we ncell also to take hold of H. An easy c0mprehension of it does not satisfy all its dcmanrls, and we should not only think about it, but think our way into it, using our own minds. Truth that is thns held is most truly our own possession. 3. To endure. The riddle will be easily remembered and readily transmitted. Truth is not the private property of its discoverer nor of his first hearer. It is the heritage of all; it claims eternal remembrance. We want to make the teaching of it tell and stay. II. THE PARABLE. Ezekiel's riddle was thrown into the form of a parable. Usually the riddle appears to have been of the character of a parable, though perhaps, as a rule, more brief and less easily interpreted than an ordinary parable ; e.g. compare Samson's riddle with Jotham's parable (Judg. xiv. 12 and ix. 7-15). The one is curt and enigmatical ; the other fuller and more easily understood. The parabolic form of speech has its own peculiar advantages. Sharing the three advantages of the riddle already discussed--i.e. arresting attention, provoking thought, and enduring-though in a. milder form when the parable is simpler and less concise than the riddle, it is com- pensated for any apparent inferiority to the riddle in these respects by the possession of certain good points of its own. Let us consider its special mission. 1. To take possession of the imagination. The parable appeals to the pictorial faculty. It handles truth on its poetic rather than on its philosophical side. It is therefore realistic, for nothing is so realistic as poetry, nothing so paints upon our inward eye the things it is describing in words. Now, it is not enough that we should understand the truth in word and naked idea. We want to see it, to handle it, to feel the glow and power of its pre~ence. 2. To connect truth with present facts. The parable brings heaven down to earth. When dealing with earthly things it draws them into relation with nearer objects. Thus it shows that the subjects it treats of are closely connected with us. Theology is too much discussed as though it belonged to the star Sirius. Parables remind us that it belongs to our earth. Following analogies with nature and life, they indicate links of connection between the material and the spiritual, between nature and God, and also between nature and man. Vers. 3-10.-The parable of the two eagles. I. THE FIRST EAGLE AND THE CEDAB. The eagle is the King of Babylon. The cedar is the house of David. Nebuchadnezzar cut off the topmost twigs of this tree when be deported Jehoiakim and his court to Babylon. 1. God uses powerful instruments. The eagle is the king of birds. The one here described is of exceptional splendour, with variegated plumage (ver. 3). Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerfal mon1uch of bis age, and he carried with him the glory of conquest over various nations, together with those resources which he drew from them which added to the sweep of bis mighty wings of victory. Yet this awful tyrant was a. puppet in the hands of the King of kings, who used him to work out deep desi:z;ns of providence. 2. Earthly greatness is no security against ruin. The house of David was great, ancient, and glorious, like a cedar of Lebanon among the trees of the forest. No cattle of the field could pluck the topmost twigs that waved proudly in the wind. But the eagle swooped down upon them, tore them off, and bore them away to his distant eyrie, with greater ease than if they had been obscure boughs of lowly shrubs. The greatness of the house of David did not protect Jehoiak.im against Nebuchadnezzar when the Babylonian monarch seized that wretched king and carried him captive to Chaldea. '!'here is an earthly exaltation which springs from the favour of Heaven. Yet when that favour is lost, all its former glory will not save it. Let no one boast in his privileges and attainments; they are flimsy shields before the fiery darts of judgment. II. THE SECOND EAGLE AND Tff..E VINE. This eagle is Pharaoh of Egypt. The vine is Zedckiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar set up as king in Jerusalem in place of Jehoiachin. I. It is better to be fruitful than famous. If Zedekiah had acted wisely be might have had a safe, though a humble, reign. He could no longer rule in pride, like Jehoiakim before him, as the top twig of a glorious cedar; but as a lowly young vine, feeble and small, he might bear good fruit. A humble, useful life is better than one l•f proud pretensions, and safer too; for the vine would not have attracted the destroying eagle if it had grown in quiet. 2. The feeble are tempted to seek inefficient help. The vine appealed to a second eagle. Zedekiah sought an alliance with Pharaoh. '!'his was bad policy, for it was certain to provoke the vengeance of Babylon, and then even the f:ZEIUEi,, ~ 306 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [on. xrn. 1-24.
mi~ht or the ancient empire of Ef(ypt would be unequal to cope with the enrarred po"·cr from the Euphrates, even if l'h;1raoh proved true to his alliauco iu the honr° of nC'cd. But Zedckiah was more than politically foolish. He had lost faith in God tho one rnre Protector of Isrnel. Men trust to policy, money, friendship, etc. But no earthly alliance will save in the hour of groatest need. 3. Confidence in a worthless defence will lead to ru.in. The vine had better never have appealed to the second eagle. Zedckiah suffered grievously through leaning on Egvpt. If we turn from our true Refuge to any earthly supports, we shall not only find them fail us; we shall also provoke wrath and judgment. Deceitful cunning will only aggravate the fate of the sinner. Zedekiah's treachery made his doom the more certain.