Ver. 13.-Idols destroyed. It is well known, from the records of ancient history, and from the explorations and studies of Egyptologists of our own century, that the land of the Pharaohs was the seat of idolatry of the most deeply rooted, widesproad, and at the same time most debasing and contemptible kind. It was not possiblo that the prophet of the Lord, in rebuking Egypt, should confine himself to the region of politics; he could not but deal with the religion and the religious practicos which prevailocl in the land of immemorial superstition. Ilia words upon this matter are few, but they aro clear, direct, and powerful. "Thus saith the Lord God, I will also destroy tho idols, and I will cause their images to cease from Noph." l. THE VANITY AND INADILITI' OF IDOl,B 1'0 IIELP TllOBE wno TRUST JN THEM. II. TIIE liELPLES~NESS OF TllEIU Dl':VOTEl,S TO RE;TAIN FOR !OOLS THE iLLEO!ANC~ OF TUEIR WORSlill'PEE\S, ort. xxx.1-26.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 149
Ill. THE OEUTAtNTY THAT PROVIDENTIAL OCCURRENCES WILL SHAKE THE CONFI- Dl•;l'(OE OF IDOLATEU!! IN THEIR IDOLS, AND WILL BRING IDOLATRY TO NOUGHT. IV. THE DIVINE PUCIVIBION THAT, AS IDOLS ARE CONFOUNDED, THE TRUE AND ONLY Gon WILL DE EXALTED. APPLICATION. 1. The principles underlying this prophecy are a great encouragement to all those who labour for the propagation of the gospel among the heathen ; their labours shall, sooner or later, meet with a full success and recompense. 2. There is here an implicit counsel as to the replacing of idolatry by true religion. It is one thing to destroy, another thing to construct. In our Indian dominions at the present time, education is shaking the faith of the native population in their idols and idol-worship. But in very many instances, edncation has done nothing to supply the place made vacant by the exorcism of superstition. Hence the importance of philosophical and historical instruction in connection with Christian missions; so that provision may be made for the deep-seated needs of the spirit of man, so that a reasonable faith in the Supreme may be encouraged, and so that the evidences of supernatural Christianity may be presented in a convincing and satisfying form. It should be the aim of the Church, in her missionary capacity, to replace idolatry, not by an irrational atheism or a degrading secularism, but by intelligent and scriptural Christianity.-T.
Vers. 20-24.-One strengthened and another weakened. Historians chronicle the events which take place among the nations, and especially those which bring about the transference of snpremacy, hegemony, from one people to another. The great empires of antiquity succeeded one another in a movement both picturesque and instructive. Ezekiel, in this passage, describes the defeat and humiliation of Egypt, and the victory and exaltation of Babylon. But he does more than this; as a religious teacher and prophet he affords us an insight into the moral, the religious, principles which underlie all political changes. I. THEnE IS NO SUCII THING AS CHANCE IN HISTORY. Men often suppose. them- selves to account for events when they attribute them to fortune, to caprice, to chance. But chance is no cause, it is the name for our ignorance of causes-a. useful name if its signification is not transformed, and if in its use men do not impose upon themselves. II. THE OPERATION OF DIVINELY INSTITUTED LAWS E~'FEcn'S CHANGES IN THE PROS- PERITY AND POWER OF NATIONS. Some of these laws are physical, some intellectual, others moral. They are of the greatest interest to the historian, who traces their action and interaction, their co-operation and conflict, ns these are manifested in the ropid or gradual, the unobserved or conspicuous, changes which take place in the rela~ tions of great communities, and in the succession of one people to another in the dovelopment of the great drama of humanity. JII. YET TO THE THOUGHTFUL MIND LAW IN ITSELF 18 INBUFFIOIENT TO ACCOUNT FOR msTORY. 'l'he mind crave~, not indeed for something competing with law, but for something behind law, expressing itself by means of law. Law in its phenomenal manifestations is mere uniformity. Now, just as our actions may be accounted for on their phenomenal side by physical laws, whilst yet we know th11.t purpose, intention, thou!(ht, do really and in the highest sense govern our actions, nnd that we are therefore moral and responsible beings; so in human history religion teaches us to look throuii:h facts nnd laws to Mind beyond them nil, controlling, inspiring, and governing them all, in n word, accounting for them all. That is to say, we are taught by the prophet to sco God in hlsto1y. And reflection shows us how reasonable and justifiable is this view. IV. A OENEUAL DIVINE PURPOSE RUNS THUOUOIIOUT HUMAN IIISTORY. It is God who raises one nation and humiliates another. These changes may for the most part be justified by the well-informed and thoughtful student. It is admitted that there aro cases which occasion us the greatest perplexity. Dut the obscure must be interpreted by the plain. 1,,Ve should never forget that we are ignorant, short-sighted, and very fallible beings, and should avoid dogmatizing upon individual cnses. Dut the reflecting and pious man will make a point of recognizing the Divine hand in the affairs of nations, and in the continuity of human history. This lesson has been taught most effectively by modern philosophers of history, from Herder to Hegel, and from Hegel to Bunsen. 150 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKmL. [oH. Xtt.1-26.
Y. OUR ACCEPTANCE OF THIS PRINCIPLE DOES NOT INVOLVE TUE APPROVAL OF RUMAN PASSIONS WHICH IHPEL TO MANY HISTORICAL CHANGES, OR THE DELIGHT IN HUMAN SUFFERINGS WHICH FOJ,LOW UPON THEM. As a matter of fact, God in his wisdom makes use of many agencies and instrumentalities of a character which cannot be approved. The ambitions, jealousies, envies, etc., which animate nations and rulers are overruled by the Lord of all to secure ends which appear good and desirable to him. "He maketh the wrath of man to praise him." It is not for a moment to be supposed that the King of heaven takes any delight in the bereavements and desolations which befall the innocent as a consequence of those wars which are incident to the achieve- ment of great, historically important ends. We can only reconcile much that happens with our highest view of the Divine character by remembering that God has a higher end before him than human enjoyment, and that in the execution of his purposes he is not limited by the horizon of time. VI. ALL THE EVENTS WHICH TRANSPIBE AMONG THE NATIONS SHALL ULTIMATELY DE SEEN TO SUDSERVE MORAL AND RELIGIOUS ENDS, ESPECIALLY THE GLORY OF DIVINE RIGHTEOUSNESS. Tbis is the faith of the godly, and is encouraged by revelation. Faith shall be justified. "The day shall declare it."-T.