to think of such incidents, to realize them by vivid imagination and confident antici- pation, witho,ut being griC"?'ou~ly affecte~. Who is there, with a heart to feel, w~o can picture to himself the m1scries, the disease, the want, the bereavements, which sin daily brings upon every populous city, without taking upon himself something of the burden? We are commanded to "weep with those that weep." And when tho calamities which befall our neighbours are the unmistakable results of transgression of Divine commands, we de in a sense hear their iniquities, when we feel for them, and are distressed because of th~ errors and follies which are the occasion of afflictions and disasters. !V. THE RIGHTEOUS MAY SOMETIMES, BY THUS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONSEQUE.'NCES OF THEIR NEIGHBOURS' INIQUITY, BE THE AGENTS IN BRINGING ABOUT REPENTANCE AND DELIVERANCE. Our Lord Jesus Christ so identified himself with the sinful race whose nature he assumed, that he is said to have been "made sin" for us; he "bore our sins in his body on the tree." This was seen, by the infinite wisdom of our Father in heaven, to have been the one way by which salvation could be brought to this sinfol humanity. Now we are reminded that, in his endurance of the results of men's sins, Jesus left us an example that we should follow in his steps. He is, indeed, the only Propitiation from sin, the only Ransom for sinners. But the principle underlying redemption is a principle which has an application to the spirit and to the moral life of all the followers of Christ. They are in this world, not simply to keep themselves pure from its evil, but to help to purify others from that evil. And this they can only do by bearing the iniquity of their fellow-men; not by keeping themselves aloof from sinners, not by merely censuring and condemning sinners, but by taking the burden of their sins upon their own renewed and compassionate hearts, by entering into their temptations, and helping to rescue them from such snares; and, above all, by bringing them, in compassion and sympathizing love, into the fellowship of that Divine Saviour who gave himself for us, and who bears and takes away the sin of the world. It is by him only that the world's iniquity is to be pardoned and to be abolished, and to be replaced by the love of and by obedience to a righteous and holy God.-T. Vers. 16, 17.-The chastisement of famine. The striking and distressing symbolism described in this chapter must have brought with great vividness before the mind of the prophet, and before the minds of his companions in exile, the sufferings that were a.bout to befall the metropolis which was the pride of their hearts. In the siege which was to come upon Jerusalem, the citizens should endure the horrors of privation, of hunger, and of thirst. It was foretold that in a sense this should be God's appoint- ment, the effect of that retributive Providence which devout minds cannot fail to recognize in the government of the world. If such events took place in accordance with what are called genera.I !awe, since those laws are the consequence and expression of the very constitution of society, none the less must the Divine hand be recognized, none the less must it be understood that Divine lessons are to be learned with reverent submission. I. A LESSON OF CORPORATE UNITY. As o. city, Jeruso.lem had sinned by rejecting J ehovah's worship, and by honouring the gods of the nations; by disobeying J ehovah's laws, and following sinful impulses and indulging in sinful practices. As a city, Jerusalem sinned; as a city, Jerusalem suffered and fell. The innocent, no doubt, suffered with the guilty; those who mourned over the defection of Judah with those who were prominent agents in that defection. No man can live a.part from his neigh- hours; least of all is this possible in the life of the city, which is characterized by a unity that may be designated corporate. II. A LESSON OF PHYSI0AL DEPENDEN0E. Bread, water, and fuel are mentioned in this chapter as necessaries of life; without them men are condemned to famine and t<1 death. The body is in correlation to nature-to the provision made for its sustenanc& and strength. If the supply be cut off, the body perishes. Familiar and common- place as this truth is, men need, in their pride and self-confideuce, to be reminded of it. The haughty Jews stood in need of the lesson. Let an army invest the city, and it is only a question of time; for the besieged, if unable to beat back the besiegers, must soonor or later surrender to the force of hunger, if not of arms. III. A LESSON OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION. It is in this light that the co.lamitics 80 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET E.ZEKIEL. [ou. rv.1-17.
at.tending a siege are presented by the prophet. Men may see in a beleaguered oity only a political fact, a military incident, the consequence of well-known causes, the cause of well-understood effects. 'l'o see all this is justifiable; to see nothing but this is blindness. A thoughtful and pious mind will look through, will look above, all that is phenomenal. There is purpose in human affairs, there is Di viue meaning, there is revelation. "\Vhcn men, oppressed by adversity and threatened with ruin, are "astonied one with another, and pine away in their iniquity," it is possible that they may be so stupefied as to recognize no moral law in their experience, their fate. But the enlicrht- ened discern in such events indication of the Divine displeasure and indignation ;ith sin. Chastisement, punishment, is no chimera invented by a heated imagination; it is a sober, albeit a painful fact, from which there is no escape and no appeal. The judgments of God are abroad in the earth; and this is that the inhabitants thereof may learn righteousness. IV. A LESSON OF REPE1''TANCE AND OF MERCY. This lesson is not, indeed, explicitly presented in this passage; yet the whole prophetic symbolism leads up to it. Why are men hungry but that they may call for the bread of life? and upon whom shall they call but upon God? Whither shall the parched and thirsting turn but to him who has the water of life, for the quenching of their thirst and the satisfaction of their souls? To whom shall the afflicted address themselves but to him who can turn the outward curse into a spiritual blessing, who can make the scourge the means of healing and the sword the means of life? In the midst of wrath God remembers mercy; and· it is ever true that they who call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.-T.