suddenness, and no hands stayed on her, it was not necessary for any human hands to be active in her destruction, since the Lord Himself brought the calamity upon her. The fate of Jerusalem was more terrible than that of Sodom because her guilt was greater. Thus Sodom, for instance, was spared the slow tortures of hunger and pestilence by the suddenness of the punishment which ended her existence. V. 7. Her Nazarites, her princes or rulers, separated from the rest of the people by virtue of the dignity of their office, were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, or "corals"; their polishing was of sapphire, beautiful in form. V. 8. Their visage, now that the calamity has come upon them, is blacker than a coal, than blackness, or soot; they are not known in the streets, because their appearance is so dreadfully altered; their skin cleaveth to their bones, on account of the excessive loss of flesh which they had suffered; it is withered, dry and yellow; it is become like a stick, without sap and vigor. V. 9. They that be slain with the sword are better, more fortunate, than they that be slain with hunger, because they were not obliged to suffer the agonies of a slow death; for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. Such was the fate of the men, of the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem; far more pitiful was that of the women. V. 10. The hands of the pitiful women, of those who were tenderhearted and merciful, from whom one might have expected a different behavior, have sodden their own children, in an abhorrent and almost unexplainable form of cannibalism; they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people, during the siege of Jerusalem. Cp. Deut. 28, 57. Thus the extremity of the case influenced even delicate and kind-hearted women to commit such horrible crimes. V. 11. The Lord hath accomplished His fury, fulfilling the designs of His wrath; He hath poured out His fierce anger and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof, the reference being to the total destruction of the city by the punishment of Jehovah. Thus the Lord proved Himself a holy and a jealous God, who was bound to visit the iniquity of the sinners upon them.

THE

GOD'S JUDGMENT A CONSEQUENCE OF SINS OF THE PROPHETS AND PRIESTS. — V. 12. The kings of the earth and all the inhabitants of the world would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem. It had indeed been taken in the earlier years, by Shishak of Egypt and by Joash of Israel, 1 Kings 14; 2 Kings 14, but it had since been fortified to such an extent that it was regarded as impregnable; moreover, there was an idea prevailing among the surrounding nations that it was under the special protection

of Jehovah. But the unheard-of had come to pass. V. 13. For the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, cp. Jer. 23, 11. 21; 26, 7-16, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, practising even in those days what the Lord accused them of six centuries later, Matt. 23, 31. 37. Because the leaders and spiritual rulers of the people had been guilty of such sins, therefore the punishment of the Lord had come upon the city. V. 14. They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, or, "they," the priests and prophets, "reeled through the streets, defiled with the blood which they had shed," so that men could not touch their garments, for fear of contamination, of Levitical uncleanness. V. 15. They, namely, the people of the city meeting them, cried unto them, Depart ye! It is unclean; depart, depart, touch not! thereby applying to them the call of warning used in the case of lepers, Lev. 13, 45, lest their blood-stained garments bring defilement. When they fled away and wandered, or when they had fled away and continued as fugitives in strange lands, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there, the heathen themselves being afraid of pollution and denying the exiled and fugitive priests a retreat in their midst. V. 16. The anger of the Lord hath divided them, literally, "the countenance of Jehovah has scattered them"; He will no more regard them, no longer look upon them in mercy; they, the enemies, respected not the persons of the priests, they favored not the elders, had no compassion on them. The rank, station, and age of the priests no longer shielded them from humiliation and degradation. V. 17. As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help, that is, the Jews, still hoping for the assistance of Egypt and other allied nations, were deeply disappointed; in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us, as was shown also by the fact that the small band of people remaining after the murder of Gedaliah fled to Egypt. all their hopes were in vain; they found that their trust had been misplaced. V. 18. They hunt our steps that we cannot go in our streets, that is, the Chaldeans were so vigilant in their siege that there was no chance to escape. Our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come, it seemed that their very existence as a nation was at an end. The city was taken, the bulk of its population transported to Babylon or put to the sword, and the remaining fugitives scattered among the nations. V. 19. Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven, their pursuit having begun instantly and having been carried forward with the greatest energy; they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the

But

wilderness, everywhere, even in the most inaccessible places. V. 20. The breath of our nostrils, namely, the king, who was needed for the life of the nation, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, caught by the enemies, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen; they had hoped to live safe under his protection. But in spite of the gloomy picture there is still some hope for the future. V. 21. Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz, on the border of the great Arabian Plain; that is, no matter if the Edomites were now exulting, the cup, namely, that of God's punishment, also shall pass through unto thee; thou shalt be drunken, with the contents of this

cup, and shalt make thyself naked, be heaped with shame as a result of the Chaldean conquest. On the other hand, there is comfort for the children of the Lord. V. 22. The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion, her guilt being removed by the mercy of Jehovah; He will no more carry thee away into captivity, not cause another sentence of banishment to be executed; He will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will discover thy sins, that is, uncover them for the purpose of meting out His punishment. Thus the Messianic idea is brought out, even in the midst of misery and affliction, with the same comfort of the Gospel which is ours to-day.

Prayer of the Congregation for the Restoration of the Covenant Relation. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT MISERY. V. 1. Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us, the evils which had befallen the Lord's congregation in the ruin of the entire nation; consider and behold our reproach, turning to their pitiable condition with merciful attention. The misery of Jerusalem and Judah, the home of the true Church, is now depicted. V. 2. Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens, since the invading Chaldeans had taken possession of the entire land. V. 3. We are orphans and fatherless, like those that have been deprived of their natural protectors; our mothers are as widows, this statement bringing out the fact that large numbers of men, the defenders of the city and country, had either fallen in battle or been led away into captivity. V. 4. We have drunken our water for money, namely, that which was rightfully their own; our wood is sold unto us, they were obliged to buy the very necessaries of life from the conquerors or pay exorbitant taxes. V. 5. Our necks are under persecution, their pursuers and tormentors being continually upon them, driving them headlong; we labor and have no rest, no matter how tired they were, rest was denied them. V. 6. We have given the hand, stretching it out in humble supplication, to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread, since the nation as such was reduced to absolute beggary. V. 7. Our fathers have sinned and are not, and we have borne their iniquities, the generation of Jews at the time of the destruction of the city being obliged to bear not only its own guilt, but that of the previous generations as well, placing them under a double misfortune. God punished the iniquities of the fathers upon the children who followed their fathers on their ways of wicked

ness. V. 8. Servants have ruled over us, many of the Chaldean overseers and petty officers actually being slaves; there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand, the former kingdom of priests having become a servant of servants. V. 9. We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness, for the country, sparsely populated as it was after the deportation of the exiles, was open to the ravages of nomad hordes, whose raids were a constant menace. V. 10. Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine, glowing with the heat of fever brought on by their condition. V. 11. They, the invading armies and the raiding hordes, ravished the women in Zion and the maids in the cities of Judah, the usual accompaniment of barbarous warfare. V. 12. Princes are hanged up by their hand, the disgrace of their slaughter thus being intensified by their suspension from the accursed tree; the faces of elders were not honored, the enemies showing no respect for dignity or age. V. 13. They took the young men to grind, compelling them to perform the work of slaves, and the children fell under the wood, as they dragged the heavy mill-stones with which the grinding was done. The Jewish young men and boys were required to do the lowest and most menial services. V. 14. The elders have ceased from the gate, no longer assembling at the customary place for deliberations and judgments, the young men from their music, for the joyful meetings were also held in the open space at the gates of the cities. V. 15. The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning, all mirth and cheer being things of the past. V. 16. The crown is fallen from our head, their former position of glory and honor and influence apparently being put from them forever. Woe unto us that we have sinned! The realiza

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tion of sinfulness and the acknowledgment of guilt, as in a confession of this kind, is the first step toward true repentance.

PLEA FOR THE RENEWAL OF JEHOVAH'S LOVE. V. 17. For this, on account of the great afflictions, well deserved as they were, our heart is faint, with the bitterness of the soul's pain; for these things are our eyes dim, the sorrow of the heart finding its expression in tears. V. 18. Because of the mountain of Zion, where the Temple had formerly stood, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it, jackals making their dens in its ruins. In the midst of all this sorrow, however, the hearts of the believers turn to the true source of comfort and consolation. V. 19. Thou, O Lord, remainest forever, sitting as the one true Monarch ruling the entire world; Thy throne from generation to generation, through all eternity. V. 20. Wherefore dost Thou forget us forever and forsake us so long

time? That Jehovah should be so inclined is beyond the conception of the inspired poet; he firmly believes that the Lord will yet remember His mercy. V. 21. Turn Thou us unto Thee, O Lord, by a true conversion, which is the work of the Lord alone, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old, restoring them to their position as His children, as His Church, as in former times. V. 22. But, or "Unless," Thou hast utterly rejected us; Thou art very wroth against us. It is hardly plausible that God's anger is so excessively great as to cause Him to shut out His repentant children forever. Thus the song of supplication, the prayer for mercy, ends with a statement of assurance, which hopes for a speedy fulfilment of its desire. Herein it is a model prayer for all times; for in the very midst of misery and affliction the believers are bound still to trust in the compassion of their heavenly Father.

This book, as the introductory paragraph clearly states, was written by Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, a priest of Jerusalem. He belonged to that company of Jews which had been carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon about 597 B. C., some ten years before the destruction of the city. In the fifth year of his captivity he was called by God in a majestic vision to be His prophet. In this capacity he labored for at least twenty-two years among the captive Jews. He lived in the northern part of Mesopotamia, at Tel-a-bib, by the river Chebar. He owned a house there and was married. He apparently enjoyed the confidence of his fellow-exiles, for their elders frequently sought his advice and guidance; yet he shared the lot of other true prophets inasmuch as most of his hearers did not hearken to him nor do his words. The fall of Jerusalem served to give his words more emphasis and established his standing in a fair measure. The last date given in his book is the twentyseventh year of the captivity; but we do not know how long he lived after that.

The special problem of Ezekiel was to testify to the Babylonian Jews, who were, for the most part, in comfortable circumstances and had built up a lively commerce with the Jews still remaining in Judea, but were still hardhearted and idolatrous, showing them that the destruction of Jerusalem was not only inevitable, but also well deserved under the circumstances, lest they harden their hearts by a false comfort and refuse to be brought to repentance. It was necessary, moreover, to

dissipate the false and foolish hopes which had been raised in the hearts of the exiled Jews by the alleged visions of false prophets and prophetesses. Ezekiel was eminently fitted for this task, for he possessed an unusual measure of mental and spiritual gifts; he had a good education; he had the priestly attitude and viewpoint; he was endowed with a wonderful imagination and a powerful gift of oratory; and he had received the firmness and courage for his difficult calling in an unusual degree. His activity, therefore, had a decisive influence on the development of the Jewish people during the Exile. Nor is it to be overlooked that one of the objects of Ezekiel's ministry was to comfort the true believers among the people, the faithful few who felt the loss of the Temple and its cult very deeply and longed for the salvation which was to come out of Zion.

The style of Ezekiel's book is in accordance with the energetic, fiery character of the prophet. While a part of his prophecy is in the didactic form and teaches in the usual manner of parables and proverbs, the general trend of his writing is toward symbolism and allegory, a fact which makes some parts of his book somewhat difficult to explain satisfactorily. But his object is always clearly presented, especially in the Messianic prophecies which we have in this book. Mingled with the messages of divine wrath and punishment we find sweet promises to the effect that God will not utterly destroy the entire nation, but will preserve a remnant of His people and at the end of seventy years bring them back to

Palestine and pour out upon them the blessings of His mercy. But the climax of the book is reached in the passages describing the Shepherd whom the Lord has promised to set up over His redeemed people, and in those speaking of the promised King.

The outline of the Book of Ezekiel may easily be discerned. The introductory section, chap. 1, 1-3, 21, speaks of the call and commission of the prophet. Then follow prophecies concerning the destruction of Jerusalem,

up to and including chapter 24. We next find prophecies regarding the heathen nations, the enemies of God's people, chaps. 25-39. The last part is a prophetical description of the future glory of God's kingdom under the picture of the division of Canaan and of the New Jerusalem, chaps. 40-48.1)

1) Cp. Fuerbringer, Einleitung in das Alte Testament, 72-74; Concordia Bible Class, May, 1919, 72-75.

Ezekiel's Vision of God's Glory. THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES. — V. 1. Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, either of the prophet's life or of some period or era which can no longer be definitely determined, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, for, having been led into captivity with Jehoiachin, he settled near this stream, which may have been one of the large irrigation ditches of the Euphrates Valley, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God, the very first sentence of his book thus emphasizing Ezekiel's divine authorization. He was in a state of ecstasy, during which divine revelations were vouchsafed him, as opposed to any visions of his own heart, the empty fancies of false prophets. Note that Ezekiel names the thirtieth year, this being the one in which the priests entered upon the duties of their office. So God here prepared His servant, not by an unreal hallucination, but by an actual manifestation, for the ministry in which he was to testify of the Word made known to him. The time is now further specified with reference to a well-known date. V. 2. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, with whom the second company of exiles had been brought to Babylon, v. 3. the word of the Lord came expressly, or "verily, truly," so that there can be no doubt of the fact, unto Ezekiel, the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him, so that, by this divine manifestation of power, he was endowed with the faculty of seeing and proclaiming heavenly truths. The prophet now immediately launches forth in a description of the heavenly vision. V. 4. And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, an emblem of God's mighty judgments, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, literally, "taking itself within itself," which does not merely mean, formed into a ball or lump of fire, but at the same time flashing as if there was a continual kindling of flame within the fiery mass forming the center of the cloud, and a brightness was

about it, so that it glowed like gold being refined in the assayer's furnace, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, metal glowing in the melting-pot, out of the midst of the fire, as though the heart of it were made of polished brass. V. 5. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man, possessing the general structure of a human body. V. 6. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings, similarly as the seraphim in Is. 6, 2 had six wings apiece. V. 7. And their feet, evidently only two in number, were straight feet, literally, "a foot of straightness," not only firm, but without a bend at the knee, altogether upright and symmetrical; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot, standing vertically, not horizontally; and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass, thereby indicating the purity of God's essence and the glory of His avenging justice. V. 8. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides, the wings thus being fastened at the shoulders, whence the hands proceeded likewise; and they four had their faces and their wings, one each on every one of the four sides. V. 9. Their wings were joined one to another, connected or interlaced with one another. They turned not when they went, namely, in twisted maneuvers; they went every one straight forward, due to the fact that their wings were thus joined. V. 10. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man and the face of a lion on the right side, namely, of one beholding them; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle, evidently on the side turned away from the beholder. The meaning of these four faces may have been to symbolize the strength, the power, the wisdom, and the nearness of God. V. 11. Thus were their faces; their wings were stretched upward, literally, "parted from above," the heads being set on four separate necks; two wings of every one were joined one to another, the ends of the outstretched pinions being thus inter

and

laced, and two covered their bodies, as in holy fear and reverence in the presence of God. V. 12. And they went every one straight forward, keeping their direction with unswerving directness; whither the spirit, the life-breath of God in them, was to go, they went, the four acting always in perfect unison; and they turned not when they went, in confusing maneuvers. V. 13. As for the likeness of the living creatures, the impression made by their appearance in general, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like kindled coals, and like the appearance of lamps, in a quick and flickering motion, like the play of lightning; it went up and down among the living creatures, moving back and forth between them; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning, in a threatening effect toward the outside. V. 14. And the living creatures ran and returned, always straight before them, as the appearance of a flash of lightning, with the suddenness of an electric flash. The Lord, if He so chooses, is able to reveal His will in a most startling and majestic manner, as also some phenomena of nature show to this day.

THE FOUR-FACED WHEELS AND THE FOUR CREATURES. -V. 15. Now, as I beheld the living creatures, which were associated with the menacing cloud and must therefore be thought of as being elevated above the earth, behold one wheel upon the earth, that is, a unit of four wheels in one, by the living creatures, with his four faces, toward their four fronts. V. 16. The appearance of the wheels and their work, their make-up, their workmanship and shape, was like unto the color of a beryl, of the chrysolite, which had a yellow color, as of clear fire; and they four had one likeness, and their appearance and their work, their shape as seen by the prophet, was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel, the one set crosswise within the other, as in a gyroscope. V. 17. When they went, they went upon their four sides, they could go in four directions, due to that double construction; and they turned not when they went, just like the four creatures. V. 18. As for their rings, the felloes of the wheels, they were so high that they were dreadful, on account of the effect of sublimity; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four, this fact introducing the element of life. V. 19. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them, being always in the closest relation to them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up, the impulse being transmitted to them in some unexplained manner. V. 20. Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go, following the direction taken by the creatures; and the wheels were lifted up over against them; for the spirit

of the living creature was in the wheels. V. 21. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, as the cloud lifted up in its onward course, the wheels were lifted up over against them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. The wheels thus, both when moving and when standing still, were governed by the motion and the rest of the living creatures because the same spirit of life animated them both. This scene is now brought in relation to the description of Jehovah's throne. V. 22. And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the color of the terrible crystal, literally, "a likeness over the head of the living creature, like unto the appearance of crystal, of the fearful," stretched forth over their heads above. The dazzling clearness and purity of the glittering crystal caused the spectator to feel awe, as from the reflection of the Creator's splendor. V. 23. And under the firmament were their wings straight, raised aloft as they moved forward in an erect position, the one toward the other; every one had two, which covered on this side, when let down, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies. "The tips of the wings (of the pair of wings serving for flight) reach along to the vault. For support they are not adapted, and particularly for this reason that the wings, v. 24, make a loud noise and are therefore in free motion; and further, because upon occasion they are let down. The wheels also do not support the chariot. The local proximity seems only to indicate the connection between the several provinces of creation; it is meant to represent the creation as a united whole." (Hengstenberg.) V. 24. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, of the surging and roaring of the ocean, as the voice of the Almighty, in the thunder of His power, the voice of speech, a dull, confused noise as of a tumult, as the noise of an host; when they stood, they let down their wings, in reverential rest before the only living God, who now puts a restraint on the fierceness of the creatures in carrying out the divine wrath. V. 25. And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, a command from Jehovah Himself, when they stood and had let down their wings, in full and submissive silence, awaiting the commands of Him who has power over all created beings. V. 26. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, that being the highest object in the prophet's vision, as the appearance of a sapphire stone, a sky-blue, or violet-colored stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it, the God