rebelled; this was to be the outcome of the The latter had carried oft' the branch to the alliance with Egypt. The prophecy we.a "land oft-raffl.ok "-so. had brought Jecouiah Jl:°hably wri~ten when the hopes of Zed~- to Bn.bylon. Jehovah would plant his bmnch k111h and Ins counsellors were at thell' upon the "mountain of the height of Israel" highest point, when the Che.ldeane had, in (lsa. iL 2; Micah iv. 1). It was not to be us fact, raised the siege in anticipation of the a willow in a low place, but to flourish, true arrival of the Egyptian army (Jer. Xli:xvii. to its origin as a cedar, so that "nil fowl of 5-11). Ezekiel, like Jeremiah (loo. oit.), every wing" should dwell in the shadow of deolnred the.t the relief would be but its branches (oomp. eh. xxxi. 8-9, where temporary. the same imagery is used of Assyria; and Ver. 17.-By· oe.sting up mouuts, etc.; Matt. xiii. 82). As with like prophecies in better, with the Revised Version, when they Isa.. xi. I and liii. 2 (where the "tender cast up mounts. The words describe the one" finds a parallel), the words paint an stmt.egical operations, not of the Egyptians ideal never historically realized, but finding against the Cbalde&ns, but of the Chaldeaus, a partial fulfilment in Zerubbabel and tho when they recovered from their first alarm, rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple, against Jerusalem (2 Kings xxv. 1; Jer. merging in the still unfulfilled vision of the xxxix. 1). The Egyptians, Ezekiel predicts, kingdom of the Messiah and the restoration would be powerless to prevent that second of Israel. To Ezekiel, as to other prophets, and decisive siege. In vers. 18, 19 the it was not given to know the times and the prophet emphasizes the fact that this would seasons, or even the manner of the fulfil- be the just punishment of Zedeldah's perfidy. ment of his hopes; and when he uttered the Yer. 20.-The words receive a special words, the vision may have seemed not far significance as being identical with those off, but nigh at band. which Ezekiel had uttered in eh. xii. 13, Ver. 24.-All the trees of the field, eto. with the addition that the sin against As the cedar of Lebanon ste.nds here for the Nebuchadnezzar as the vicegerent of royal house of David, so the other "trees" Jehovah, was a sin e,,,ue.inst Jehovah himself represent the surrounding nations, who are as the God of faithfulness and truth. There, thought of as witnessing, first the strange in Babylon, the real character of his sin prostration, and then the yet stranger resur- should be brought home to the conscience rection of the house and the might of Judah of the blind and captive king. What follows and Israel. The thought, which reproduces in ver. 21, in like manner, reproduces eh. that of 1 Sam. ii. 7, finds an echo in Luke xii 14, 15. i. 51, 52. Another echo of the words may, , er. 22.-From the message of deserved perhaps, be traced in the "green tree " and chastisement the prophet paeses to ihe the " dry " of Luke xxiii. 81. Here then, promise of restoration. The cedar of Israel also, as in ob. xvi., the utterance which is not dead. Jehovah would, in his own begins with judgment, ends in mercy. time, take the highest branch, tender and Behind the picture of the blind, discrowned slender thongh it might be, the true heir of king the prophet sees that of the Divine Da'l"id's house, and deal with it far ot.her- ideal King in the fulness of his majesty and wise than the Chaldea.n conqueror had done. power,
HOMILETICS. Ver. 2.-.A 'T'idale and a pa'T'able. In the present instance the riddle and the parable are one the riddle being expressed in the form of a parable. Both of these oblique forms of expression are characteristic of Oriental literature, and appear frequently in the pages of the Bible. Let us consider their advantages. I. THE RIDDLE. Thie is not a mere puzzle to amuse ; nor is it propounded to vex and perplex the listener. Unlike our idle conundrum., it has a grave purpose, 1. To a'T'rest attention. Ezekiel was required to prophesy to people with blind eyes and deaf ears (eh. xii 2). The methods of direct instruction bad failed to impress bis som- nolent bearers. Called upon to try more rousing means, the prophet now launches into parables and riddles. Novelty of meth?d may be desirable in the cxpre~sion of old familiar truths. It is useless to preach 1f we have not the ears of the audience. Yet it is danaerous to shock reverence by frivolous eccentricity. 'l'here was nothing frivolous i~ Ezekiel's riddle,-it was grave, and even sublime; neither was there any- thin" eccentric about it,-it followed a recognized method. 2. To provolce thought. Wbi1e a direct statement may not be strongly grasped just because it is intelligible in a moment, an oblique phrase, which demands thought for the understanding of it, may sink the deeper into the mind. It is not only requisite that we should see the truth; CH. xvu. 1-24,] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 305