The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1 — Section 54

is not to be questioned by any reasonable student of the moral history ,of mankind, Nowhere more strikingly than in the history of Israel has it been shown that they who resist Divine authority and violate Divine Law incur the most awful guilt and entail upon themselves the most awful punishments. Sentimentalists may complain that such assertions are the expression of severity and fanaticism; but it remains for ever true that " the way of transgressors is hard," and " the wages of sin is death." IV. MAN'S GUILTY REBELLION PROMPTED INFINITE IIIEROY TO PROVIDE A VAST REDEMPTION Al>"'D DELIVERANCE. The.history of the Hebrew people exhibits instances not only of human apostasy, but of Divine compassion and merciful interposition and deliverance. Thus'. the Captivity was itself a punishment for rebellion, for idolatry, and for all the evils idolatry brought upon the nation. Yet God did not forget to be gracious. He made the Captivity an occasion for displaying his grace; mercy triumphed , over judgment. Repentance and submission took the place of resistance and defiance. , ")iscipline, chastisement, answered its appointed purpose. God pitied the rebels even whilst he censured the rebellion. And very similar has been his treatment of mankind at large. The whole race has rebelled, and the whole race has been redeemed. There is spiritual amnesty provided through Christ Jesus, reconciliation through faith and repentance, restoration to affectionate loyalty and to happy subjection through the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit. V. WHEN REBELLION IS SUBDUED, AND THE REBEL HUMBLED, SUBJEOTION IS FOLLOWED BY LOYALTY AND HAPPINESS. God does not leave his work half done. He pardons the penitent, but he blesses the loyal and the reconciled. Great is the change which takes place in the state of him who has laid down the weapons of rebellion and has cast him- self in penitence and submission before the footstool of the throne. As rebellion is exchanged for loyalty, and defiance for submission and gratitude, so disgrace is exchanged for honour, and the just sentence of death for the merciful assurance of Divine favour and eternal life.-T. Vers. 4, 5.-The prophet's C()mmission. Nothing is clearer than that the prophets did not believe themselves to be acting and speaking simply upon the promptings of their own inclinations or their own convictions of what was right and expedient. Whether they were self-deluded or not, certain it is that they deemed themselves ministers and messengers of the Eternal. It was this which gave them both courage and authority. In the most explicit manner, Ezekiel in this passage records his commission to go among his fellow-countrymen as the herald of God's wisdom, authority, and i::race. I. THE COMMISSION. "I do send thee unto them." There is great simplicity and great dignity in this language of authorization; he who heard it could never forget it. When disappointed in the result of his ministry, or alarmed at the threats of those whom he sought to benefit, these words must often have recurred to the mind of the prophet, inspiring him with fresh zeal and courage. If the ambassador of a powerful king is strengthened in the fulfilment of his trust by the recollection that he received his authority from a court honoured by friends and feared by foes, bow much more must the ambassador from God derive courage and confidence from the knowledge that he is sent by the Supreme, who will never desert those who engage in his service and do his will I Il THE MESSAGE. At first the prophet received no other message than this: "Thus saith the Lord God." But thiB was the earnest of much to follow. And, indeed, the whole of the prophecies were amplifications of this. Ezekiel was to go among the children of the Captivity with words from Jehovah. A prophet is one who speaks for, on behalf of, the Divine Being by whom he is commissioned. If the speaker had his own special reasons for _believing !hat the wor?s he uttered wei:e not his o":n, but ~od:s, those who listened to his declarations of warnrng and of promise had a witness within, in the testimony of their own conscience, assuring them that the prophet spoke with Divine authority. And this is so still with all who will listen reverently and obediently to the heavenly voice. It is thus that the Scriptures possess over our minds a pre- eminent power; their writers preface every authoritative utterance with the statement, "Thus saith the Lord." III. THE VARIOUS RECEPTION OF THE MESSAGE. It is in accordance with the reason- ableness of the inspired writers that they cherished such moderate expectations regarding on. u. 1-10.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 39