The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 2 — Section 126

for help (Isa, xxxi, 1), Now, however, Egypt is blamed for being so false and treacheroua 1m ally as she proved herself in the time of J uda.h's nee«. I. WEAn'Ess rs CULPABLE, Egypt ought not to have been weak as a Nile reed. In her friendship, at all events, she should have shown more stamina. Moral weakness is certainly blameworthy. There is a great mistake in pleading weakness as an excuse for failure of duty. God never calls upon any one to do more than he is able to accomplish. If, therefore, his strength fails, and he cannot perform his task or face his temptations. the blame lies at his own door. ,ve ought to be strong in soul. We have not even the excuse of Egypt-a heathen nation that knew not the true God. With inexhaustible fountains of spiritual strength within our reach in the gospel of Christ, it is our own fault if we become as worthless reeds when we should be like strong trees of the Lord. II. FAILING FRIENDSHIP IS OF THE NATURE OF TREACHERY. We can wrong our friend without lifting a finger to hurt him, if we are found wanting in the time of need. Of all places friendship is the last in which weakness should be discovered. A true friend will make it a point of honour to be at his very best to give expected help, even though he be weak and suffer defeat in pursuing his own interestR. He is an unworthy friend of Christ who is weak as a reed when called upon to do any service or make any sacrifice for his Master. It is treason to Christ to be found wanting in the day of duty or danger. III. THERE IS NO PROTECTION IN THE PLEA OF WEAKNESS. Egypt was not saved on account of her weakness. She found no excuse in her inability to help her allies. She ought to have been able to help them, TLey who refuse to go into the Lord's battle because they have not moral strength with which to fight the foe will not there- fore be permitted to shelter themselves in peace and quiet. They may escape the wounds of the field, but they will encounter the ills of an attack at home. No soul can be safe in neglecting duty, shunning peril, or fleeing from the place where Christ would have him stand. IV. WEAKNESS HAY BE CONQUERED, The reed-like character may be made stout as an oak. God can make the feeble stror.g, "To them that have no might he increaseth strength" (Isa. xl. 29). Thus St. Paul could say," When I am weak, then a.m I strong" (2 Cor. xii. 10). Christ will not break the bruised reed; but he will not leave it bowed and useless. He will strengthen it. The secret of this transformation from weakness to strength is faith. They were the heroes of faith who, according to the Epistle to the Hebrews, "out of weakness were made strong " (Heb. xi. 34). Ver. 9.-The pride of creation. In the insanity of his pride, Pharaoh is supposed even to claim the mighty Nile, that great work of nature on which the wealth and even the very life of bis people depended, as a creation of his own imperial power. Such a foolish boast illustrates in an extreme form the common mistake of claiming to create what has in fact been received as a gift of God. I. NOTE THE PREVALENCE OF THE PRIDE OF CREATION, This is seen with many kindB of success. 1. National greatness. The proud nation glories in having built up its own greatness. The mighty monarch regards himself as the maker of his empire, 2. Private fortune. One who has risen from the ranks regards himself as a self-made man. His success he attributes to his own ability and energy; and hie ability and energy he regards as springing from himself. 3. Slcilful inventions. Man does indeed seem to create with his brain. We say that Homer created the ' Iliad;' Phidias, the Elgin Marbles; Watt, the steam-engine; Stephenson, the locomotive. The thought that constituted or shaped these great works of genius was bred in the brains of the men who originated them. 4. Personal character. Men commonly regard themselves as the architects of their own characters. If there is growth in wisdom or strength, the strong temptation is to think that this growth is due to their own thought and effort. But- 11 CONSIDER THE FOLLY OF THE PB.IDE OF CREATION. This pride springs from a delusion. Certainly it did with Pharaoh. He make the Nile I The Nile made him I Egypt was jUBI the child of the Nile. Her wealth depended on the ministry of the mighty river. Floods gathered from melting snows on distant African mountains far beyond the territory or even the knowledge of the Pharaohs, swelled its waters so th,t tlll-y OY 1 r(lowed their ~nks ai:1d svread fertilitr OJ:! the parrow strirs of rivcr-siqo cH. xx1x. 1-21.] THE BOOK OF THE PllOPHET EZEKIEL. 120