The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 2 — Section 5

thee." Those days have not yet arrived. Thereforo we cannot comfort ourselves th~t we shall bo safe in the future because we are comfortable enough at present. Tho coming days will wear a new nspect. \Vo are not fortified against winter storms by the enjoyment of summer sunshine. The ease with which we glide down the stream is no guarantee that the thunder of the foils will never be reached. The delusive hope which shines fe.ir in the old times of Divine waiting will be shattered to fragments in the new days of Divine judgment. III. CONSEQUENT MISERY. The question of the text is not answered; but the doleful silence with which it is received suggests the misery that is to follow. If heart and hand fail, the ruin and wretchedness must be complete. While a good roan fighting ngainst adversity is said to be a sight for the admiration of gods as well as men, a bad man crushed by misery is only an object of horror. 'l'he stout heart of honest intentions can bear up against unmerited woes and find in its own fortitude a certain solace. But this solace will be wanting in the collapse of the false hope of the sinner. Then will follow the deepest misery, the sense of being confounded, the helplessness of being swept away in a flood of destruction. P11in is not the worst evil. The depth of hell is reached when heart and strength fail, and the sinner loses all power to withstand his fe.te. Hence the supreme need of a Saviour (Rom. viii. 1). Vera. 18-22.-Dross. I. 'l'HE NATURE OF THE DROSS. Israel is compared to dross. The nation should have been God's precious metal, pure white silver. By sin it has become base metal. 1. Dross is an injeriOT substance. Characters are deteriorated by ein. Wickedness lowers the very nature of a man. We cannot commit si11 and still keep our persons in primitive worth and dignity. We are either exalted or degraded by our deeds; they react upon our very being and assimilate it to themselves. Thus silver becomes dross; the man made in the image of God becomes a child of the devil (John viii. 44). 2. Dross may be of various kinds. There are brass, tin, iron, and lead ill the furnace. Yet all are counted as dross. In human life there are various types of evil. Vice is more picturesque than virtue because it is more variegated. But one common stamp is on every evil coin-the same diabolical effigy. 3. Dross is in the place of good metal. It is mixed with silver (ver. 20). Moreover, it pretends to be the good metal. Brass would pass as gold, and tin as silver. Sin is generally hypocritical. It craves the honour of goodness. Wheat and tares grow together. Good and bad fishes come to land in one net. Society contains the good and the bad in close association. II. THE EVIL OF THE DROSS. 1. It is directly hurtful. Brass is poisonous. Tin is soft, and the vessel made with it will stand neither the heat nor the wear which silver is capable of enduring. All the base metals readily corrode, while the precious metals can be kept bright. The dross of bad character is poisonous, and a source of weakness and corrosion to society. 2. It is deceptive. Passing itself off as better metal, it succeeds in taking the place of honour that does not belong to it. Dectitful men worm their way into posts of dignity which they degrade by their evil character. 3. It is injurious to the good metal. The choice silver is lost in the dross when the various metals are amalgamated into one lump. Good men are injured by bad companions. 'l'he presence of wicked characters hinders the work of the good who are joined with them in a common enterprise, Ill. THE TREATMENT OF THE DROSS. 1. God deals with it. '\Ve cannot always detect its presence or distinguish between it and good metal. Both tares and wheat are to be let grow together until tho harvest (Matt. xiii. 30). God knows the secrets of all hearts. The great Assayer will not be deceived by the most specious forgery. 2. God tries it in the furnace. Israel was to go into the furnace of affliction, that the dross might be detected. In her prosperity and confidence she listened to the prophets of smooth things, who flattered her into the notion that she was a choice nation of rnre quality-pure silver compared to the base metal of the Gentile world. The Captivity tried this boast. Not only was the land laid waste and the city of Jerusalem destroyed, but the mass of the Jewish nation proved itself unequal to cope with its difficulties, and, failing to retain its distinctive character, melted away into the neighbouring nations, leaving only a remnant-the true silver-to carry on the Hebrew tradition and earn the right of restoration. Persecution would show how much worldly dross there is iu \he Church (Matt. xiii. 21). Trouble reveals the dross of individual souls.  6 'l'HE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [oa, xxu.1-31.