Mal. i. 1). And the Word of the Lord to the rebellious and the hardened (such as the Israelites were) is still a. stern word-a word of condemnation and woe, '1.'he true prophet cannot prophesy smooth things to stiff-necked sinners, To such ohare.oters he must proclaim "the severity of God." III. THE PROPHETIC MESSAGE MUST DE WELL DIGESTED BY THE PROPHET, "More• over he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll," etc. (eh. iii. 1-3). The meaning of this is given in eh. iii. 10, "Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears." He must receive it, meditate upon it, appropriate it, make it a part of his beina-, "Here we have the right expression," says Umbreit on eating the roll, "to enabltl us to form a jndgment and estimate of true inspiration. 'l'he Divine does not remain as a strange element in the man; it becomes his own feeling thoroughly, penetrates him entirely, just as food becomes a part of his bodily frame." There is need of a similar appro- priation of the Word of God by Christian preachers to-day. That Word should be in them not only by intellectual apprehension, but by spiritual assimilation also. It should be not merely on their lips, but in their hearts. '1.'his will give the accent and power of conviction to their words when they publish it. IV. Tm,: PROPHETIC MESSAGE WAS DELIGHTFUL UNTO THE PROPHET. "Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness." "Thy words were found, and I did eat them," etc. ( J er. xv. 16). It seems strange that this roll of "lamenta- tions, and mourning, and woe " should be sweet to Ezekiel. It was so probably: 1. Because it was the Word of the Lord. (Cf. Ps. xix. 10; cxix. 103.) 2. Because of the honour conferred upon him in making him the agent of the Lord in hearing and speaking that Word. "It is infinitely sweet and lovely to be the organ and the spokes- man of the Most High" (Hengstenberg). 3. Because even its severest portions were righteous. There was nothing that would clash with his sense of justice and truth. Says Calvin, "The sweet taste means Ezekiel's approbation of God's judgment and commands." 4. Because behind the severest judgments there was the grace of the Lord God. In the roll there were promises of mercy and restoration to the penitent. "Athwart the cloud," says Hengstenberg, "the rainbow gleams. Better to be con- demned by God than comforted by the world. For he who smites can also heal, and will heal, if his proclamation of judgment, and the judgment itself, be met by peni- tence; while, on the other hand, the comfort of the world is vain." So the roll was in the prophet's "mouth as honey for sweetness." Yet there were times when his stern IDQssage and his arduous mission were not sweet to him, and he "went in bitter• ness, in the heat of his spirit" ( eh. iii. 14; and cf. Rev. x. 9, 10). The work of the Christian preacher has its sweetness and bitterness; its high and holy joys, and its deep and heart-rending sorrows. V. THE PROPHETIC MESSAGE MUST BE FAITHFULLY DELIVERED, "Son of man, eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel." Even despite the determined oppo• ~ition of those to whom be is seat, he must discharge his mission with fidelity (cf. eh. iii. 4-11, the meaning of which is very similar to that of the paragraph, eh. ii. 3-8, which has already engaged our attention). And it is required of the ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ that they be faithful to the great trust which is committed to them (1 Cor. iv. 1, 2 ;; Eph. vi. 21; Col. i. 7; iv. 7; 2 Tim. ii. 2). Blessed are they who in the review of their life can humbly declare, with St. Paul, that they have kept 1he glorious deposit which was entrusted to them (cf.1 Tim. i.11; 2 Tim. iv. 7).-W. J.
EXPOSITION.
CHAPTER III. II 18, 19. The true prophet dOC's not choosa his message (Acts iv. 20); his" meat" is to Ver. 1.-Ee.t that thou findest, ere. The do his Lord's will (John iv. 34), and he takes iteration of the command of eh. ii. 8 seems what he "finds" as given to him by the.t t.o imply, like the words, "be not thou re- will. belliouH," in that verse, some reluctance on /I Ver. 3.-It we.o in my mouth e.s honey, etc. the prophet's part. In substance the cam- The words remind us of Ps. xix. 10; Prov. man<l was equivalent to that of Rev. nil. niv. 13; and again of those of Jeremiah in ou, nr. 1-27.) THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 47