Ver. 19.-Will ye pollute me, etc.? rather, that the amulets on the arms of the prophet- with the Revised Version, ye have profaned, esses, and the veil cast over the hearls of tho interrogative form not being continued the votaries, were like the snare ot' the fow !er. in tho Hebrew. 'l'he prophet dwells with So the threat that follows, that the amulets scorn on the miseruble pay for which the should be torn off e.nd the veil rent, is prophetesses were guilty of so great a sin. practically equivalent to the promise that Not for rewards of divination, like those of the victims should be "delivered out of the Balaam (Numb. xxii. 7), but for gifts like sn&re of the fowler" (Ps. xci. 3; cxxiv. 7). those bestowed 011 the harlot or the beggar They should no longer be in the power of (1 Sam. ii. 36; Hoe. iii. 2)-for handfuls of those who traded on their credulity. They be.rley and pieces of bread-they plied their too shall know that he who speaks is in- wretched trade. For examples of' the lower deed Jehovah. gifls in kind offered to prophets, compare Ver. 22.-Becaose with lies, etc. What those of Saul (1 Sam. ix. 8), of Jeroboam's specially stirred Ezekiel's indignation was wife (1 Kings xiv. 3), the false prophets in that the false prophetesses saddened the Micah iii. 5. And they did this in direct hearts of the righteous (of those who looked opposition to the will of Jehovah. They to him e.ud Jeremiah for guide.nee) with "slew," i.e. drew on to destruction, the souls prophecies of evil, and deluded the evil- that were meant for life. 'fhey "saved the doer by false hopes, so that he should souls alive," i.e. their own, which were not turn from his evil way and live. For worthy _of death." That was the outcome by promising him life, read, with the LXX., of their "lying" divinations. Vulgate, and Luther, e.nd the Revised Ver- Ver. 20.-To make them fly, etc.; rather, sion, that he should live, as b.e would do, if with the Revised Version and Ewald, as he turned from his wickedness (eh. iii. 21; if they we'/'e birds, carrying out the thought xvili. 9, 17).
HOMILETICS. Ver. 2.-Prophesying against the prophets. I. THEY WHO TEACH OTHERS NEED THEMSELVES TO BE TAUGHT. No man is a perfect fountain of original knowledge. The teacher must not only be a scholar in his early days, he must be a learner all through his life. Moreover, in regard to his own experience he needs light and help. He is not merely a voice for other souls. He too has a soul which may be in darkness, eve11 ,vhile he is striving to illumine his hearers. There is great danger in the profes- sionalism of the pulpit. It comes to be taken for granted too readily that familiarity in handling the words of eternal life presupposes a healthy possessiQn of that life. Preachers hear but few sermons. We want missionaries to the pulpit of our land, that the lea~ers of the people's religion may be led by the truth of God. II. THEY WHO TEACH OTHEl\S MAY DE WHOLLY WRONG THEMSELVES. The professional prophets of Israel were many of them false prophets. They were not simply bli11d and in error. They made lying pretences to an inspiration which they did not possess, and they flattered people with vain visions which they bad themselves cunningly devised. '!'heir's was guilt of deepest dye. The teacher may fall into error uointen- tionally, for he is a fallible man; and then his mistake will not be culpable. But deception and moral failure are fatal sins. Surely every one who stands in the respon- sible position of a leader of others has a double motive for searching his own soul to see that he is not a false prophet. III. THEY WHO TEACH OTHERS WILL DE 0ALLEO TO ACCOUNT BY Goo. God has been watching the false prophets, and now Ezekiel is sent with II special message to them. What, then, is the advantage of prostituting the high mission of II servant of God for the sake of popular farnur '? The flatteries of a deluded multitude will not save the deceiver when he is called to account by his great Master. Nay, those flatteries will turn to curses when the victims of his base deception have their eyes open to the snure which he has Ill.id for them. Of all pursuits, that of preaching simply for popularity ill the most dangerous e.nd degr11diDg. IV. THEY WHO TEA0H OTHERS ONLY THEIR OWN IDEAS IN THE NAME OF Goo ARE THE MOST FALSE TEACHERS. The prophets of Jerusalem did not only flatter the poople with popular teaching, they carried that teaching out of their own hearts, and then ascribed it to Go<l. Now, the prophet was an inspired man, or he was nothing. His sole busi- ness was to declare the Divine message-"Thus saith the Lord." Ilut in speaking 232 'i'HE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ~ZEKIEL. tdU, xitt. 1-~it. _______________________________ 1 I only out of his own heart he knew that he had no such message. Yet by professing to be a prophet he claimed to be giving it. Here was his great sin. He was forging the name of God for his own inventions (see ver. 6). Similar is the sin of the preacher in a Christian pulpit who uses that vantage-ground to expound his own pl'ive.ta ideas to the neglect of, or even in opposition to, the teachings of the Bible, and yet on the authority of the Christian ministry. This is treason against Christ.