Ver. 11.-Tear.hing by example. The Jews had neglected the words of Ezekiel; the prophet is now to attempt to rouse them by a fresh method, by an illustrative action. They would not attend when he told them that the trouble was coming ; he is now to perform before their eyes an action illustrative of that trouble. The inhabitants of Jerusalem refused to admit that they will be sent into captivity, and it would seem that their friends in captivity were in sympathy with them in this respect, and could com- municate with them. So Ezekiel packs up his goods and removes his house, as a sign of the approaching removal of the Jews into captivity. This is the most effective method of teaching. I. WHY TEACHING BY EXAMPLE IS EFFECTIVE. 1. It is lucid. Deeds are more visible than words. Men of various languages can understand the same facts. The bold c'u.tli.nes of _an event are more readily: grasped than the floating sounds of speech. 2. It is impressive. We are struck by what we see with our own eyes far more than by what is reported to us by others. The greatest deeds recorded in history do not produce so much impression on us as the much smaller things with which we have bad personal contact; but those historic deeds are far more interesting than abstract philo- sophical principles. 3. It is suggestive. Deeds a.re more eloquent than words. They are many-sided, a.nd every facet is capable of reflecting some truth. Thus the same illustration may convey various aspects of truth to different persons. 4. It is enduring. The memory of events remains when that of words has faded. Nothing dies so rapidly as the influence of an orator. Facts live for ever, while words of preaching vanish almost as soon as they are spoken. II. WHAT TEACHING BY EXAMPLE IS MOST EFFECTIVE. 1. That which is human. We may take illustrations from nature, a.nd read " sermons in stones, books in the running brooks, and good in everything;" but human life is more full of instruction- more lucid, impressive, suggestive, a.nd enduring in its lessons. Hence the inestimable value of honest biography. 2. That which is personal to the teacher. It is good to be able to point to great examples in history. But when the preacher himself does some i;triking deed, his influence is far greater. Ezekiel wa.s himself to remove in illustration cf the Uaptivity. We can tea.eh best by our lives. 3. That which involves self-sacrifice. Ezekiel's action was one of trouble and vexation. If our message costs us little, it ma.y be lightly esteemed. Nothing is so impressive as the evidence of pain a?d ~ost in the effort to enlighten others. Self-denial is the most eloquent of persuasive mfluencee. He who thus puts himself to trouble proves his sincerity, and impresse~ his neighbours with his own earnestness, and with the corresponding weightiness of his message, Not€ : All this ma.y be most perfectly illustrated from the gospel of Christ. Here we are taught by the/acts of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Those facts are seen in the personal history of our great Teacher, a.nd pre-eminently in his sacriji,ce of himself to the truth and for the benefit of the world. Ver. 13.-God'a net. I. GoD SPREADS A NET. 1. God will not leave guilty men free. They have a time of liberty, but there will be a. limit to this. Though they have a long tether, some da.y its end will be reached. Freedom is given to allow scope for choice. If the power of choice is abused, the freedom will be withdrawn. 2. G_od employs means/or restraining the liberty of bad men. He does not lay hold of them with his hand; he uses a net. In the present in.stance the net was Nebuchadnezza.r. That cut. XII. 1-28.] THE BOOK OF 'l'HE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 217
heathen monarch did not know that he was a mere instrument in the hand of God; yet did God so completely hold him in this re8pcct that he called the man "my servant Nebuchadnezzar" (Jer. xxv. 9). Thus God overrules the movements of kings. 3. These means may not be perceived by the unhappy victims. The net is a snare, and " in vain is a snare spread in the sight of any bird." We must not suppose that God really deceives his children. The Jews bad been warned. But their eyes were blind and their ears deaf (ver. 2). The danger is not the less because men do not perceive it. Just when a man boasts of bis greatest triumph the meshes of a Divine judgment may be drawing together about his doomed life. II. Gon ENSNARES IN HIS NET WHOMSOEVER HE WILL, 1. He designs the net for particular persons. In the verse before us it is spread for one man. There is no element of chance in the judgments of Heaven. God considers the case of each soul, and acts accordingly. 2. .All the men caught in God's net are sinners. He has no terrors for the good. He is not like the tempter, who ensnares men into '!Vil. Every man who is caught in God's net of judgment has been first ensnared in tbt devil's net of sin. 3. The greatest are not beyond the reach of this net. In the present instance the net is spread expressly to catch no less a. person than Zedekiab, the King of Jerusalem. Massive battlements and the serried ranks of a. mighty army cannot keep off the invisible entanglement of the net of judgment. III. THERE IS NO EARTHLY MEANS OF ESCAPING FROM Gon's NET. Its threads may be fine as gossamer, but they are strong as steel. Zedekiah was to be taken in the snare, and brought to Babylon in so helpless a. state that he would not even see the place, for;as the event proved, his eyes were to be put out. The king fled by night from Jerusalem, but was caught by the Chaldeans near Jericho. As "the stars in their courses fought against Sisera," the course of armies and nations turned against the guilty Jews and their wicked king. There is no hope for the impenitent. IV. CHRIST HAS SPREAD A NEW NET OF SALVATION. He told his apostles that they should be fishers of men (Matt. iv. 19), and he compared the kingdom of he:i.ven to a drag-net (Matt. xiii. 47). The only way of escaping from the awful net of judgment is to permit one's self to be taken in the saving'net of the gospel.