The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1 — Section 393

events l\re directed into the cha.nnol of his purpose, a.nd aid in the final consummation of his righteous end. I. GoD USES EVEN WIOKED MEN To DO ms WORK, If he employed only righteous men, he would have to reject the service of the huma.n species, There is a class of i::ervices which men render consciously and intentionally, and for which they obtain reward. They are blessed in their deeds. There is also a class of services which men render unconsciously and without intention. These have no excellence, and bring the doer no advantage. With his infinite skill God can tum all streams to work his mill. Sin shall be overruled to bring about a greater good. The wicked are God's hand. II. HEATHEN DIVINATIONS ARE MADE TO CONVEY Goo's WILL. The choice a.nd will of men have a certain sphere in which to move freely. Yet, after all, they are but parts, minor parts, of larger machinery. Proud and presumptuous men ma.y choose to go either cast or west: they think they have their own way; yet, in tho final result, it simply contributes to bring about Gpd's way. The ends which some men seek, and which they often atts>in, are only means to an end in God's larger plan. The responses which foolish men imagine they obtain from heathen oracles or from human dinners are decrees and edicts from the unknown God. Nebuchadnezzar flattered himself that he had gained a splendid triumph in Judrea, while he was only doing senile work as a vassal of the King of kings. UL A.LL MILITARY IXVE:!s'TIONS AND EXERTIONS SERVE THE CAUSE OF GOD, How instructive is it to perceive that all tbe martial preparations then about to be made by Nebuchadnezzar were all rrearranged by God-all sketched in outline by his prophet I How this fact humiliates man I How it exalts God in our esteem I How small a thing, after all, is human ambition! Men who rail against God yet serve him. And if this fact is so transparently seen in the case of the King of Babylon, may we not conclude that this is a sample of every event in human life? As every atom in the mountains occupies the place allotted to it by God, so every event in human history fills a place according to God's purpose. IV. WICKED MEN, ALTHOuGH EMPLOYED AS INSTRUllENTS FOR CHASTISING OTHERS, BECOME VICTIMS OF GoD 's DISPLEASURE. " Thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, thy day is come, when iniquity shall have an end." To unrefiecting minds, the defeat of a king wonld seem a co=onplace thing-a chance of war. Yet the hand of God is in the matter. "He setteth up one, and putteth down another." As a king has larger scope for evil or for good, so proportionately is his accountability. .At the best, we see but a tiny fragment of God's method of rule; if we could comprehend the whole, we should admire the skill and power and beneficence of his vast administration. V. SUJIVERSION OF HUMAN SYSTEMS SHALL MA.KE FOB THE ESTABLISHMENT OF moHTEOUS:r.."'l!:ss. "I wiU overturn, overturn, overturn it . . • until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him." There is no question but that this Coming One is u Jesus Christ the Righteous." "Because he loveth righteousness and hateth wicked- ness," therefore his throne shall be for ever and ever. The only solid foundation for a throne is righteousness. The dynasty founded in might shall be demolished by a greater might. Mere power has an ephemeral tenure. The mightiest thing in heaven or earth is holiness. This is the thing that cannot be shaken: this shall remain. To- day the strongest kingdom upon the earth is the most righteous. "There shall be new heavens, and a new earth! " And what shall be their distinctive principle-their special ~lnry? In them "dwelleth righteousness." The man of right is the man of might.-D. V ers. ~17 .-The sacred song of the sword. "Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son cf man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened," etc. The passage before us is written in the form of Hebrew poetry. The poem does not present any new truths or ideas, but is chiefly an amplification of tLe 1ireceding twelve verses. There are in this song some words and phrases of con- siderable difficulty, in the in'terpretation of which a wide diversity of opinion exists. TLe chief features of the poem may be noticed homiletically in the following order. I. THE PREPARATION OF THE SWORD FOB SLAUGHTER. 1. lt was sharpened for sla,ugldcr. "A sword is sharpened, . . . it is sharpened to make a sore slaughter." In tLe pruvidence of God, Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldean forces had become ready for on. xx.1. 1-32.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 307