II. TnE OONVIOTION OF THE GOOD OF THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF Gon IN ms JUDGME~:Ts. The Lord, by the prophet, assures the troubled exiles that they should know that he had not done without cause all that he had done in Jerusalem. 1. 171is conviction would be wrougltt by the manifestation of the wickedness of the people. "Therein shall be left a remnant that shall be carried forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth UDto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings," etc. The remnant that should be carried into captivity would make it clear, from their degrada- tion and sin, that the judgments inflicted upon Jerusalem were deserved by the guilty inhabitants thereof. The exhibition of their wickedness would manifest the justice uf God in their punishment. The pious exiles in Chaldea would perceive "that such corruption had deserved such destruction." "God's righteousness is clearly manifest in those that perish, as well as by means of those that escape." 2. This conviction would bring peace to the good. "Ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem," etc. "The comfort lies in the justification of the ways of God." Their painful doubts as to his righteousness would be destroyed. Their faith in him would be established. And faith brings peace and rest to the soul. 3. The production of this conviction was ordered by God. He did not chide or condemn them for their painful doubts; but promised them evidence for the invigoration and confirmation of their faith. .And he so controlled events as to bring about this result. It appears from this that he is concerned (1) for the vindication of his own righteous- ness, and (2) for the peace of his people. Wherefore in his own time he will remove every cloud that veils the rectitude of his works and ways, and make it apparent to the whole intelligent universe that all his purposes and operations are just and true. CONCLUSION. 1. Let us cherish a strong assuran,ee of the righteousness of God in all 1,,is designs and deeds. 2, If in anything his righteousness seems hiddrn from UB, let w wait patiently jor his own vindication thereof.-W. J.
EXPOSITION. that the words in italics, " or than," should OHAPTER XV. disappear, and that the words should stand Ver. 2.-What is the vine tree,-etc.? The as in the Revised Version, What is the vine prophet's mind had apparently been dwell- more than any tree, the vine branch u,hich is mg, after the close of his previous utteranoe, among the trees of the forest f on the imagery of ee.rlier writers, in which Ver. 3.-She.ll wood be taken thereof, Isre.el had appeared e.s the vine of Jehovah etc.? As a timber tree, then, the vine was (Gen. xlix. 22; Ps. lxxx. 9 ; Hos. x. I ; lee.. oonfessedly valueless. No carpenter would v.; Deut. xxxii. 32; Jer. ii. 21), and to use it, even for the peg upon which men which he himself refers e.gain in eh. xix. 10. han~ their cups, and which he.d become, as He saw how men might pervert the.t image in Isa.. xxii. 23, the symbol of political to their own destruction. And he expands stability ( comp. also Zech. x. 4). For the parable, e.s our Lord does in John xv. the unfruitful vine branch there remained Men might dwell, perhaps were actually the doom of being cast into the fire (John dwelling, on the thought that they were xv. 6). What was its worth wlien it was branches of the true vine, and therefore could half-burnt at either end and in the middle? not perish. He exposes the groundlessness What would Israel be fit for when it had of that hope in tones of scornful sarcasm. been le.id low by the " fire " of God's If the vine did not bear fruit, or if it only judgment? Probal,ly the vivid picture of brought forth wild grapes, then its special the charred branch points to the successive excellence we.a gone, and it challenged judgments which had fallen first on the comparison with other trees only as a ten tribes, then on Judah, e.nd lastly on timber tree, and what was its worth o.s such? Jerusalem itself. The word•• trespass" may If Israel was not true to its vocation, it was refer either to the general guilt of the poorer and weaker than the heathen nations people, or to the Inst crowning crime of round it. So far the general thought is Zedekiah's rebellion. I ratlier incline to the olee.r. In dealing with detaifs, we note latter, the noun being in the singular. 266 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [cm. xv. 1-8,