bles~ing of the c?ven~nt. "I will ~e their God, and they_ shall be my people 11 (Jer. xxxi. 33). Having him for our Portion, we have all good m him. 2. These blessings are universal. "Thon shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger." By these ii.isters probably Samaria and Sodom are meant (cf. ver. 46). But they must be taken in connect.ion with Jerusalem, as representing the world-wide extent of the blessings of the new covenant. The gospel is not for one nation or people, but for humanity "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners;" "He died for all; 11 "Who gav; himself a ransom for all;" "The living God is the Saviour of all men, specially of them that believe." And our Lord sent forth his servants into all the world to preach the gospel to the whole creation. Judah is said to receive these sisters, and they are said " to be given to her for daughters, because through her they should attain to the inherit- ance of blessing." "Salva lion is of the Jews;" "Of whorn is Christ as conceruing the flesh." The first Christians were Jews. The apostles who offered the blessings of the new co,enant unto the Gentile.~, and received those of them who believed into the Church, were Jews. 3. These bkssings are perpetual. "I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant." The first covenant was said to be "everlasting" (Gen. xvii. 7); and it was so in the sense that it led the way to and was fulfilled in this one. And this covenant shall never be abolished. With all its wealth of blessings it abides per- petually. God, the Supreme Blessing of it, is the soul's unchangeable and eternal Portion, "God is the Rock of my heart and my Portion for ever." IV. THE ltE1'"'EWED FAVOUR OF GoD PRODUCES MOST DESmABLE F..FFECTB. 1. Sincere repentance for sin. "That thou mayest remember, and be confounded." The repentance which consists in abhorrence of sin, and grief because we have sinned against so gracious a God and Father, and in love to him and to all goodness, is not decreased by the recep- tion of his forgiveness and favour, but rather increased. The more we know of God and the more we enjoy of his grace, the more base and wicked will sin appear unto us. "Sanctified knowledge will produce sanctified shame, sorrow, and tears. When we apprehend God to have taken us into covenant with him, to be our God, to have done great things for us, to have promised great things to us, and to have been very good to us, then the remembrance of our wretched ways causeth a holy shame and a holy sorrow" (Greenhill). 2. Devout submission to his will. "And never open thy mouth any more" in murmuring, or complaint, or rebellion against him. It is the silence of trustful acquiescence in his will. "I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it." Thns Divine grace received into the heart produces gracious results- in the lives of those who receive it."-W. J.
EXPOSITION.
CHAPTER XVII. 11 the "ravenous bird" represents Cyrus. Possibly the eagle-head of the Assyrian god Ver. 2.-l'ut forth a riddle, etc. Again Nisroeh (2 Kings xix. 37; Is11. xxxvii. 38) there is e.n interval of silence, till another may have impressed. the symbolism on theme is suggested to the prophet's mind Ezekiel's mind. A doubtful etymology gives and worked ont elaborately. This he de- "the great eagle" as the.meaning of Nisrock. scribes as a " riddle" (same word as the The divers colours indicate the variety of "dark speeches" of Numb. xii. 8, the" hard the nations under the king's sway (Dun. questions" of 1 Kings L 1). It will task iii. 4; iv. 1). If the cedar was chosen to be the ingenuity of filll hearers or readers to the symbol of the monarchy of Judah, then interpret it, and so he subjoins (vers. 12- it followed that Lebanon, as the specie.I 24) the interpretation. Tbat interpretation home of the cedar, should ta.ke ite place in enables us to fix the occasion and the date the parable. Possibly the fact that one of of the prophecy. It was the time when the stateliest palaces of Solomon was known Zedekia.h was seeking to strengfhen himself as the "house of the forest of Lebanon " agai!lBi Nebuchadnezzar by an Egyptian (1 Kings vii. 2; x. 17, 21) ma.y have made alliance. the symbolism specie.Uy suggestive. The Ver. 3.-The eagle with great wings an.d word for highest branch is peculiar to long pinions (Revised Version)-probably Ezekiel (here and in ver. 22). The branch the golden eagle, the largest species of the so ea.rried off was carried into "a le.nd of genus-stands for Nebuchadnezzar, e.s it traffick" (Hebrew, LXX., and Vulgate, "a docs in Jer. xlvili. 40; xlix. 22. Jn Isa. x.lvi. land of Canaan," th~ word being generalized err. xvu. 1-24.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL.