d Maurice. a As vr. 7, 8. the 70 elders had his own imagery, ject of idolatrous worship his favourite ob por trayed upon the wall of the cham ber; and to it he did homage with his. censer, according to the device of his own heart."Words worth. "This was a form of Nature worship. It was a festival held when Nature in the E. seems to wither and die under the scorch ing heat of the sun, to burst forth again into life in due sea mystic cells, and in them were celebrated the secret mysteries of Isis and Osiris, represented by the quadrupeds sacred to those deities.d 12-14. (12) in the dark, or in secret. chambers.. imagery, or his chambers painted with images. Lord.. earth, ch. ix. 9. This they inferred from God's permitting national calamities to come unchecked. (13, 14) weeping for Tammuz, or Adonis, poss. the same as Osiris, a symbol of the sun.c "The sun-god mourned by his lover Astarte, the personification of vegetable and animal life, at his departure in the decline of the year to dwell in the region of gloom with Persephone." The Prophet Ezekiel.-The Prophet Ezekiel holds a conspicuous place among the writers of the Old Testament, although, from the highly figurative style of his predictions, a greater degree of obscurity has been supposed to attach to this book than perhaps to any other, except the Revelations, in the whole sacred canon. This remark applies peculiarly to the first and tenth chapters of the book, which contain the description of a remarkable emblematical vision, presented, indeed, under some variations of aspect in each, but in its general features manifestly the same. These chapters, together with the nine last, are said to have been reckoned so sacredly obscure by the ancient Jews, that they abstained from reading them till they were thirty years of age. The mystery appears to have been but little abated by time, as the great mass of commentators still speak of the unpenetrated veil of symbolical darkness in which the Prophet's meaning is wrapped, and the common readers of Scripture reiterate the lamentation; although doubtless every portion of the inspired writings is just as luminous and intelligible as infinite Wisdom saw best it should be; and it is a feature of revelation worthy of that Wisdom, that it is adapted to every stage of progress and attainment in spiritual knowledge. While in some parts, and cess"-Biblical those the most important, it levels itself to the capacity of a child, in others it gives scope to the intellect of an angel." son. The death of Adonis symbolised the suspension of the productive powers of Na ture, wh. were in due time revived. The excitement of the festival led to unbridled license and ex Things. d Bush. stand this clearly it should be observed that, as if purposely to prevent the abomination referred to, the entrance of the temple was on the E. side of the building, so that, in looking towards it in worship, the worshippers necessarily turned their backs upon rising in the E., at wh. time the 15-18. (15, 16) inner court, that of the priests. between altar, positions which even the priests only took on the most solemn occasions, and then they turned to the west of the temple." faces.. east, offering thus the insult of their backs to Jehovah, and the worship of their faces to the sun. (17) branch.. nose, as the Persians, who, when worshipping the rising sun, held a tamarisk branch in their hands." Perhaps in contempt Ezekiel puts the nose instead of the mouth, before which the branch was properly held.4 (18) not spare, ch. v. 11. 66 Hidden abominations exposed (v. 15).-Apply this passageI. To the world. 1. The abominations that are visible to all are exceeding great; 2. But the more we know of the world, the more wicked will it appear. II. The Church. 1. The outward court worshippers are, for the most part, exceedingly corrupt; 2. Would to God we could except from this censure the worshippers of the inner court. III. The heart. 1. This, the Prophet tells us, is superlatively deceitful; 2. It is also, as the same luminary was Prophet informs us, unsearchably wicked. Behold here then(1) The folly of man; (2) The forbearance of God; (3) The These men being wonders of Redeeming Love. the sun at its most usually worshipped. to chose to turn Sun-worship.-This last expression undoubtedly alludes to some compelled particular ceremony belonging to their idolatrous worship. Mr. make a choice, Lowth (On the Prophets) says, the words may refer to & custom their backs to among the idolaters of dedicating a branch of laurel, or some the temple, and other tree, to the honour of the sun, and carrying it in their their faces to the hands at the time of their worship. Lewis observes, that the sun, rather than most reasonable exposition is that the worshipper, with a wand the sun, and their in his hand, would touch the idol, and then apply the stick to his faces to the temnose and mouth, in token of worship and adoration. ple."- Kitto. CHAPTER THE NINTH. their backs to c Wordsworth. a Comp. 2 Ki. x. "The form in most general use is a flat case about nine inches long, by an inch and a quarter broad, and half an inch thick, the 1-4. (1) loud voice, as giving a command requiring immediate attention. have charge, i.e. the angels charged to exe- 24. cute God's judgments on the city." draw near, quickly; ready to act at once. (2) siaughter weapon, such as Levites used for preparing the sacrifices. one man, the leader of them. linen, the dress of the priests, and symbol of purity. inkhorn.. side,' it was quite usual for scribes to carry the receptacle for ink and pen stuck in their girdle. (3) gone up, departed from the inner sanctuary to the threshold, as a step towards forsaking His temple. The glory tarried awhile only to give the waiting officers their commission of vengeance. (4) mark, to indicate that such should be spared. sigh, etc., in their grief at the iniquity around them. Christians a living protest against sin (v. 4).—I. God's people described. 1. They are sighing ones, sorrowing; 2. They are crying ones, protesting. II. Their peculiar mark, a mark of 1. Separation; 2. Service; 3. A visible mark; 4. A mark of safety. Retribution (vv. 4, 5).-I. That the chief distinction between man is moral. 1. Not unreasoning caprice; 2. Nor any material characteristics; 3. Nor any mental qualities. II. That the results of this distinction are tremendous. III. That the Divine superintendence of human destiny is perfect. 1. The moral character and condition are now conspicuous; 2. The arrangement is divine. hollow of which serves to con tain the reed, pens, and pen knife. It is furnished at one end with a lid To the flat end of the vessel, which has closely. The inkvessel is usually The twice as heavy as the shaft. latter is passed thro' the girdle, and prevented from slipping through by the projecting inkvessel. The whole is usually of polished metal, brass, silver, or copper."-Kilto. Mark on the forehead.—Mr. Maurice, speaking of the religious rites of the Hindoos, says, before they can enter the great pagoda, an "indispensable ceremony takes place, which can only be performed by the hand of a Brahmin; and that is, the impressing of their foreheads with the tiluk, or mark of different colours, as they may belong either to the sect of Veeshnu, or Seeva. If the temple be that of Veeshnu, their foreheads are marked with a longitudinal line, and the colour used is vermilion If it be the temple of Seeva, they are marked with a parallel line, and the colour used is turmeric, or saffron. But these two grand sects being again subdivided into numerous classes, both the size and the shape of the tiluk are varied in proportion to their superior or inferior rank. In regard to the tiluk, I must observe, that it was a custom of very ancient date in Asia to mark their servants in the forehead. It is alluded to in these words of Ezekiel, where the Almighty commands his angels to " through the midst of the city, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh for the abominations committed in the midste U. R. Thomas. thereof." The same idea occurs also in Rev. vii. 3.f go c Re. vii. 1. The mark to be put is the Heb. letter Tau, wh. is in form something like a cross. d W. W. Whythe. |ƒ Burder. a 2 Chr. xxxvi. 17. 5-7. (5) smite, all that have not the mark of v. 4. (6) begin.. sanctuary, where idolatry was most shamefully deve"Judgment often loped. This work of destruction was in fact done by the Chalbegins at the dæans.a ancient men, ch. viii. 11, 12, 16. (7) defile the house, this was done by shedding human blood in it, and leaving in it dead bodies.' house of God, bec. such persons sin against "Every great and Preaching: its force the main consideration.—I had tried to drive certain long brass-headed nails into a wall, but had never succeeded except in turning up their points, and rendering them useless. When a tradesman came who understood his work, I noticed that he filed off all the points of the nails, the very points upon whose sharpness I had relied; and when he had quite blunted them, he drove them in as far as he pleased. With some consciences our fine points in preaching are worse than useless. Our keen distinctions and nice discriminations are which he is to be thrown away on many; they need to be encountered with sheer relished."--force and blunt honesty. The truth must be hammered into them by main strength, and we know from whom to seek the needed power. himself create the taste by Wordsworth. c Spurgeon. Dr. Thompson, speaking of one of these scribes or letter-writers, says:-"This is a sort of Moslem confessional, and that fellow's head must be crammed with the secrets of half the city. No matter; I suppose, like he keeps dark and the scandal other confessors, "Consider.! except a living man, there is nothing more wonderful 8-11. (8) left, bec. the avengers were gone forth from the temple to slay in the city. Then the Prophet intercedes. (9) full of blood, the sign of violence. perverseness, or wresting of judgment, ch. viii. 23. (10) not spare, ch. v. 11. (11) reported, his report concerned his safe preservation of God's elect by affixing on them the required mark. Inkhorn.-This position of the inkhorn of Ezekiel's writer may appear somewhat odd to a European reader, but the custom of placing it by the side continues in the East to this day. Olearius, who takes notice of a way that they have of thickening their ink with a sort of paste they make, or with sticks of indian ink, which is the best paste of all-a circumstance favourable to their sealing with ink-observes that the Persians carried about with and may be them, by means of their girdles, a dagger, a knife, a handkerchief, trusted. Still, and their money; and those that follow the profession of writing this letter writ-out books, their inkhorn, their penknife, their whetstone to ing would not be a very thriving sharpen it, their letters, and everything, the Muscovites were wont business in our in his time to put in their boots, which served them instead of own country." pockets. The Persians, in carrying their inkhorns after this manner, seem to have retained a custom as ancient as the days of Ezekiel; while the Muscovites, whose garb was very much in the Eastern taste in the days of Olearius, and who had many Oriental customs among them, carried their inkhorns and their than a book! a papers in a very different manner. Whether some such variations from the dead: might cause the Egyptian translators of the Septuagint Version to render the words, “a girdle of sapphire, or embroidery, on the loins," I will not take upon me to affirm; but I do not imagine our Dr. Castell would have adopted this sentiment in his Lexicon, had he been aware of this Eastern custom: for with great propriety is the word keseth mentioned in this chapter three times, if it signified an inkhorn, the requisite instrument for sealing those devout mourners; but no account can be given why this keseth should be mentioned so often, if it only signified an "embroidered girdle." As to the other point relating to the Arab seals, their having no figures upon them, only an inscription; it to us as brothers." is to be thought that those of the Jews were in like manner -C.K gsley. without any images, since they were as scrupulous as the Moham message to us from human souls whom we never saw, who lived perhaps thousands of miles away; and yet these, in those little sheets of paper, speak to us, amuse us, terrify us, teach open their hearts us, comfort us, medans can be and from hence it will appear that it was a Harmer. a CHAPTER THE TENTH. 1-4. (1) firmament, etc., comp. ch. i. 26. sapphire stone, Ex. xxiv. 10. (2) he spake, i.e. the being seated on the thrones. cherub, i.e. the fourfold fig. described in ch. i. coals, with which to burn up, or destroy, the city. (3) right side, or north side. cloud.. court, i.e. the Shekinah cloud was moved from the entrance of the sanctuary, and filled the priest's court. (4) went up, as if ascending and passing away. Divine forces and human agents in retribution (v. 2).-I. That there are in the economy of God terrific forces for the destruction of evil. II. That the great forces provided against evil will often be used by the instrumentality of man.c 5-7. (5) sound.. wings, ch. i. 24. The cherubic figure appears to move, as if in close attendance on the Divine glory. (6) take fire, v. 2. (7) clothed with linen, symbol of his priestly office; but now he has to become a minister of Divine vengeance. took.. went out, to put the command at once into execution. Angels: their interest in man.-Angels were in the full exercise of their powers, even at the first infancy of our species, and shared in the gratulations of that period when, at the birth of humanity, all intelligent nature felt a gladdening impulse, and the morning stars sung together for joy. They loved even as with the love which a family on earth bears to a younger sister, and the very childhood of our tinier faculties did only serve the more to endear us to them; and though born at a later hour in creation. did they regard us as heirs of the same destiny with themselves, to rise along with them in the scale of moral elevation, to bow at the same footstool, and to partake in those high dispensations of a parent's kindness, and a parent's care, which are ever emanating from the throne of the Eternal on all the members of a duteous and affectionate family. We cannot but remark how fine a harmony there is between the law of sympathetic nature in heaven, and the most touching exhibitions of it on the face of our world. When one of a numerous household droops under the power of disease, is not that the one to whom all the tenderness is turned, and who in a manner monopolises the inquiries of his neighbourhood, and the care of his family? When the sighing of the midnight storm sends a dismal foreboding into the mother's heart, to whom of all her offspring, we would ask, are her thoughts and anxieties then wandering? Is it not to her sailor boy, whom her fancy has placed amid the rude and angry surges of the ocean? Does not this, the hour of his apprehended danger, concentrate upon him the whole force of her wakeful meditations? And does not he engross for a season her every sensibility and her every prayer? a 8-12. (8) man's hand, ch. i. 8. (9) beryl stone, ch. i. a E. P. Hood. "Oh! there are 16. (10, 11) appearances, etc., ch. i. 13, 15, 17. (12) eyes, no tears in ch. i. 18. heaven; but when angels come down to earth, it may be they can fall into companionship with human sad even learn to weep: ness, and and where is the spectacle which shall wring tears from eyes which they were never meant to stain, if it be not that of the obstinate rejection of the Gospel of reconciliation, and of careless trifling with thing so inestimably precious as the soul? Old men, buried with your gold! angels Young men, frittering away your days in vanities and pleasures! angels weep over you."-H. Melvill. weep over you. "Books, such as are worthy the name of books, ought to have no patrons but truth and reason."Bacon. b Dwight. a Galgal is the whole wheelwork machinery, with its whirlwind-like rotation. Their The hand and the wing (v. 8).-There are two proofs of our religious life-our great thoughts of God; our great deeds for God. In religion, as in life, there are two ideas-the sense of I. See what a Divine work farness, the sense of nearness. creation is. II. Then you see what Divine providence is. III. See in the human hand, beneath the wing of the angel, the relation of a life of action to a life of contemplation. IV. In a word, you see what religion is; it is the human hand beneath the angel's wing." The ministry of angels.-" Are they not all ministering spirits," says St. Paul, "sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation?" In this passage we are plainly taught that ministering to the saints is a standing employment of angels throughout the ages of time. Accordingly, they are exhibited in Jacob's vision of the ladder as "ascending and descending" from heaven to earth and from earth to heaven continually in the discharge of this great duty. According to this declaration also we are furnished by the Scriptures with numerous examples of their actual ministry to the children of God. Thus angels delivered Lot from Sodom, Jacob from Esau, Daniel from the lions, his three companions from the fiery furnace, Peter from Herod, and the Jewish Sanhedrim and the nation of the Israelites successively from the Egyptians, Canaanites, and Assyrians. Thus they conducted Lot, Abraham, and the Israelites in seasons of great difficulty and danger to places and circumstances of safety and peace. Thus they conducted Gideon to the destruction of the Midianites, Joseph and Mary to Egypt, Philip to the eunuch, and Cornelius to Peter, to the knowledge of the Gospel through him, and to the salvation of himself, his family, and his friends. Thus angels instructed Abraham, Joshua, Gideon, David, Elijah, Daniel, Zechariah the Prophet, Zachariah the father of John the Baptist, the Virgin Mary, the Apostles, and their fellow-disciples. Thus they comforted Jacob at the approach of Esau, Daniel in his peculiar sorrows and dangers, Zechariah in the sufferings of his nation, Joseph and Mary in their perplexities. Christ in His agony, the Apostles and their companions after His resurrection, Paul immediately before his shipwreck, and the Church universally by the testimony and instruction given in the Revelation of St. John. 13-17. (13) O wheel, or more round, as if reminding them of their duty." Heb. the galgal, or the whirling. These wheels were most rapid in their revolutions. (14) face, etc., ch. i. 10. (15) lifted up, to attend the Divine Glory on this its removal being so ad- from the Temple. (16) cherubims went, ch. i. 19. (17) dressed is in spirit.. them, ch. i. 20, 21. them immediate motion."- Faus sel. order to call O wheel (v. 13).-I shall consider this wheel-I. As emblely to put them-matical of God's government. II. The propriety of this figure. selves in rapid 1. A wheel is a very curious piece of mechanism; 2. You never see more than half of it at one time; 3. All parts of the circumference are alike near to the centre; 4. It is subject to frequent "What the gods movements and changes; 5. A wheel is a great assistance to intend, is theirs labour. III. Some of the revolutions which prompt the exclabar their great mation, O wheel. 1. The gift of a Saviour for a guilty world: opposeless wills, 2. Some of the sparing movements; 3. Those events which lead alone; let us not |
