The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 2 — Section 391

unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in~the most holy place." They had put God far away from them; it was simple retribution that God should forbid them to come near to him, Sin always bears its own natural fruit. Still, judgment was tempered with mercy. They shall not be entirely superseded. They shall not be banished from the new temple. Inferior office they may yet fill; subordinate service they may yet perform. And in their degrade<l rank they shall learn that God's service is real honour; that nearness to God is man's heaven. " They shall be minis- ters in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people." But, on the other hand, special honour is conferred on the loyal sous of Zadok. " They shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me ... They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table," etc. Here is unmistakable promotion. "They had kept the charge of the sanctuary;" now "they shall keep my charge." In other words, "They shall be my treasures: I will entrust my honour and all my precious things unto them." Their fidelity is established; yea, is strengthened and enlarged by this strain of temptation. Their characters have come forth from the furnace like burnished gold. They shall be trusted in the heavenly kingdom because they are trustworthy. The omniscient eye of God does not over- look the least meritorious deed. High reward is in course of preparation for the righteous. Men often deceive themselves with specious hopes of escape. They often deceive others with plausible semblances. They can never deceive God !-D. Vera. 27-30.-Substantial wealth. In every part of the world there is hunger, more or less, to possess land. By long observation men have discoverecl. that to possess land is to possess influence and honour among their fellow-men. Is not land essential as the foundation of the harvest-crops? And are not crops of corn and fruit essential to the life of men? Is not agriculture the mainstay of a nation's well-being? Yet without land agriculture is impossible; is it not therefore reasonable that men should eagerly long to call the land their own? On the other hand, this anxiety chains down men's thoughts to inferior occupations and to a provision for their inferior nature. Such anxiety tends to draw away their attention from God and to weaken their sense of pious trust. In order to counteract this disastrous tendency, God appointed a class of men whose business it should be to keep God prominently before the eyes of their fellow-men. These servants of God were precluded from acquiring wealth. They were to be wholly employed in fostering the religious life in men. For their main- tenance God provided in a special manner. These priests were desigued to be models of human life, patterns of later Christians. God's method for teaching the race is this-viz. to set down a good man in their midst, and to inspire others with the desire to imitate him. If one man can live and prosper by virtue of implicit ancl. practical faith in God, other men can. By diligent culture of the land, God has ordained thnt hnman life shall be sustained. Yet God is not shut up to this one system. "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." I. EARTHLY POSSESSION IS ONLY A MEANS TO AN END. It is not a blessing, but only a medium of blessini?;. It is part of God's system of means. The land exists with a view to harvest. The harvest is produced with a view to man's bodily life. Man's bodily life is sustained with a view to his spiritual character. On the whole, it is best that the land should be appropriated to personal possession. This secures thnt the land shall be cultivated in the highest degree, and that the crops shall be protected from premature use. If all land should remain as common property, there would be lack of ioducement to cultivate it; there would be lack of inducement to personal exertion; there would be no check to extravagant waste. Personal possession is best for a community; lyet it becomes a waste and an injury ir a man possesses more than he can cultivate. God gives not land to a man in order that he may be tyrannical, Helfish, puffed up with overweening conceit. This is a miserable perversion of a Divine gift. Land is created for cnltivation. Cnltivatioo of land is desi.,ncd for the support of human life. And all the land in the world is worth nothing to me except as it ministers to the health and vigour of my life. II. Goo OAN BEOtJRE THIS END BY OTHER SYSTEMS OF MEANS. The best l)roof that 40G THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [OB. nrv. i-ai.