The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1 — Section 369

III. l'nOXll\llTY TO EVIL MEN CONSTITUTES A DANGER, All the trees in a forest are not eqtmlly dessicated. Yet such becomes the fierceness of the flame, fed by the drier trees, tho.t those less dessicated are reduced to ashes. Men may be less gnilty than their neighbours; they may flaUer themselves that they are not so corrupt as others: nevertheless, if they do not separate themselves, or labour to improve their neighbours, they may be consumer! in the general conflagration. 'l'he green trees were threatened with destruction along with the dry. Evil company is perilous. Each one has sin enough to draw down Divine anger. IV. MENTAL BLINDNESS 18 A DISASTROUS EFFECT OF SIN. "Doth he not speak in parables?" The bulk of men say, "It is a pretty story. It has much literary beauty. 'rhe preacher was eloquent, imaginative, interesting." Yet they see not the moral significance, do not feel the points of application. 'l'he sermon well suited some absent person; it did not touch them. The eyes of conscience are put out. As it was in the day when Jesus spake his parables, so is it always. "Men see, but do not perceive; they he:ir, but do not understand." To-day a thousand self-blinded men say, "The <loom of the wicked is not so terrible as it seems; for the alarming language of Jesus Christ was only a. para.hie." Yet a parable contains hidden truth, sometimes the most arousing.-D. Vers. 1-4.-0n inquiring of the Lord. "And it ea.me to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord," etc. We here enter upon a new division of this book, which extends to the close of eh. xxiii. The prophecies of this section were occasioned by a. visit of the elders of Israel to the prophet, to inquire of the Lord through him. The paragraph now before us, which may be compareu with eh. xiv. 1-5, suggests- !. THAT IT IS RIGHT AND LAUDABLE TO INQUIRE OF THE LORD. These elders of Israel who came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before the prophet, were of the exiles. Like Ezekiel, they had been carried away from their own land to Babylon. Neither the occasion which gave rise to their inquiry, nor the inquiry itself, is stated. Heng- stenberg conjectures that "the embassy had probably a special occasion in the circum- stances of the time, in a favourable tum which the affairs of the coalition had taken. They wish to obtain confirmation of their joyful hopes from the mouth of the prophet." Or they wanted to ascertain from him if there was a prospect of the deliverance of Zedekiah from the Chaldean power (cf. Jer. xxi. 1, 2). It seems clear from the answer which they received that their inquiry was political, not moral; that it related to the state of their country in relation to other nations, not to their personal relations to God. But our present point is that it is right and commendable to inquire of the Lord. We may inquire of him by searching the Scriptures in an earnest and devout spirit, by prayer for the illumination and direction of the Holy Spirit, and by engaging in public worship and attending the ministration of his ·word. Thus David desired" to inquire in his temple." This is often profitable to those who wait upon him in a true spirit. .Asa.ph found it so (Ps. lxx.iii. 16, 17). And so did Hezekiah King of Judah (2 Kings xix. 14-37). And so have millions besides. II. THAT MEN SOMETIMES INQUIRE OF THE LORD IN A WRONG SPIRIT. These elders did so (cf. eh. xiv. 1-3). 'l'heir outward act was right; their inward motive was wrong. Moreover, while it was right to inquire of the Lord, that which they wanted to knQW was not commendable. They wanted the satisfaction of their political curiosity, not direction in the way of duty. So far were they from desiring to conform to the will of God, that they were in their heart proposing to themselves an opposite course of conduct (cf. ver. 32). "They did here," says Greenhill, "like many that are bent upon marriage, who will go to two or three to inquire and have counsel, but are resolved to go on whatever is said unto them; so whatever connsel they should have had given them from the Lord, they meant to go on in their wicked ways; and this was profound hypocrisy, whose wont it is to veil the foulest things with the fairest pretences." And in these days men may inquire of the Lord perversely. They rnay consult him by means of his ·word in a wrong spirit. They may examine th,1t Word with strong prejudices; or not to learn his mintl und will, but to obtain rnuctions and supports for their own opinions; or from curiosity rather than piety. Men may attend church, not "to inquire in his temple," hut from very different :md -.cry infe1ior.  372 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHl~'l' EZEKIEL. [cu. xx. 1-49,