Page 180 - NOTES ON EZEKIEL

1 74 NOTES ON EZEKIEL.
of talkers, and a reproach of the people, therefore, ye
mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah : thus
saith the Lord Jehovah to the mountains and to the
hills, to the ravines and to the valleys.” (Vers. 3, 4.)
If the unuttered taunt is recorded before Jehovah,
how much more that malicious boasting over the
needed humiliation of Israel and the consequent deso­
lation of the land, as if it were their victory over the
only true God! But He heard and was soon warned by
His servant the prophet; yet was He slow to judge.
But His hand will ere long make good what His mouth
then declared; and a yet more tremendous downfall yet
awaits the haughty Edomite. The unbelieving Jews
may d iv e r t their maledictions to th e ir so -c a lle d C h ristian
adversaries meanwhile; for both Jews and Christendom
have lost all simplicity and consequently power of faith
in the word of God. But neither good nor evil have
perished from before His eyes. Edom and Israel but
slumber in the dust and will soon come forth, Edom
with still indomitable pride and vengeance, Israel at
length repentant and subdued by the patient infinite
grace of God. And then in this world shall each race
receive its portion in that day, and Edom finally by the
hand of Israel. (Compare Isaiah xi. 10-14; xxxiv.;
xxxv.;lxiii; Obadiah.)
For it would be.a sorrowful and unworthy con­
ception of that day, were it only viewed as divine
wrath dispensing its death-blows on the wicked. Nor
does the prophecy hold out such monotony of gloom,
but contrariwise the dark ways of man’s iniquity
followed by the judgment, and ushering in the day, of
Jehovah. “ Prophesy therefore concerning the land