Medes and Persians, which after the seventy years should take the place of the Assyrian, and be brilliant and magnificent, though not equal to the former one. The belly and thighs of brass meant the Greek or Macedonian power, which began with Alexander the Great, harder, sterner, than the two Eastern powers, yet not so hard, strong, and terrible as the Iron that should follow, namely the Romans, crushing all before them, but dividing into two legs, for the Eastern and Western Empires, getting mingled with miry clay -namely, debasing themselves by getting mixed with strangers and slaves, and losing their strength, and dividing at last into ten toes, for the ten (more or less) kingdoms that have sprung up out of the remains of the Roman Empire.

Such was Earthly Might. But, behold, a Stone is cut out without hands from a mountain. This is the Saviour, coming into the world and setting up His kingdom, the Church, without human aid. "The Shepherd, the Stone of Israel," was Jacob's name for Him, doubtless known to Daniel; and Isaiah had sung (chap. xxviii.) :

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD,

Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation :

He that believeth shall not make haste.

This

"Make haste" here means "be terrified or confounded. Stone should overthrow this great Worldly Power. Christ is ever at war with the world-that world which is always rising up in ambition, in violence, in selfishness, in display; and though to put our trust and lean on Him, our Rock, is perfect safety, yet if we belong to the Image instead of the Stone, He tells us Himself—" And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder" (Matt. xxi. 44).

When Worldly Power turns against Christ and His Church, it is sure to be broken in some way or other; and finally, when the end shall come, the destruction of all who have had their portion with it shall be the utter ruin and dispersion that Daniel likens to the chaff of the summer threshing-floor.

So did the great Babylonian dream: so it was given to Daniel to explain the course and the ruin of Worldly Power. Nebuchadnezzar felt the truth of the explanation, and made Daniel, young as he was, governor of Babylon, promoting his three companions with him.

LESSON CIII.

THE VISION OF EZEKIEL.

B.C. 595.—EZEK. i., ii. and iii. (abridged).

Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,

The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.

And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber,* out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures, And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.

As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

*

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And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.

And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.

As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.

And when I saw it, I fell

upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.

And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.

* Bright, transparent yellow.

And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. For they are impudent children and stiff-hearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God.

And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.

And thou, Son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

And thou shalt speak my words unto them whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.

But thou, Son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.

And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;

And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without : and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest ; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.

So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.

And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.

COMMENT.-Among the captives who had been taken away with Jehoiachin was a priest named Ezekiel. He was placed in Media, on the banks of the Chebar, or Kabor, and here, when he was thirty years old, and had been five years an exile, he beheld the wonderful vision that called him to be a prophet. He beheld in the midst of indescribable glory the four Cherubim, with their fourfold facesthe man, the lion, the ox, and the eagle-denoting all that is wisest, mightiest, strongest, and loftiest in creation, as manifested in the Holy One, who at once is the Son of Man, the avenging Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Sacrifice for Sin, and the Ascended Lord overshadowing us with eagle wings of love. So at least do those who understand best dare to interpret these mysterious beings whom Moses shadowed forth after his vision in the Mount, and whom St. John again beheld around the Throne. Again, it was a throne that Isaiah had beheld, and to Ezekiel it was, as before to David, "He rode upon the Cherubim and did fly; he came flying upon the wings of the wind." For in some marvellous manner wheels were connected with these living creatures. Even the pro

phetic language of Ezekiel does not make us understand how this was, but it would seem to signify that God's earthly throne was no longer to be solely at Jerusalem, but that His kingdom should be ever "coming"-making progress through the earth. Most of the wondrous, mysterious, and deeply significative description of this sight of the Chariot Throne of the Almighty has been passed over in this short Lesson, but on the Throne in the ineffable glory was the Likeness of a Man, in intensity of brightness and majesty. Surely it was a revelation of Him who should take on Him the form of a man- -the Lord JEHOVAH, who had pleaded so long with Israel, and even now, amid the clouds, showed the sorrowful prophet the bow in the cloud-Noah's token of mercy-the Rainbow round about the Throne that St. John saw again. It is His sign of mercy in judgment.

To the priest, cut off from the Temple, nay, who would soon hear of the ruin of that Temple, his God revealed Himself in the Sanctuary, “not of this building," of which Moses and Solomon had but framed the types.

Then forth from the Throne came the call upon Ezekiel, causing him to rise from his prostrate attitude of awe, and sending him forth to act as watchman and messenger to Judah, stubborn and rebellious though they were. Isaiah had been given utterance, as

it were, by the coal from off the altar, and Ezekiel's visible token of inspiration was by receiving a roll of writing which he was bidden to eat. God's Word is "sweeter than honey unto the taste" of the faithful, even though to Judah, as now she was, the message of the prophet could only be "lamentation and mourning and woe."

LESSON CIV.

THE YOKE OF BABYLON.

B.C. 595.-JER. xxvii. 12-22; xxviii.

I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.

For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.

Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you.

Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste?

But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.

For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city,

Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;

Yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem;

They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.

And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,

Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon :

And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the LORD: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.

Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the LORD,

Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the LORD do so: the LORD perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the LORD's house, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon, into this place.