tom pest of trouble, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." 2. The cause of God's oppoBition lies in men alone. Ours is the change, not his. The Israelites in th, wilderness" provoked" him to wrath. As he is always graciously inclined, it al way~ lies wilh us to determine whether he shall be our Friend or our Enemy. It is fearful to make an Enemy of our best Friend. But can we expect that persistent neglect, deepening into disobedience, and disobedience pushed to the extremity of rebellion, ;ihould be regarded with indifference by the Lord of heaven and earth? II. THE OPPOSITION OF Goo IS UNSPEAKABLY DREADFUL. It is dangerous for man to run counter to the will of God; it is fa.ta.I for God to rouse himself in opposition to man. 'fhe man who falls on the chosen Stone is bruised, but he on whom it falls will be ground to powder (Matt. xxi. 44). There is in tbis a. Divine activity. The sinner does not suffer only negatively, by privation, by the loss of Divine grace. His doom is more than to be cast into the outer darkness, and to be left there in a. God-deserted solitude. That would be bad enough. But it must be remembered that God is active, and is ever making his will felt by his children. If a man swallows arsenic, the poison will work in him by the exercise of its own corrosive properties. In opposing the laws of nature we bring those laws into active play against us. It is like running in face of an express train. The result is incomparably worse than running against a dead wall. The dreadfulness of the Divine opposition thus encountered is only to be measured by the might and energy of God. The very fact that he loves us, instead of mitigating the horror of the opposition, must heighten it, for no plea. can soften the blow when love itself acquiesces in it. If a hard master punished we might hope to soften him, but if a God of love is against us there is no further appeal. III. THE DIVINE OPPOSITION IS A LESSON FOB ALL WHO WITNESS IT. The judgments were to be executed "in the sight of the nations." '!'his would add to the humiliation of the Jews. It would be a shock to the self-complacency that was founded on the notion that for the sake of his own honour among the heathen God would uphold his chosen people. That notion was a delusion. God's honour is not maintained by protecting his people in their sin. It is more manifest in the impartial execution of justice without any rebate on the ground of favouritism. God is not honoured now by the simple security of his Church, but by the purity of it. It is better for the cause of righteousness that fallen Christians should be shamed and cast out, than that they should be petted and spared and their wickedness hushed up. The fall and judgment of the Jews proclaimed to all the world the unbiassed righteousness of God. Certainly, if the chosen people were not spared, no sinners can hope to escape-except by the way of deliverance God has made through Christ.
Ver. 9.-.A unique event. No doubt the intention of this prophecy is to express the horror of a judgment that is so exceptionally dreadful that history may be searched in ve.in for a precedent, and futurity will never behold its equal. But the very possibility of such an event suggests truths of wider significance. There are principles involved in this prediction which the modern reverence for the uniformity of law bas led us to pass by too hastily. I. 'l'mrnE ABE UNIQUE FACTS AND EVENTS. Me.ny things happen but once. They appear as novelties to surprise us, and they perish without issue. The world is full of singularity, individuality, and consequent variety. There is but one Nia.go.re., one 'Iliad,' one Shakespeare. Innocence can be lost but once ; the soul's fall is e.n event by itself, not to be compared with innumerable subsequent sins. Jesus said, "Ye must be born age.in "-not many times; for one act of regeneration suffices, though many experiences of forgiveness and purification may follow. "It is appointed unto men once to die." That dread Jordan he.s to be crossed"but once. There is one Christ, and "none other Ne.me under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved" (Acts iv. 12), "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of me.ny" (Heb. ix. 28). IJ, THIS UNIQUENESS IS NOT CO)!TBABY TO THE UNIFORMITY OF LAW NOB TO THE IMMUTABILITY OF Gon. 1. Laws may converge to one result. It might be according to regular laws that slowly gathering fires should suddenly burst out into one great final conflagration, or that, after vast ages of slow approach, two worlds should at length rush into violent collision. Such e.wful occurrences would be unique, but would involve no breach of uuiformity. 2. Varving circumstances will bring out new and singular !JO THE DOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [on. v. 1-17.
effects. ,vith changeless laws we see changing events. 'fhe novel eituntion crives a new bearing to the old hw. 3. Human will~ lead to new conditions. \Ve ~annot abrogate any law of nature; but we can change the venu of the forces that surround us, as the steersman may alter the course of the ship by turning the rudder, ulthouo-h be cannot shift the direction of the wind by a point. If, then, God works tlirou;;_h unifonn laws and so proves to us his eternal constancy, he may yet send novel events without precedent and without following. Ill, 'l'HIS UNIQUENESS OF FACTS AND EVENTS SHOULD WIDEN OUR C0N0E:PTI0N OF Tlrn DinNE ACTIVITY. 1. It opens a doo1·fo1· mit'aclcs. Vve cannot explain the cause and process or a miracle, but we may ~ee that the most tremendous and unparalleled events might happen by some novel Divine action without any breach of natural laws, perhaps even through the operation of them. It will then be no less of God, for every act of nature and law is Divine. It will be above nature still, for the very conception of a miracle involves the thought of a specially purposed Divine action, Yet it may be in harmony with law and uniformity of method. 2. This uniqueness warns us against a slavi,sh adherence to the inductive 'lnethod in theology. It shows that here sn induction can never be perfect. There may be facts left out of account. 'l'here- fore we cannot in all cases predict what God will do in the future by considering what he has done in the past. Assuredly he will be consistent with himself. Ilut in entirely novel circumstances he may reveal entirely fresh forms of judgmeot or redemption. 3. Thi,s uniqueness should strengthen our faith in special providence. God does not feed his children on fixed rations. To some he may send exceptional chastisement, to others peculiar blessings. Justice does not imply equality; it means fairness. It would not be fair to give the same allowance to all. Here is scope for God's discriminating action, and therefore room for our individual prayer, faith, and hope.