or the Bible show the working miml of God. The life of Christ confirms the presence of God in Messianic prophecy. Christian history verifies Christ's word about the leaven hidrlen in the meal. Moreover, the present fulfilment of ancient prophecy reveals tte existence among us of the same God who inspired the prediction. 2. The e-:r,ercise of power. 'l'he foolish Jews were self-confident and boastful. They thought that they wcro frco to choose their own religion. The great invasions and the consequent break- up of the nation humbled them to the dust, and awoke in their hearts an alarmed consciousness of the higher power of God who bad sent this doom upon them. We cannot see God, but we can see his work, and in this discern the energy which witnesses to his being. 3. The vindication of righteousness. Sin does not triumph eternally. Our induction is too narrow, our survey is too b1ief. A wider grasp and a laq~er patience would teach us that God is in history punishing gnilty nations and advancing what is true and good and great, just as he is in nature raising the type of being through the very struggle for existence which, to the short-sighted gaze of tha unthinking spectator, looks as purposeless as it is painful. The grand vindication of righteousness and the establishment of the kingdom of heaven in the advent of the t::;ou of man are to us the greatest proofs that God is the Lord. Ver. 14.-The outstretched hand. We usually picture to ourselves God's hand stretched out to help and heal. Here, however, we see a prediction of the same exer- tion of Divine energy for a contrary purpose-to smite and make desolate. The prediction suggests certain features of Divine chastisement. I. IT IB oocABIONAL. "I will stretch out my hand." 'l'his refers to one definite act, not to a perpetual treatment. "He will not always chide." "The mercy of the Lord cndurethfor ever." But his anger and punishing are limited to occasion and necessity. 'l'he very fact tba.t men refuse to believe in the wrath of God bears testimony to bis long-suffering. In life-giving energy God works unceasingly, so that" in him we live, and move, and have our being." It is a.n eternal truth, not representing a sudden inter- position, but the normal order of providence, that "underneath a.re the everlasting arms." Nevertheless, there are occasions when another mode of action is necessary, and the hand of God must smite in anger. II. IT BELONGS TO THE FUTURE. God says he will stretch out his hand. It is not yet done. Future punishment will be far worse than any present sufferings of sin. lt is impossible for us to measure that punishment by what we now experience, because sentence is not yet executed. But if the punishment is fnture, there is o. 110ssibility of its being averted, or of the sinner finding some means of escape. The warnings of Scripture are not written in order to fix our doom, but for the very opposite purpose, to drive us to the refuge of repentance and pardon. Ill. IT IB FAR-REACHING. '!'he hand stretched out signifies God's action at a dis- tance. Though locally close to all, he is spiritually fa.r off from those who have forgotten his presence, forsaken his way, and wandered into remote tracks of sin. Yet God can reach the most distant sinner. He met Jonah on the ocean. It is impossible to flee from God. Our utter neglect of God does not cause bis utter neglect of us. '!'he godle~s will be judged hy God. 'l'bis is a most merciful fact. 'l'o be ab!mdoned hy God would be worse than to be punished by him. Left alone to our self-chosen fate, we should perish in the outer darkness. The outstretched hand of God, which extends to the most remote, is their one groullll of hope, even though at first it only reaches them to smite. IV. IT IB WIDE IN ITS GRASP. It is not said that God's.finger will touch a distant people, but that his hand will be outstretched. 'l'here is breadth and comprehensive- uess in the image. It suggests a large sweep of Divine energy. There is to be a. 11ational judgment. '!'be greatness of the number of guilty perdons will be no safe- guard in the day when God comes to judgment. There is, indeed, a sense of security in the consciousness of companionship. But if the many sin, the many must suffer. On the other hand, the wide grasp will reach those who seek to elude it by subtlety, singularity, and subterfuge. There is no possibility of escaping general punishment by a secret withdrawal from the scenes of ordinary evil to a peculiar region of our owu wickedness. V. lT 18 POWERFUL. When God stretches out his hand he is evidently a.bout to 108 TIIE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [arr. Vi.1-14,
exert some mighty energy. He is awake and active in our midst. Then the fertile land may become a desert. This fearful manifestation of God will assuredly prove his present power. Woe to them who wait for such a proof before giving heed to God J