The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1 — Section 31

J; '].'lllll QUI0KENING AND ILLUMINATION OF THE MIND TO RECEIVE THE TRUTH, The word is the expression of the thought. 'l'he Divine word is the utterance of the Divine thought, and the Divine thought is truth. The expression here used implies a community of no.turn between man and God. God has thoughts and purposes which concern man's good; nnd man's highest well-being is dependent upon the introduction of these into his spiritual nature. Man has not simply to hear and understand the word; it is for him to welcome and retain and ponder it, as a precious possession and a mighty power. The word of God, no doubt, came in a special sense to the prophets; there was a directness, an absence of any intermediary, in this communication. Through the prophet the word came to the people, to whom it might and did prove a word of enlightenment, of warning, of encouragement. That this might be so, the prophet's nature needed to be yielded up to the penetrating, purifying, illumining grace of God himself. II. THE BUllMISSION AND OBEDIENOE OF THE WILL PRACTICALLY TO ACKNOWLEDGE DIVINE AUTHORITY. The "hand of the Lord" is an expression frequently met with in the Scriptures. Nehemiah acknowledges the "good hand of God upon him." To interpret the expression, it must be remembered that the hand is the symbol of activity, of the practical nature, of direction, of control, of protecting power. Now, a man could not fulfil prophetic functions simply by hearing the word of the Lord; there was some- thing for him to do. In truth, the relations between God and man are such that it is necessary that God should command, and that man should obey. And if this is true of men generally, it is manifestly true of those who were called to the prophetic office. They had need not Bimply of revelation, but of guidance, of authority exercised and conveyed. What is this but to say that they needed that the hand of the Lord should be upon them? It must be remembered that the Prophet Ezekiel discharged his ministry, both by the communication verbally of Divine messages, and by the performance of certain actions. Of these actions some were symbolical, and others were directly and obviously instructive and directive. '!'bus the prophet needed, not merely the word of the Lord to enter his mind, but the hand of the Lord to control and govern his conduct. APPLICATION. True religion is twofold. It enjoins upon us (1) the reception of Divine truth, as graciously revealed in various ways to the :human intelligence; and (2) the subjection to Divine authority, as exercised with wisdom and compassion by him whose omnipotent hand can both point out the path of duty and service, and can clear away every obstacle which might prevent that path being pursued.-T. Vers. 4-25.-The glory of the Eternal. This marvellous vision, which has corre- spondences with others to be found in Scripture, must be interpreted in the light of the prophet's peculiar genius and imagination, e.nd in the light oi the canons and cusloms of ancient and Oriental art. To find significance in every detail would be to indulge an idle curiosity; to dismiss the figures as the product of an imagination dissociated from truth would be irrational and irreverent. It is plain that Ezekiel was posse~sed, and all but overwhelmed, by a conviction of the glorious attributes and universal sway of God. The imagery under which he conceived and represented the Divine presence and government is altogether different from either classical or modern art; but it would be a narrow pedantry which on this account would repudiate it as valueless or ineffective. In fact, it is opulent, varied, and impressive. Everything earthly must come short of setting forth Divine glory; yet much is communicated or suggested by this vision of the majesty of the Eternal which may aid us to apprehend God's character, and reverently to study God's kingly operations carried on throughout the universe. I. 'l'HE GLORY OF THE ETERNAL IS BEEN IN NATURAL FOR0ES. It was in these, as in a setting, that the more specific forms discerned by the prophet were en$hrined. The stormy wind from the north, the greiJ.t cloud with its flashing fire, the amber brightness gleaming about it,-all these are manifestations of an unseen but mighty poll'er, recognized by the spirit as Divine. This is certainly a stroke of the true artist, first to portray the material, the vehicle, and then to proceed to paint in the more defined symbolic figures. '!'he modern doctrine of the correlation and convertibility of forces points us to the unity which is at the heart of all things, and convinces us that we are lil a universe, a cosmos, which, if it is to bo explained by any rntional aud spiritu,il 16 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [OH, I, 1-28,