June 1924
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
379
In te rn a t io n a l S e r ie s of Sunday School Lessons EXPOSITION OF THE LESSON, BLACKBOARD OUTLINES, ~ - H I M DEVOTIONAL COMMENT, - ~ COMMENTS FROM THE COMMENTARIES, ELEMENTARY, 1 - I - ~ _ . Frederic W. Farr Fred S. Shepard John A. Hubbard - H. G. Dean Mabel L. Merrill
JUNE 8 , 1924 EZEKIEL ENCOURAGES THE EXILES Golden Text: “ I will seek th a t which was lost, and bring back again th a t which was driven away.” Ezekiel 34:16. Lesson Text: Ezekiel 34:11-16. 25, 26 (Read Psalm 137:1-6; Ezekiel 34) Devotional Reading— Psalm 23. E z e k i e l X H O R T I N G X I L E S . “ T h e re sh a ll b e sh o w e rs o f b le ssin g .”— E zek . 3 4 :2 6 Among those carried away into captivity was Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, a priest. W ith some of his fellow-captives he was settled a t Tel-a-bib on th e banks of th e river Chebar which was probably “ the grand canal” of Nebuchadnezzar. The exiles do no t seem to have suffered LESSON privation or to have been oppressed un- EXPOSITION duly, for Ezekiel lived in his own house F . W. F a r r where th e elders of Israel came to see him, Ezek. 8:1. His position as a p riest w ithout temple or a lta r must have been trying, even beyond th a t of his fellow-captives who were perm itted to pursue th e ir usual occupations. He received th e Divine call to th e prophetic office in th e fifth year of his exile by means of a strik ing vision and for twenty-two years he exercised the functions and fulfilled the duties of a prophet. The exiles needed to be purified in order to form the nucleus of the new and fu tu re Israel. Standing upon the banks of th e Chebar, Ezekiel like Jerem iah clearly saw the folly of plot ting against Babylon and by precept and example urged upon th e people th e duty of submission and. the fu tility of resistance. He portrays the sins th a t have brought th eir g reat calam ity upon them in graphic language and like the other prophets he paints also a picture of b righ ter days to come when the nation shall be renewed in h eart and re stored to its native land. W ith unwearied patience and steadfast fidelity he devotes himself to the ta sk of consoling his countrymen and pre paring them for the renewal of Jehovah’s blessing. He represents God’s people as a flock and sharply reproves the ru lers who as false and faithless shepherds have brought such distress upon the people. In ch. 34:4 he mentions five p articu lars in which they have failed. They have not strengthened th e diseased, nor healed th e sick, nor bound up the bruised nor brought back th a t which was driven away nor sought th a t which was lost. The ru lers had failed to protect th e people. As a resu lt the people were scattered and th ere was no one to search them out and gath er them again. The figure of a flock shows the
affection of God for His people and His compassion for th eir sufferings. Jehovah then reveals H imself as th e tru e Shepherd of Israel. He promises to make a thorough and successful search for His sheep and though they have been scattered wide and far, He will find them and bring them back. The th ree g reat shepherd chapters of the Bible are John 10, P salm 23 and Ezekiel 34. Not only shall the faithless shepherds be removed, bu t th e in ju ries which th e members of the flock inflict upon each other shall cease. Carrying out th e figure of th e flock the prophet accuses th e strong w ith not caring for and not helping the weak. They have trodden down and spoiled w hat they could not eat them selves and afte r drinking they have defiled the w ater by stirring up the mud so th a t others could not drink. This is a graphic picture of selfish greed. The key-mote of the prophecies of Ezekiel is his view of the Divine holiness. When God’s people are punished for th eir sins, th e heathen though t th a t Jehovah was no t able to save His people from th e ir enemies. When Israel shall be restored to Divine favor, these same heathen nations who now look upon the God of Israel w ith contempt, shall learn of His holiness and power. Thus Jehovah will vindi cate His character and when His free grace will forgive His people’s sins, His Spirit will transform th e ir natures and make them obedient. The Hebrews were tak en to Babylonia in th ree detach ments: first in the reign of Jehoiakim , when Daniel and o ther young nobles were of th e company; second in the reign of Jehoiachin, when about ten thousand of th e lead ing citizens were exiled, including the COMMENTS prophet Ezekiel; and finally in the FROM THE reign of Zedekiah, when most of the COMMENTARIES rem aining inhabitants of Jud ea were V. V. Morgan carried off. The seventy years of the exile is usually reckoned from th e first deportation. Many of these exiles were taken to Babylon, one of the most magnificent and stupendous cities of the world’s history. Ezekiel and many of his fellow exiles were settled on th e banks of the R iver Chebar, .a trib u tary of th e E uphrates about th ree hundred miles above Babylon. Doubtless the Hebrews were scattered over the entire coun try, wherever slave labor could be best employed.— Peloubet. Y. I I . The comparison of the people of a nation to sheep and of th eir ru lers to shepherds is common among the Old Testam ent prophets. Three hundred years before Ezekiel prophesied, Micaiah “saw all Israel scattered upon th e mountains, as sheep th a t have no shepherd” (1 Kgs. 2 2 :17 ). Twenty years before Ezekiel’s prophecy, Jerem iah in Jerusalem made a comparison like Ezekiel’s (Jer. 23: 1-8). In la ter years the prophet Zechariah echoed the words of both Jerem iah and Ezekiel (Zech. 11:15-17). When our Lord came, “He had compassion on them , be cause they were as sheep not having a shepherd” (Mark 6 : 34; Matt. 9 :3 6 ). Jude spoke of the false teachers of his day as “shepherds th a t w ithout fear feed themselves.” (Jude 12) .—Peloubet.
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker