Remonstrance and intercession.
It is remarkable that whilst Ezekiel was commissioned to censure and to denounce the political action of the evil counsellors of Jerusalem, he took no pleasure in the awful practical expression which the righteous Judge saw fit to give to this censure and denunciation. It was the prophet's business to expose the wicked policy of Pelatiah; but this man's death was to Ezekiel a severe shock and sorrow, calling forth from his sympathetic and patriotic heart the words in which he deprecated with all reverence and submission the displeasure of the Lord.
I. THE OCCASION OF REMONSTRANCE AND INTERCESSION. In this passage the occasion was twofold.
1. The pressure of present affliction, in the death of one of the leaders and rulers in the metropolis.
2. The apprehension of future calamity and disaster such as the present affliction foreboded. What had happened to one would, in all likelihood, happen to others. Similarly, every well wisher to his country and his Church is, in times of trial, driven to the throne of grace for merciful forbearance and interposition.
II. THE PRESENTATION OF REMONSTRANCE AND INTERCESSION.
1. There is an identification on the part of the suppliant of himself with his people. After all, whatever might be the errors of any class of his countrymen, Ezekiel was a Hebrew, and he could not but suffer in the sufferings of his country; its misfortunes could not but afflict him; its ruin could not but humiliate and distress him.
2. There is an implicit admission of the justice of the Divine action; the prophet does not complain of what had been wrought by the hand of Divine and judicial authority. No affliction was undeserved.
3. There is supplication that ills apparently impending may be averted. As Abraham pleaded for Sodom, so Ezekiel pleaded for Jerusalem. There is but a remnant: of that remnant shall a full end be made? As if he added, in the language of the patriarch, "That be far from thee, Lord!"
APPLICATION. The Christian cannot fail to be reminded, by this passage, of the intercessory office of Christ. We have an Advocate with the Father, appointed and accepted by that Father's love. Here is our refuge and our hope in the time of calamity and under the fear of judgment. Our High Priest is a powerful and successful Intercessor. Our sins have deserved that "a full end" should be made of humanity. But through Christ mercy is extended, clemency exercised, and salvation assured to those who place themselves under the patronage and protection of the great Mediator and Advocate.—T.
Exile and restoration.
There is a change in the tone of the prophet. A full end shall not be made of the remnant. The metropolis shall fall, the king shall be led captive. The enemy shall prevail. But the children of the Captivity shall not be forgotten; they shall experience the protection and fellowship of their covenant God; and they shall be brought back to the land of Israel, when Divine purposes are fulfilled, and when the time is ripe.
I. GOD A SANCTUARY FOR A SEASON IN A FOREIGN LAND. This must have been a precious and encouraging assurance to the captives in their banishment. They loved Jerusalem, and they loved the temple. Far from the scene of their national privileges, they were yet not forsaken by the God of their fathers.
1. Every holy place has its true meaning and value from the residence in it of the Eternal. It is not the costly material of which a sanctuary is built, the labour and art with which it is decorated, the robed priesthoods who minister, or the lavish offerings and sacrifices that are presented; it is not these things that make a temple. It is the presence of God himself to receive and bless the worshippers, that endears the building to the enlightened and pious.
2. God may manifest his presence and favour in p!aces where no sacred edifices exist. So Jacob understood, when he awoke from his slumber and his dream, and exclaimed, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not!"
"Where'er they seek thee, thou art found,
And every place is hallowed ground."
Those upon the stormy deep, those in the primeval forests, those in the waterless deserts, those in the caverns of the earth, have met with God in the exercises of devotion. And he was a Sanctuary to his banished ones in their captivity in the East, as near to them as he was to those still permitted to resort to the courts of the temple at Jerusalem. "The tabernacle of God is with men."
3. Thus God's spiritual presence may be realized and enjoyed even in a world of sin. Earth is in a sense the scene of exile and of banishment. But for all that, God will be to his people a Sanctuary in the place and during the period of their captivity. His Church is his temple, and from it he never departs.
II. GOD THE RESTORER OF HIS BANISHED ONES.
1. The dispersion and banishment are appointed for a time and for a purpose. There were reasons why the sons of Abraham should be exiled from the land promised to their progenitor, the father of the faithful. It was apparent to the wisdom of God that only thus could they be preserved and delivered from the temptations, especially to idolatry, to which they had so often yielded. The discipline was severe, but it was effectual. The period of exile was not prolonged vindictively.
2. The restoration is as providential as the Captivity. The language of the text is very emphatic upon this Feint: "I will even gather you from the people," etc. "He deviseth means whereby his banished ones may return." It was this prospect which sustained and cheered the Hebrew people amidst disasters at home and exile abroad. The land of their fathers was their land; and in due time they were to enter and possess it.
3. The restoration of the Israelites prefigured the final salvation of all God's people. Their exile shall not last forever. There is a better country, even a heavenly, a Jerusalem above; yonder is the promised inheritance, and the eternal abode of the blessed gathered from every land.—T.