Page 98 - NOTES ON EZEKIEL

•92 NOTES ON EZEKIEL.
fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of
the elders of Israel came to enquire of Jehovah and sat
before me.” (Ver. 1.) It was a serious reckoning this
which the prophet employed; but if humiliating to the
people meanwhile (and this was no evil), it kept before
faith the sure intervention of divine mercy when the chas­
tening by Gentile hands had been told out in full score.
Appearances bade fair for those who presented them­
selves from among the elders of Israel. They came to
enquire of Jehovah: was not this faith ? They sat
before Ezekiel: was not this the reverent humility that
honours Him in His servant ?
“ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say
unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Are ye come
to enquire of me ? As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah,
I will not be enquired of by you. Wilt thou judge
them, son of man, wilt thou judge them ? cause them
to know the abominations of their fathers.” (Ver. 2—4.)
He who searches the reins and the heart saw that there
was no exercise of conscience before Him ; and why
answer where there is only hollowness and hypocrisy ?
It was beneath Him to allow such trifling any more.
“ As I live, I will not let myself be enquired of longer
by you.” At the same time He is pleased to justify His
ways; and if the prophet would plead for them (or take
them to task), he is directed to set their fathers’ abomi­
nations before them. God thus goes to the fountain­
head of the mischief, and the people must judge the
evil not merely in its effects but in its spring.
The prophet then was to say to them, “ Thus saith
the Lord Jehovah, In the day when I chose Israel, and