the heather
nations that surrounded Israel. He
insisted that they would receive mer-
tied punishment for their transgres-
sion When this truth was first re-
vealed to the prophet it filled him
with displeasure. However, when he
saw over against this dark back
ground the mercy and glory of God.
with the assurance of the future
restoration of Judah to their native
land and the future glory OF the
Kingdom of God, then he was filled
| with joy.
The man who has a vision of God
i has a message for men. Ezekiel could
not refrain from preaching, even il
he wished to be silent. The propul-
sive power of his vision of Jehovah
filled him with a message to Judah.
| whom he realized would not heed his
CONTINUED on Ninth Page.)