saying, " Our bones are dried ; our hope is lost ; we are cut off for our parts : " may they not with far greater propriety adopt the same language now? and may not we regard all attempts for their con- version as altogether hopeless, even as hopeless as the resuscitation of dry bones, that have been for ages crumbled into dust ?
Yet hopeless as their state appears, we should not be discouraged from performing,
II. Our duty towards them —
The command which God gave to the prophet in my text was not personal to him, but general to all who are partakers of superior light and liberty. The whole was not a real transaction, but a vision, in- tended for the instruction of the Church of God in all ages, and especially for those who should be alive at the period destined for the accomplishment of the prophecy. We may consider therefore the directions here given as applicable to ourselves, and as com- prising our duty towards the house of Israel. It con- sists in these two things, The communicating of in- struction to them, and The praying unto Goal for them.
We should, as far as lies in our power, communicate instruction to them. The word " prophecy " does not necessarily import an utterance of predictions ; it is often used for the conveying of instruction in the name of God: and this is what we are bound to do to the Jewish people, each of us according to the abilities we possess, and the opportunities that are afforded us. We are not all called to exercise the ministerial office ; but we are to impart in conversation the knowledge we have received. No Christian what- ever is to put his light under a bushel or a bed, but on a candlestick, that it may give light to those who are within the sphere of its influence. If we have but one talent, we are to use it for the honour of our God, and the benefit of our fellow-creatures.
But here it is to be regretted, that the generality of Christians are themselves destitute of the information which they are called upon to communicate. Nor is