The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1 — Section 206

Vers, 16, l'l.-Exile and '/'estomtion. There is a change in the tone of the pro- phet. A full end she.11 not be made of the remnant. The metropolis shall fall, the king shall be led captive. The enemy shall prevail. But the children of the Captivity shall not be forgotten; they shall experience the protection and fellowship of their covenant God; and they shall be brought back to the land of Israel, when Divine purposes are fulfilled, and when the time is ripe. I. Goo A SANCTUARY FOR A SEASON IN A FOREIGN LAND, This must have been a precious and encouraging assurance to the captives in their banishment. They loved Jerusalem, and they loved the temple. Far from the scene of their national privileges, they were yet not forsaken by the God of their fathers. 1. Every holy place has its true meaning and value from the residence in it of the Eternal. It is not the costly material of which a sanctuary is built, the labour and art with which it is decorated, the robed priesthoods who minister, or the lavish offerings and sacrifices that are presented ; it is not these things that make a temple. It is the presence of God himself to receive and bless the worshippers, that endears the building to the enlightened and pious. 2. God may manifest his presence and favour in places where no sacred edifices exist. So Jacob understood, when he awoke from his slumber and his dream, and exclaimed, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not I" • Where'er they seek thee, thou a.rt found, And every place is hallowed ground." Those upon the stormy deep, those in the primeval forests, those in the waterless deserts, those in the caverns of the earth, have met with God in the exercises of devo- tion. And he was a Sanctuary to his banished ones in their captivity in the East, as near to them as he was to those still permitted to resort to the courts of the temple at Jerusalem. "The tabernacle of God is with men." 3. Thus God's spiritual presence may be realized and enjoyed even in a world of sin. Earth is in a sense the scene of exile and of banishment. But for all that, God will be to his people a Sanctuary in the place and during the period of their captivity. His Church is his temple, and from it he never departs. IT. Goo THE RESTORER OF ms BANISHED ONES. 1. The dispersion and banishment are appointed for a time and for a purpose. There were reasons why the sons of Abraham should be exiled from the land promised to their progenitor, the father of the faithful. It was apparent to the wisdom of God that only thus could they be pre~ served and delivered from the temptations, especially to idolatry, to which they had so often yielded. The discipline was severe, but it was effectual. The period of exile was not prolonged vindictively. 2. The restoration is as providential as the Captivity. The language of the text is very emphatic upon this point: "I will even gather you from the people," etc. " He deviseth means whereby his banished ones may return." It was this prospect which sustained and cheered the Hebrew people amidst disasters at home and exile abroad. The land of their fathers was their land; and in due time they were to enter and possess it. 3. The restoration of the Israelites prefigured the final salvation of all God's people. Their exile shall not last for ever. 'fhere is a better country, even a heavenly, a Jerusalem above; yonder is the promised inheritance, and the eternal a.bode of the blessed gathered from every land.-T. Ver. 19.-Spiritual transformation. This promise is one of the most precious to be found in the Old Testament Scripture. Relating as it evidently does in this passage to the nation of Israel as a whole, it has generally been taken by Christhms as having aµplice.bility to all who yield themselves to God, to be dealt with by his renewing and transforming grace. . L THE NATURE THAT NEEDB TRANSFORMATION. This is characterized by hardness, It is "the stony heart" which -Divine grace undertakes to soften and renew. 'l'ho hard or stony heart is that which is insensible to spiritual realities, upon which n_either Law nor gospel makes any impression, which resists every appeal whether of righteousness or of mercy. II. THE POWER THAT EFFECTS THE TRANSFORMATION. The powerlessness of all human agency and endeavour is apparent. Man's influence can do much; but here is the most difficult of all problems to be solved ; here is the necessity for something _more tban reformation-for actual renewal. Hence God, the Almighty, undertakes OH. XI. 1-25.J '.i'HE l3OOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 201