When th&t temple should be profaned, when Vers. 26, 27.-Yet¬hersign w11s gil'en, Bone and d1mghters should fall bv the sword, not to the people, but to the prophet himeelr. then they would do as the prophet h&d done. For the present there was to be the silence Tbey would Jenrn th&t there is & sorrow of unutterable sorrow, continuing, dny nftor whioh is too deep for trars, something th&t day, as there had been before (oh, iii. 26). passeth show. The state which the prophet Then there should come a messenger from dCBcribes is not one of oallouenes~, or im- Jerusalem, reporting its capture and destruc- penitenc-e, or despair. 'l'he people shall tion, nud then bis mouth should be opened. mourn for their iniquities;" this will be Tbe messenger docs uot come till nearly three the beginning of repentance. Lev. xxvi. years afterwards (eh. xxxiii. 2 l); and we 39, 40 was obnously in the prophet's must infer tbnt there was no spoken message thoughts. We nofo that ver. 24 is the one during the interval, but that from eh. :u:v. 1 solitary passage since eh. i. 3 in which onward we bnve the written words of the Eze1.iel names himself. As single acts and Lord that cams to him from time to time, gestures had before (eh. iv. 1-12) been a not e.s messages to Israel, but as bearing on sign of what was coming, so now the man the fate of the surrounding nations. We himself WIUI to be in that hour of bereave- have, i.e., what is, strictly speaking, a paren- ment. thesis in the prophet's work,
HOMILETICS. Vers.1--5.-The seething-pot. I. THE VESSEL. Jerusalem is compared to a seething- pot. The character of the city had certain points of resemblance. 1. Unity. All the parts are thrown into one vessel There was a common life in the one city. All classes shared a common fortune. They who are united in sin will be united in doom. 2. Vain protection. The beat of the fire came through the vessel. The walls of Jerusalem did not save the doomed city. No earthly shelter will protect the guilty from the wrath of God. 3. Fatal imprisonment. The miserable inhabitants of Jeru• salem were shut up to the horrible fate of a besieged city. There is no escape from the scene of Divine judgment. Indeed, the sufferings of a siege are worse than those of the open battle-field. They who hold out against God will be more miserably punished than those who meet him early. II. Tm: CO1'"'TENTS OF THE VESSEL. 1. Flesh. The various joints of the butchered animal are flung into the seething-pot. They represent the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The punishment of sin falls on the persons of the sinners. "'rhe soul that sin.neth, it shall die." There is something humiliating in this comparison with mere joints of meat. The doomed sinner is in a degraded condition. His higher spiritual nature has been neglected and well-uigh lost. He appears as "flesh," and, having sunk into tbe lower life of flesh, he must expect to receive the treatment of flesh. Sowing to the flesh, he reaps corruption (Gal vi. 8). 2. The choice parts. "The choice bones" are to be thrown into the seething-pot. 'l'he princes of Judah share the fate of their city; they are even selected for exceptional indignity and suffering. No earthly rank or wealth will save from the just punishment of sin. On the contrary, if large privileges have been abused, and high duties neglected, the penalty will be all the heavier. III. Tm: FIRE. The seething-pot is to be put on a fire. Sin is punished by burning wrath. 1. Suffering. The symbol of fire certainly suggests pain, although we may dismiss the gross medimval picture of actual physical flames belching forth from some subterranean volcano. 2. Destruction. The fire is to go on beyond its wonted task till all the water is dried up and the contents of the vessel are burnt. This is the final issue of the penalties of sin. At first they come in suffering, But if there is no amendment, and the lessons of chastisement are not taken to heart, the broad road leads to destruction (Matt. vii. 13), and "the wages of sin is death" (Rom, vi 23). Ver. 2.-Memorab'le day,. Ezekiel was to take note of the day on which he received a message concerning the approaching ruin of Jerusalem, as it we.a to be on the anni- versary of that day that the King of Babylon would besiege Jerusalem. Thus it would be seen that the prediction was strikingly fulfilled, This is one instance of the marking of memorable days. on. xxrv. 1-27.] THE DOOK OF 'l'HE PROPHET EZE1.IEL. 35