?wn house rec?iviog_ a deputation of Jewi8h leading men, who have evidently been mi pressed by his earlier prophecies, and who have come to consult him on the condition and pros~e?ts of his nation, when. he is s~ized with an inspired rapture. The house and the ".1~1tors melt a~ay from his consc10usness, and there in the very presence of these waitmg and nstomshed guests the prophet's eyes are opened to a vision of God and he is carried in imagination to scenes of sin and shame in the temple at Jerusalem'. Was ever there a more unlikely time and setting of revelation? 'l'ruly the Spirit breatheth where it listeth. God may visit a soul in company as well as in solitude, in the home as well as in the temple or in the seclusion of nature. He is ever-presnnt. The only question is-When and how will the veil be lifted? I. A VISION OF GoD. It is evidently a Divine appearance, a theophany, that is here portrayed. Not that man at any time can see God with the outward eye, for flesh cannot see spirit. But in vision and representative form God now manifests himself to Ezekiel. 1. The vision of God precedes the revelation of truth. It was usual for this great seer of visions, Ezekiel, to have a new series of revelations opened by some over- whelming manifestation of God's presence. The same occnrred with St. John's visions in the Apocalypse. We must know God before we can understand Divine truth. 'l'he vision of God in the soul must come first. Then truth can be seen in his ligbt. 2. The vision of God precedes the revelation of man. Ezekiel is about to see awful eights of sin. He must first behold the pure fire of God's presence. We cannot know man till we see him in the light of God. The Bible that gives us our highest know- ledge of God also gives us our deepest insight into man. Vague ideas of God lead to light thoughts of sin. When about to visit the haunts of wickedness, the Christian should first come into communion with God. This will help him to see the horror of sin, to keep himself from contamination, and to feel the right commiseration for the fallen. II. A VISION OF FIRE, The Divine manifestation seems to have been iu a huwau shape, but in one of fire-burning flames below, brilliant radiance above. 1. The fire below suggests wrath against sin. "Our God is a consnming Fire" (Heh. xii. 29). Christ came to baptize with fire, and to bum up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Matt. iii. 11, 12). There is a righteous indignation against sin, the lack of which. would mean moral feebleness. God burns to consume all evil. 2. •The brightness above suggests the supreme glory of God. The crowning characteristic of God is not wrath. Above the fire is the serene radiance. There is terror in the holiness of God when this touches the sin of man. Yet God himself is supremely calm and beautiful. If we ca.n rise from the flaming wrath about his feet, and behold the beauty of his countenance, we shall see on it the expression of eternal goodness. Ver. 3.-" The image of§ealousy." Ezekiel in vision imngines himself plucked up by a lock of hair and carried from the land of his exile back to Jerusalem, there to behold the abominations that are being practised in the temple of Solomon. In the sacred enclosure he sees an idol that provokes the jealousy of the true God. I. GoD 1s JUSTLY JEALOUS. The Old Testament idea of the jealousy of God has been grossly misapprehended. It has been taken as meaning that God was regarded as narrow, self-seeking, harsh. Such criticisms reveal a total misapprehension of the Old Testament position, according to which the jealousy of God is a necessity of his nature and righteousness. 1. A necessity of God's nature. There is but one God who fills all things. When he is represented as jealous, this cannot be because he grudges a certain amount of honour to a rival-as Zeus might be jealous of Apollo-for God bas no possible rivals. The supposed rivals are not gods at all. The worship of them is the worship of empty names. God is calling men back from delusion to fact when he is jealous of heathenish worship. 2. .A necessity of righteousness. Forsaking Jehovah for false gods is not merely leaving one deity for another, nor even only turning aside to vanity and a delusion. It is turning from holiness to sin. The worship of God involves purity of heart and life; idolatry means a lower moral life. For the sake of holiness God cannot endure the lower worship. It might be said that God could be worshipped under various names as" Jehovah, Jove, or Lord." Bnt if the lower forms of worship involve false thoughts of God and evil practices in morals, they are degrad- ing and unendurable. 148 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [oe:. vm.1-18,
II. AN IDOL PROVOKES THE JEALOUSY OF GoD. The idol takes the place of God sits on his throne, defiles his temple, usurps his Name and authority and worship'. Am·thing that works in this way is an idol, and needs to be visited with the just indignation of God. Let us note some of these" images of jealousy." 1. Pleasure. If men set pleasure first, guiding their lives by its gaudy radiance, pleasure presides 0ver the altar of their souls. "Love not pl!Jasure, love God," says Carlyle ; for the supreme love of the one excludes the supreme love of the other. 2. Money. This idol of gold is the modern representative of Nebuchadnezzar's statue on the plain of Shinar -a. hard, be! pless idol, which the man who lives for money enshrines in the tQillple of his soul. 3. Earthly love. God does not require us to abandon human affection; on the contrary, we cannot love God unless we love man, and we learn to love God best through the exercise of human affections (1 John iv. 20). But when a human affection is supreme and will not yield in submission to the will of God, the object of it becomes an" image of jealousy." 4. Self-will. We may think we serve God and yet we may refuse to obey him, only working according to our own will. This also is idolatry. 6. Fixed opinions. Instead of loving truth, we are tempted to love our own ideas; wish- ing them to be true, we are led to regard them as such, and so to shut our minds against the correcting voice of Divine revelation. All these images of jealousy are just so many embodiments of self, the monster idol of the soul and rival of God. To cast out these images we need the true Image of the invisible God, Jesus Christ, to come and take possession of our hearts.