Shall it prosper?
I. PROSPERITY IS NATURALLY SOUGHT AFTER. False ideas of prosperity may blind us as to its true nature. There is a prosperity which none need covet, a swollen worldly success that leaves the soul starved, barren, and sapless. It may be more blessed to suffer from the stimulating shocks of adversity than to be surfeited with such a false prosperity. But real prosperity is naturally and rightly desired. No one ought to be content to make shipwreck of life. We may not attain to the objects which we set before ourselves, and we may never realize any very great success in the eyes of men. But that our lives should break up in ruin is of all things most to he deplored. The question, "Shall it prosper?" is thus to be asked with natural anxiety. We may ask it in regard to
II. PROSPERITY MAY BE EASILY MISSED. The vine in the parable did not prosper. Zedekiah's diplomacy was a failure. Many men make shipwreck of life. Churches sink into deadness. The inquiry should go back to the possible causes of failure.
1. A false aim. Zedekiah thought only of his own throne. He did not give evidence of the genuine patriotism which would have preferred the welfare of the nation to his own safety. Selfishness may win worldly success. But it is certain to starve the roots of soul prosperity.
2. A false trust. Zedekiah trusted to Pharaoh instead of God. If we are looking for prosperity in any region to the neglect of our trust in God, we are courting failure, for with him are the issues of life.
3. A false character. Zedekiah not only leaned upon a broken reed in trusting to Egypt; he acted treacherously in so doing. Deceit is fatal to the soul. Fraud never secures true prosperity, though it may win earthly pelf.
III. PROSPERITY NEED NOT BE MISSED. Here, again, we must bear in mind the nature of true prosperity. We cannot all be rich or successful in earthly enterprises. But no soul need be wrecked, for it is within the power of all to attain to a life which shall be reckoned successful in the sight of God. We should see to it that we have the secret of this prosperity.
1. Living for God. This will give us a right aim. The soul that lives for self, for the world, for any lower aim, is running for the rocks. But no one who truly lives for God can utterly fail.
2. Trusting in God. It is not easy to pursue this high aim; indeed, it is impossible to do so without the aid of Divine grace. The life of faith is the only perfectly prosperous life. The heroes of faith whose fame is celebrated in Hebrews 11:1-40. were all of them truly successful, though many of them suffered and some died as martyrs.
IV. PROSPERITY IS WORTH INQUIRING ABOUT. Ezekiel's question is pertinent. Everything else may look fair, but if this vital question receives a negative reply, all the other points of excellence count for nothing, or even tell against us in mockery of the one fatal flaw. The life may be comfortable; the Church may be sound and orthodox, or popular and attractive; the plan of work may be clever and original. But what is the use of all these pleasant features if they are to end in failure?
The broken covenant.
In turning to Egypt for protection Zedekiah had broken faith with Nebuchadnezzar; but he had done worse, for he had broken the covenant between God and the house of David.
I. UNFAITHFULNESS TO MAN IS UNFAITHFULNESS TO GOD. All sin against man is also sin against God. The second table of commandments lies upon the first, and a breach of the one involves a breach of the other. David confesses that he had sinned against God, and God only (Psalms 51:4), though his crime was directly committed against Uriah the Hittite. The penitent prodigal charges himself with having sinned against heaven as well as before his father (Luke 15:18). God enters into all earthly arrangements. The oath is a direct call upon God to do this; but without any such solemn appeal God cannot but take note of all we say and do, and as the Guardian of truth and justice he will consider any earthly unfaithfulness as wrong against himself.
II. THOSE WHO ARE PLEDGED TO THE SERVICE OF GOD ARE ESPECIALLY UNFAITHFUL TO HIM WHEN THEY ARE UNFAITHFUL TO THEIR FELLOW MEN. Zedekiah was the king of a covenant nation, and his throne was bound by God's solemn covenant with David. He was, therefore, in an especial sense a servant of God. If the servant behaves ill in the world his Master must take note of the fact. It is a wrong against the Master, who is dishonoured by his shameful conduct. When a professedly Christian man shows a lack of integrity before the world, his sin is intensified by contrast with his high profession. It is bad for the common person to be faithless, but when a knight of honoured title shows the same failure of character, he brings disgrace upon his order. If one who stands before men as a Christian proves himself to be dishonourable in business, he injures the holy Name of his Master, and he breaks faith with the God whom he has promised to serve.
III. UNFAITHFULNESS TO A COVENANT WITH GOD IS A HEINOUS SIN. The Jews were peculiarly privileged; therefore their sin was especially guilty. They were bound to fidelity by exceptional pledges; their disloyalty was, therefore, the more culpable. Christians now stand in the ancient position of the Jews.
1. Christians are peculiarly privileged. They not only receive the general mercies of God which all men may share. They are partakers of his choicest covenant blessings. Jesus Christ, who has pledged the new covenant in his blood, has brought with it the highest blessings. For Christians to fall into sin is doubly guilty.
2. Christians are especially pledged. If we take the Christian name we incur the Christian obligations. The vows of God are then upon us. We are pledged to loyalty to Christ. It is no common sin to break vows of Christian service. The prophet called this sin in Israel adultery. It carries the shame and guilt of that outrage on honour.
Christ, the new Cedar.
After words of darkness and ruin, there appears the wonderful Messianic prophecy of restoration and future blessings. Sometimes this prophecy is expressed in general terms; but here the personal Messiah is distinctly predicted under the image of a shoot taken from the fallen cedar.
I. THE PLANTING OF THE NEW CEDAR.
1. It is a cutting from the old cedar. That proud and once venerable tree has been cruelly torn by the fierce eagle. One of its topmost twigs has been carried away, for Jehoiachin has been taken to Babylon. But another shoot from the same tree is destined to a glorious future. Christ is of the stock of David. He is called God's Servant, "the Branch" (Zechariah 3:8). The people hailed Jesus as the "Son of David" (Matthew 20:30). Christ comes as a King, and he comes to fulfil God's ancient promises to David. He unites the present to the past, and accomplishes in himself what the throne of David had failed to attain.
2. It appears as a slender twig. It was said of the Christ, "He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground" (Isaiah 53:2). Jesus entered the world in the lowly estate of the infant Child of a poor woman, and his earthly life was one of humiliation and slight visible achievements.
3. It is planted on a mountain.
II. THE GROWTH OF THE NEW CEDAR.
1. It is to grow in size. It shall bring forth boughs. The cutting becomes a cedar tree. The mustard seed grows into a great tree. Christ not only grew in stature, wisdom, and grace as a Child (Luke 2:14). He grew in power afterwards, being made perfect by the things that he suffered (Hebrews 5:8, Hebrews 5:9), and being exalted to the right hand of God on account of his great self sacrifice at the cross. Christ continues to grow in the extension of his kingdom, in the progress of the Church, which is his body.
2. It is to be fruitful. "And bear fruit." This cedar is to share the merits of the vine. Great as the monarch of Lebanon is it is to be fruitful as the tender plants of the vineyard. Christ is not only great and exalted, and ever growing in the power of his kingdom. He gives out grace. His fruit is for the healing of the nations. He is the Bread of life, and his people feed upon him. Christianity is not merely a big success, like Mohammedanism. It is a blessing to the world as beneficent as it is victorious. The great Oriental monarchies were destructive, bringing a blast from the desert over the countries they conquered. The kingdom of heaven is healthful and fertilizing, promoting goodness, enterprise, civilization. We donor simply admire a great Lord in his solitary grandeur, like some awful, barren, Alpine peak. We are grateful to One who is as a fruitful tree.
3. It is to afford shelter. The birds are to roost in its branches, and take refuge from the storm under its foliage. So was it to be with the mustard tree (Matthew 13:31).