The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 2 — Section 215

Their knowledge or God shall be deep and experimental. They shall have something better than theoretical and speculative knowledge. They shall have the full assur,,nce that God is among them. They shall feel that God has a proprietorship in them, and that they have a proprietorship in God. God is their God. "The h"use of Israel are my people, saith the Lord God." This is snpreme joy, the beginning of heaven, when God dwells in us and we dwell in God. The union is organic, inseparable.-D. Vers. 1-10.-The use and the abuse of o.ffice. It is generally agreed that by the shepherd of the text we are to understand primarily the kings and princes of Israel, who should have guarded and nourished the people of Israel with the devotedness with which David (see ver. 23) once tended his people; but the interpretation need not exclude the "ecclesiastical" officers of the land, those whose practice was to teach and wam the people-priest and Levite and prophet. These strong words of correction will apply to all those, of every time and country, who hold office and undertake public trust. We gather- I. THAT WE SHOULD ACCEPT OFFICE WITH A DEEP SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY. The Be brew king held office under God; so also did priest and prophet. And so do we. I. It is in the providence of God that we are led to take our position, whatever it may be. 2. It is God who has given us the capacity and the advantages which have fitted us for the post we occupy. 3. We are sacredly bound to do everything in every sphere "unto him" and for the glory of hi!!..ll" ame. So that the deepest desire as well as the uppermost purpose of our mind should be to do all things which devolve upon us as in his eye, to bis approval, in accordance with his expressed will, after the manner and in the spirit of Christ. II. '!'HAT WE SHOULD ROLD OFPIOE WITH A DISTINCT VIEW TO FAITHFUL SERVICE. Not-How shall we please? or,How shall we rise? but, Howcanwese:rw P or, How useful can we prove to be? should be the question on our lips because in our minds. The special oppo1tunities presented to us must necessarily depend on the particular post we bold. But, whether it partake of a more secular or of a more sacre<l che.racter, it is not unlikely that it will embrace the opportunity of: 1. Strengthening those that are weak (ver. 4) ; offering a helping hand or cheering voice to those that are less skiirul or Iese. experienced than ourselves. 2. Restoring those that have failed or fallen (ver. 4); going to those that have made a mistake, or that may have committed that which is worse thnn a mistake, and enabling them to rego.in the confidence and the hope which they have lost. 3. Enlightening those who have not been taught or trained; "feeding" them (ver. 2). 4. Susto.ining in comfort, in wisdom, in hope, in gladness of heart, in userulne~s, those who are walking in their integrity. These services especially apply to the Christian minister; it is bis sacred function, hie welcome opportunity, in a peculiar sense, to do all this in the spirit of holy, happy service; thus following in the footsteps of the good Shepherd himself. Ill. TBAT BELPISB NEGLl(lENCE IN OFFICE WILL DBAW DOWN THE DIVINE DIS- PLEASURE. God's high displeasure is revealed against the kings o.nd princes of Israel,, who only sought their own honour and enrichment (see vers. 2, 7-10). And those who profess to teach and to guide in the name of hiH Son, the chief Shepherd of the Oburcb, and who use their office not to feed, or guard, or eave the flock, but to care for their own comfort and seek their own pleasure,-how shall they escape the judgment of God (see eh. xxxiii. 1-8) I On t.he other band, we may confidently reckon- IV. 'IHAT THE DEVOTEDNESS OF LOVE WILL KEET WITH A LARGE REWARD. They who seek the wandering, who strengthen the weak, who sustain the whole and healthful in their integrity; they who pray earneHtly, and watch vigilantly, and work diligently, and, when the hour comes, strike manfully, shall in no wise lose their reward.-C. Vars. 11, 12.-God's interest in men. We learn of the interest God takes in us that heis- 1. UNAFFECTED BY ouu eocuL DIBTINCTI'lNS. The great ones of the land regarded: those who were at the bottom of society as beneath their consideration. What mattered it if they lived in privation and in ignorance, so long as the royal palace, so long as the costly cwitle, was well furnished? But this distinction between the worth  THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [cH, XXXIV, 1-31.