Page 238 - NOTES ON EZEKIEL

232 NOTES ON EZEKIEL.

CHAPTER XLIII.

Av incomparably more august sight now opens for the
prophet. The Shechinah of Jehovah displays itself,
returning to dwell in the midst of His people.
“ And he brought me to the gate, the gate thatfaceth
the east. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel
came from the way of the east, and his voice [was] as
the sound of many waters, and the earth shined with
his glory. And [it was] according to the appearance
of the vision which I saw, according to the vision that I
saw when I came to destroy the city ; and the visions
[were] like the visions that I saw by the river Chebar;
and I fell on my face. And the glory of Jehovah came
into the house by the way of the gate whose aspect [is]
toward the east. And the Spirit took me up and
brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory
of Jehovah filled the house.” (Ver. 1-5.)
The force of this is clear enough, if men were but
simple. It is the sign of God’s return to Israel whom
He had left ever since the carrying of the Jews to Baby­
lon. But the return from Babylon in no way satisfies
the prophecy; nor yet even the mission of the Messiah.
He Himself lets us know, as we learn from elsewhere
also, that the seasons of Gentile supremacy were then,
as they are still, in progress. Jerusalem is trodden
down of the Gentiles till the times of the Gentiles be ful­
filled. The Son of man at His appearing will gather
Israel again and judge all the nations. Jehovah will
then govern the earth with Jerusalem as His earthly
centre. Of this the return of the Shechinah is the sym-