Page 225 - NOTES ON EZEKIEL

CHAPTER XL. 219*

truth, and for the glory, of God* in that day ? It is in
vain to plead the usual resource of unbelief—the cloud
that overhangs unfulfilled prophecy. Not so. To un­
belief all scripture is obscure ; to faith it is the light of
God through men empowered by the Holy Ghost to
communicate it. And the particular difficulty in the pre­
sent case is only, if we believe the Apostle Paul, Chris­
tendom’s conceit, which assumes, or rather presumes,
that the fall of the Jew is final and that the Gentile has
supplanted him for ever. The truth is that God will
not spare the Gentiles in their present and growing un­
belief, but will assuredly recall in His mercy Israel ere
long about to repent. Those that now wait for Christ,
with the risen saints, shall be caught up to Him; and
the Deliverer will come out of Zion and turn away un­
godliness from Jacob. If the King of kings and Lord
of lords enter on so new a position, it would be singular
indeed if all were not changed in consequence of it
and in accordance with it. This is precisely what the
prophets shew, in contradistinction from the Epistle to
the Hebrews as well as all the rest of the apostolic
Epistles. Our wisdom is to learn of God by His word
and Spirit, not to judge of scripture by conclusions
drawn from our own position, circumstances, or even
relation to God. Let us leave room for the various
evolutions and displays of His glory in the ages to
come, instead of making His present ways (profound
and blessed as they are) an exclusive standard: a snare
natural enough to man’s narrow and selfish mind, but
withering to all growth in and by the knowledge of
God. Christ, not the church, is His object; and the
church is blessed in proportion as this is seen.