The Prophet Ezekiel Part 7

I. The False Prophets: their Guilt and Condemnation.

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man prophesying against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord G.o.d; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The Lord saith it, albeit I have not spoken? (verses 1-7).

The first charge brought against the false prophets is that they prophesy out of their own hearts. It has been also translated "who prophesy from their own mind without having seen." Here we have a divine definition of the false prophets in a very concise form. Their words came out of their own hearts, they were not founded upon the vision of the Lord, the message He gives by His Spirit, but the product of their own minds. They gave expression to the thoughts of their own darkened hearts and paid no heed whatever to the revelation of G.o.d. And here let us be reminded of what is written in the New Testament concerning the same cla.s.s of men who are predicted to appear especially at the close of the present age, doing a work in Christendom which fully corresponds to the work of these false prophets in Jeremiah's and Ezekiel's day. "But there were false prophets also among the people (Israel), even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in d.a.m.nable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of" (2 Peter ii:1-2). Jude in his Epistle gives a more complete picture of them. He speaks of these false teachers of Christendom as "speaking evil of those things which they know not, but what they know naturally (as natural men, unregenerated) as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves" (verse 10). "Their mouth speaketh great swelling words (a divine definition of modern day 'pulpit oratory'), having men's persons in admiration because of advantage" (verse 16). They were mockers who walk after their own l.u.s.ts; having not the Spirit (verse 19). The Apostle Paul speaks of them as wolves (Acts xx:29) and our Lord warned of them. "Beware of false Prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Matt. vii:15).

And such false teachers, men who pose as religious leaders, are doing their dreadful and delusive work throughout the professing church. Every man who prophesies out of his own heart, who utters his own mind, whose teaching and preaching is not according to the oracles of G.o.d, who pays no heed to what the Lord has said is a false prophet. And such abound in the closing days of the church on earth. Hundreds of men who are accredited religious teachers ignore the visions of G.o.d, have no heart and no ear for what the Lord has revealed, yea, more than that, they reject the inspiration and revelation of the Word of G.o.d and in its place preach and teach the opinions of their own corrupt and darkened minds and the traditions of men. A true prophet of G.o.d and a true leader is altogether subject to the Word of G.o.d. His one business is to expound the Word of G.o.d. He speaks as the oracles of G.o.d. He does what is written in 2 Cor. x:5: "Casting down imaginations (the working of the mind apart from the Word of G.o.d) and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of G.o.d, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." The Apostle Paul is a perfect example of such a true mouthpiece of the Lord. Naturally gifted with a keen mind, learned and cultured, yet he wrote to the Corinthians, "And I, brethren, when I come to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of G.o.d. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified"--"And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Cor. ii:1-4).

And like the false prophets among Israel the false prophets and teachers in Christendom are responsible for the deplorable conditions of the professing people of G.o.d. Instead of sounding G.o.d's warning they cover up and lead the people into the dark, where they are themselves. The responsibilities of those men who deny the authority of the Bible, who prophesy out of their own hearts is far greater than any pen can describe.

And what else did the Lord say about them in Ezekiel's message? "They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith, and the Lord hath not sent them." Here is the root of the matter. The Lord never sent them; He never called them into the office of a prophet or teacher.

They are self-called and self-sent. Being therefore not the chosen instruments of the Lord, knowing not His Word nor obeying His Spirit, they become the instruments of "lying divination." Behind their messages of a false hope and false peace stands the father of lies. 1 Kings xxii:19-23 throws important light upon this. It was a lying spirit who possessed the false prophets in Ahab's times. Even so it is predicted of the last days that the people will give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons (1 Tim. iv:1).

Therefore thus saith the Lord G.o.d; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord G.o.d. And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity and that divine lies; they shall not be in the a.s.sembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord G.o.d. Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar: Say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it. Therefore thus saith the Lord G.o.d; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstone in my fury, to consume it. So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered mortar and will say unto you: The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it; to wit the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for them, and there is no peace saith the Lord G.o.d (verses 8-16).

And next the message p.r.o.nounces the condemnation and punishment of these false prophets. The Lord is against them. His hand is to be upon them for punishment. Three things are mentioned in which their punishment is going to consist: they are to be excluded from the a.s.sembly of G.o.d's people; they will be outcasts like lepers and such they were; their names are not to be mentioned in the writings of Israel; their memory will be blotted out, their names forgotten; finally they were not to enter into the land of Israel. This is not too severe if one thinks of the souls these false prophets destroyed and the wicked work they did, for it is wickedness to reject the Word of G.o.d and subst.i.tute for it human inventions.

A more solemn word is p.r.o.nounced in the New Testament against those who continue in Christendom the pernicious and deceiving work of these false teachers. It is written, "If any man defile the temple of G.o.d, him shall G.o.d destroy; for the temple of G.o.d is holy, which temple ye are" (1 Cor.

iii:17). That is, believers const.i.tute the temple of G.o.d, that is, the church. The church has for its foundation the Truth of G.o.d, the doctrine of Christ. A rejection of the doctrine of Christ, so common in our day, defiles this spiritual temple of G.o.d. It is the worst profanation. And the false leader with his work corrupts the best, the holiest. "Him shall G.o.d destroy!" May G.o.d's people heed the warning to have no fellowship with such who as hirelings do the work of false prophets.

And these false prophets seduced the people. The delusion consisted in saying, Peace, and there was no peace. This is a characteristic of those who follow not G.o.d's revelation but their own hearts. While G.o.d has threatened a world which lieth in the wicked one, an age which is evil and which never can be anything but evil, with judgments to come, they preach peace and safety.

He describes them as building a wall and then putting some untempered stuff, a whitewash, upon the wall. The wall is for defence. They invented all kinds of schemes and policies, political, religious and religious-political. This was done to sustain their false messages and false hopes. Then to hide the defects, they whitewashed their walls, they glazed it over with nice and high sounding phrases. Such is the case to-day. Oh! the schemes, the religious-political combinations which are used to accomplish certain ends which are nowhere authorized by the Word of G.o.d. And the whitewash, the enticing, beautiful words which are used to cover it over and make it appear as being secure! And Ezekiel was commanded to say to these whitewashes, "It shall fall!" A great storm with wind and flood would strike it and the wall, the schemes and inventions of men were to collapse (see Matt. vii:26-27). Even so the judgment came upon Jerusalem and the land of Israel and swept away the false prophets and what they had built up. Another judgment will sweep over Christendom and sweep away the "destructive critics," the false teachers and leaders of delusive movements which flourish everywhere.

Then the divine mockery: "Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?" (verse 12). When G.o.d fulfills His predictions written in the Word, when a boasting, Christless civilization, an apostate church are engulfed in the judgment with which this present age ends, where will be the nice sounding whitewash of the false prophets?

II. The False Prophetesses.

Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them, And say, Thus saith the Lord G.o.d; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make veils for the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you? And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies? Wherefore thus saith the Lord G.o.d; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly. Your veils also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way by promising him life: Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord (verses 17-23).

And there were false women prophets among Israel likewise. This is a significant fact. Women became religious leaders and teachers in the days of Jerusalem's downfall and the worst degradation followed upon that. They also prophesied out of their own hearts and added other wicked things to it. They sewed pillows upon all elbows and made veils for the head to hunt for souls. This has been interpreted in different ways. It means that they used amulets, little idol images and other things by which they practised the so-called divination--the soothsaying. It is sorcery to which these women prophets gave themselves up. The veils which they used were to give to it a priestly air of mysticism. They practised the sinister art of magic, or as we call it nowadays, occultism. It was witchcraft, this binding on of pillows and other things. This they did for hire and to slay souls which should not be slain and to sustain the wicked in their wickedness. Here is also undoubtedly a hint about their wicked incantations, the spells they claimed to cast that the innocent souls should die and the guilty should live. But the Prophet declares now that the Lord will deal with them, expose their wicked practises, tear off their devices and deliver His people out of the snare.

All this is also done in the very midst of Christendom in the twentieth century. Women prophets, the most subtle instruments of Satan, are plentiful in these days. The fact has often been pointed out that the prominent leaders in the evil cults of the last days are women. There has been a strange modern day revival of occult practices upon Christian ground. Spiritualism, Theosophy and Christian Science belong to this cla.s.s. All three started with women. Spiritualism with its mediums, fortune-tellers and necromancers is almost entirely in the hands of women, who claim to be religious leaders. The same is true of Theosophy, with its Hindu philosophy and occultism, surrounded with an air of unholy mysticism. Christian Science is closely related to these two cults. Its founder practised for a time the calling of a medium.

Significant is the description of the work of these false prophets and prophetesses in verse 22: "Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life." The righteous in Israel were saddened by their evil work. To the wicked they promised life, that there was no future punishment for their sins. Hence the wicked continued in his wickedness.

And is the work of the false teachers, the false women-cults, any different? The righteous are saddened. Each one of the false teachers and movements like Spiritualism, Theosophy, Russellism, Christian Science and others deny the eternal punishment of the wicked. They strengthen the hands of the wicked by promising him life.

THE MESSAGE AGAINST THE IDOLATROUS ELDERS.

Chapter xiv.

The elders now appear to inquire of the Lord through the prophet (verse 3; xx:1). Though the prophet had faithfully uttered the messages of judgment and impending doom and the people and their leaders had heard them, yet would they inquire of the Lord. The Word, the Lord had sent to them, they rejected and now they expected some new kind of a message.

When these inquiring elders were in the presence of Ezekiel, the Word of the Lord came unto him. This chapter contains two sections; each is introduced by the statement, "And the Word of the Lord came unto me."

I. The Idolatrous Elder. The Call to Repentance.

Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord G.o.d; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him that cometh according to the mult.i.tude of his idols; That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord G.o.d; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the Lord will answer him by myself. And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him; That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their G.o.d, saith the Lord G.o.d (verses 1-11).

These inquiring elders with wickedness in their hearts, give another ill.u.s.tration of the depth of degradation in which the people had sunken.

He who searches the hearts knew what was in them. They came with pious, religious pretensions. It sounded well to inquire of the Lord and seek the prophet-priest for that purpose. Their hearts were full of evil.

While their lips spoke of asking the Lord, their hearts were full of idolatry. They liked idolatry. Their hearts were in it and this stumbling-block of their iniquity they had put before their faces, which means they openly defied the Lord G.o.d of Israel by their doings. "Should I be inquired of at all by them?" To seek the Lord and inquire of Him in such a condition reveals a brazen spirit and the deepest depravity. Yet this also belongs to the conditions in which the professing people of G.o.d are when judgment overtakes them. We see much of it in our own days.

There is a great deal of so-called religious exercise and activity, attempts to produce more "religiousness," as it is termed. There is, however, no real heart-turning to the Lord, but the idols are kept in heart and life. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Ps. lxvi:18). Then the Lord tells them through the prophet, "I, the Lord, will answer him that cometh according to the mult.i.tude of their idols; that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart because they are all estranged from me through their idols." Estranged from Jehovah through idols; this described the spiritual condition of these certain elders and the people. If G.o.d's people do not give the Lord the place of pre-eminence and follow Him wholly they become estranged from Him. And such is the condition of thousands of professing Christians who walk in a carnal way, who follow their idols instead of the Lord and who still maintain an outward religiousness. Then follows the call to repentance. "Repent and turn yourselves from your idols."

Next is the announcement that the Lord Himself will deal with such miserable hypocrites. He will answer the unrepenting, idol follower, who separates himself from the Lord. No true prophet of Jehovah would certainly encourage the men who inquire of the Lord and have evil in their hearts, for fellowship with Jehovah is impossible for such.

The ninth verse states more than a possibility. "And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I, the Lord, have deceived the prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and I will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel." As we learned in the previous prophetic message that such deceiving prophets were in abundance among Israel. They were the curse of the nation. Little did they care about the spiritual condition of the people. They prophesied for filthy lucre's sake and lived in sin like the rest of the apostates. To them people came to inquire of the Lord and the deceiving prophets prophesied smooth things. But the Lord Himself as a judgment had deceived their prophets to ripen the people for the deserved doom. It is the same what Micaiah declared in the presence of King Jehosaphat and King Ahab (1 Kings xxii:13-23). The four hundred prophets of Ahab were possessed by a lying spirit.

II. Judgment is Unavoidable.

The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespa.s.sing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it: Though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord G.o.d. If I cause noisome beasts to pa.s.s through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pa.s.s through because of the beasts: Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord G.o.d, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate. Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it: Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord G.o.d, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves. Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast: though Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, as I live, saith the Lord G.o.d, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness. For thus saith the Lord G.o.d; How much more when I send my fourscore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast? Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it. And they shall see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord G.o.d (verses 12-23).

The Word of the Lord came again to Ezekiel. The previously announced judgment cannot be averted, it is unavoidable; this is the burden of the second message the inquiring elders heard from the prophet's lips.

Perhaps this was on their minds when they came to the prophet and sat in his presence. Famine is threatened first; it would come upon man and beast. Then the noisome beasts would pa.s.s through the land, to spoil it and make it desolate. These beasts must not be understood in the literal sense; they symbolize the Gentiles, whom Daniel in his vision saw also as beasts (Dan. vii). These nations like the Chaldeans would overrun the land and waste it. The last two judgments were to be the sword (verse 17) and the pestilence (verse 19). These four sore judgments were about to fall upon Jerusalem and the land--famine, noisome beasts, Gentile invasion, the sword and pestilence. Twice in this address Noah, Daniel and Job are mentioned. They were righteous men, yet if they were all three in Jerusalem they would deliver only their own souls by their righteousness, which was the result of their faith in and obedience to Jehovah. They were witnesses and men of prayer. Noah, the witness before the great judgment by water swept over the earth; Daniel even then in Babylon, and Job of the patriarchal age. All their righteousness, and all their witnessing and prayers would not help in preventing these four sore judgments. Then there is a gracious promise for the remnant which is to be preserved in these judgments.

THE PARABLE OF THE UNFRUITFUL VINE

Chapter xv.

The next three chapters contain divinely given parables. The object of these parables is to expose still further the false hopes which the people had during the reign of Zedekiah, the last King of Judah. He rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar after the second invasion (2 Kings xxiv:20). He hoped, and the people with him, that deliverance would come through the alliances Zedekiah had formed with Edom, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon. He also had sent to Egypt for help. "But he rebelled against him (the king of Babylon) in sending amba.s.sadors into Egypt that they might give him horses and much people" (Ezek. xvii:15). In all this Zedekiah and the remnant of people left in the land despised the Word of Jehovah. Prophet after prophet had delivered the same message concerning the ultimate and complete overthrow of Jerusalem. During Josiah's reign in the midst of the great reformation-revival, Hulda the prophetess, had given the warning, "I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof" (2 Kings xxii:16). The great reformation could not keep back the decreed judgment. Nor can any reformation movement in the close of our own age avert the judgment which is predicted upon an unG.o.dly world and an apostate church. Josiah's reign was followed by the reign of Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah. It went from bad to worse.

Twice Nebuchadnezzar had come and spoiled Jerusalem. It was evident that Jehovah's judgment was being gradually executed upon the land and the city. We have learned from the preceding chapters how often and in how many different ways the Lord had repeated through Ezekiel's visions and utterances that the judgment would surely do its complete work, and that nothing would be able to arrest it. Yet Zedekiah, in the awful blindness characteristic of all who deliberately reject the Word of G.o.d and continue in an impenitent state, hoped for better things. And the exiles also shared more or less this false hope.

Three parables were therefore given to Ezekiel to demonstrate still further the false and vain hope and the delusion that there would be deliverance. The Parable of the unfruitful vine shows that the nation was good for nothing, and burning awaited the city. This is followed by a second parable, one of the most beautiful in the Word of G.o.d: the parable of the abandoned child in the field. That child, Jerusalem, had bestowed upon it all the mercy and grace a loving G.o.d could give. And after all had been done she became a wanton harlot and turned from Him who loved her so much. Linked with the second parable is the restoration promise, still unfulfilled. The third parable is the parable of the great eagles. Here judgment upon the nation is once more announced. And after that Ezekiel spoke in Jehovah's name the final word: "As I live, saith the Lord G.o.d, surely in the place where the king dwelleth (Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon) that made him king (Zedekiah was made king by Nebuchadnezzar), whose oath he despised (Zedekiah had sworn to Nebuchadnezzar and then broke the oath), even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die." "And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespa.s.s that he hath trespa.s.sed against me"

(Ezek. xvii:16, 20).

I. The Parable of the Unfruitful Vine.

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work, or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work? Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned? Therefore, thus saith the Lord G.o.d; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespa.s.s, saith the Lord G.o.d (verses 1-8).

The vine is a type of the people Israel. Perhaps their confidence and boast was in the knowledge that they were the vine of Jehovah. Their false prophets may have quoted the words of Asaph in that beautiful prayer addressed to the Shepherd of Israel: "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt; thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. Thou preparedst room for it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river. Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they that pa.s.s by the way do pluck her?" (Psalm lx.x.x:8-12). But they forgot that judgment had been long ago p.r.o.nounced against the vine and the vineyard of Israel. Isaiah has spoken of the vineyard and what Jehovah had done for His people. But the vine brought forth wild grapes. "And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. And I will lay it waste. It shall not be pruned or digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain not upon it" (Isaiah v:1-6). And Hosea, too, had borne witness against the vine: "Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself; according to the mult.i.tude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of the land they have made goodly images" (Hosea x:1).

Their boast of being the vine and vineyard of Jehovah was an idle one.

Ezekiel's parable demonstrates this. The vine tree is only good for one thing and that is the bearing of fruit. Apart from fruit bearing the vine is worthless. The wood of it cannot be used for anything whatever.

Is it meet for any work? Will men take a piece of it and hang a vessel thereon? It is good for nothing else but to be burned with fire. Cast into the fire for fuel it is burned at both ends and in the midst. This was to be the certain fate of Jerusalem. The process of the fiery judgment consuming the unfruitful vine tree had already begun. "And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them." Even so it came upon the city when Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem the third time. "And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the King's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire" (2 Kings xxv:9). And here we must also remember the statement our Lord made in the parable of the vine and the branches. "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned" (John xv:6). Some apply this also to Israel. It means, however, the professing believer, who in an empty profession claims to be a branch in Him who is the true vine.

Such a one is a barren branch, good only for burning.

Our Lord's parable of the vineyard (Matt. xxi:33, etc.) must here likewise be considered. It brings together all the prophets had spoken concerning Israel as the vineyard, as well as the crowning sin of the people, in the rejection and death of the Lord Jesus, and the judgment which came upon Jerusalem and the nation.

But there is a day coming when the Lord will graciously visit the vine again, when He will have mercy upon Zion. Of this the already quoted eightieth Psalm bears a blessed testimony.

The prayer of the G.o.dly remnant of the Jewish people at the close of the times of the Gentiles is pre-written in that Psalm by the Holy Spirit.

Let us listen to it. "Return we beseech thee, O G.o.d of hosts; look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine and the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself. It is burned with fire, it is cut down; they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand (the Lord Jesus Christ), upon the son of man, whom thou madest strong for thyself. So will we not go back from thee; quicken us, and we will call upon thy name" (Psalm lx.x.x:14-18).