The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1 — Section 312

king~, ho upbraids them for deliberate infraction of a covenant which they wer3 br,und tu observe, He shows them that political action may be sinfnl, and that, when such is the caRe, the Divine Ruler will not suffer it to go unpupi~hed. J. THE JUSTICE OF Goo IS DISCERNIBLE IN NATIONAL CAT,AMITIES. This was mo~t evident in the case of Judah and Israel, who by their defection and apostasy incurred the righteous displeasure of the Almighty Ruler, and brought upon themselves the judgment beneath which, in the time of Ezekiel, they were smarting. The King of Babylon had come to Jerusalem, had taken the king thereof and the princes thereof, and had led them with him to Babylon; he had taken of the king's seed, and ha,i established him in authority over the remnant in the land, that the kingdom, though base, might stand. In all this the righteous hand of God was visible to every observant and reflecting mind. II. THE MERCY OF Goo IS DISCERNIBLE IN THE COVENANT BETWEEN THE CONQUERORS AND THE CONQUERED. Judah would have met with the fate she deserved had she been treated as an ordinary subject province. But God's providence ordered matters other- wise. The King of Babylon was disposed to deal favourably with the conquered sons of Judah. He made a covenant with Zedekiah, and took an oath of him. Thus some semblance of self-government was left with the vanquished. Although their chiefs were carried captive, those who were permitted to remain did so under the sovereignty of a member of the royal house. We are taught to see in this arrangement an evidence of the favour and forbearance of the Most High. III. THE SANCTION OF Goo RESTS UPON NATIONAL ENGAGEMllliTS SOLEMNLY UNDEl!.- TAKEN AND RATIFIED. An oath is an appeal to God, and he will not bold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain. A nation may appeal to Heaven, as may an individual. Peoples come voluntarily into certain relations with each other in the great community of mankind. As surely as there is an Almighty Ruler who sways a righteous sceptre over the nations, so surely does sacredness attach to those obligations which nations take upon themselves with regard to one another. They are not indifferent and trivial matters, but matters with which the moral life of nations is bound up. ! IV. THE DISPLEASURE OF Goo IS UPON THOSE WHO VIOLATE SOLEMN Tl!.EATIES. In language of truly prophetic indignation, the prophet upbraids the king and those who acted with him in secretly rebelling against the court of Babylon, to whose. favour they owed whatever national existence was left to them, and with whom they had entered into sacred and binding treaty. " Shall he prosper? shall be escape that doeth such things? shall he brcBk the covenant, anrl. yet escape? " The Eternal regarded this con,luct as a wrong, not so much to Babylon, as to himself. "Mine oath he hath despised ; my covenant he bath broken." " He bath trespassed against me." It is to be feared that this is a consideration which never enters into the minds of some rulers and statesmen ; they think of the effect of their conduct upon the p;reat and mighty of this world, but they do not ask themselves how their falsehood and treachery are regarded by him who rules not in heaven only, but on the earth. V. THE JUDGMENTS OF Goo WILL OVERTAKE THOSE WlIO REGARD mTEREST AND EXPEDIENCY RATHER THAN PRINCIPLE AND PROMISES. It was foretold that Judah should gain nothing by her deceptive and base conduct. Pharaoh should not deliver the peopl..) with his mighty army. Judah's conduct should be recompensed by Divine interposi- tion; the king who had rebelled should die in the midst of Babylon, and should not escape; the fugitives should fall by the sword, and they that remained should ho scattered toward all winds, The lesson is one of universal import. Be they high or low, men who violate the compacts and disregard the engagements into which they have voluntarily and deliberately entered, shall not be unpunished, shall not esca.p1 the righteous judgments of the Judge of all the earth.-T. Vers, 22, 23.-The goodly cedar. These verses contain a prophecy which ca.n scarcely be deemed susceptible of an interpretation which should refer it to the estab- lishment of the throne of any human, earthly sovereign. It is usually regarded as pointing on to the advent of the Messiah. This hope sprang up with irresistible power in the heart of Israel during the period of depression through which the people passed ~ a judgment for their defection, rebellion, and idolatry. 'rb.e less of light tha 812 '11itE BOOK OF THE PROPltET EZEKlEt. ton. xvn. 1-24,