they were destroyed, then the boiling pot, that is Jerusalem herself, was to perish. Her time of mercy was past. She complained that she had been “wearied with labours," tired of the voice of God's servants, who laboured to purge her from her iniquity. In the parable the sin of Jerusalem is called scum, or rather rust, which was on the pot; and this could only be removed by the destruction of the pot—that is of Jerusalem herself. When the parable was ended, Ezekiel once more is made a sign to the people. You know how patiently he had before submitted to privation and discomfort, in the hope of teaching and saving his people. But now the heaviest stroke that man can bear was to fall on God's chosen servant. He had a wife so cherished and beloved that God calls her "the desire of his eyes." To Ezekiel his Lord came, saying, "Son of man, behold I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke; yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shalt thy tears run down." No outward sign of grief was he to show. He was not to uncover his head and put ashes on it. He was not to walk barefooted nor to cover his upper lip; and no bread, such as was usually eaten in time of mourning, was to pass his lips.

Ezekiel told the people what was to happen in the morning, and went through all the day with such a heavy heart, knowing it was the last in which he should ever gaze upon his beloved wife's face; and as the evening fell she died.

What a lonely, sorrowful night poor Ezekiel spent alone with his dead! None but God knew the anguish of his soul. For in the morning he did what he was commanded, and no outward show of grief

The

was visible in the prophet's dress or manner. people were astonished. They knew that an action so contrary to nature must have a meaning; and so they came to the prophet, saying, "Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us that thou doest?" The stricken man of God had already received his answer from his Master. It was this: "I will profane My sanctuary, that which is the desire of your eyes; and your sons and daughters shall perish." Then they should do just as the prophet had done. Their hearts would be so stunned and despairing that they should neither mourn nor weep. But they should pine away for their iniquities.

Ezekiel's own faith needed strengthening; and as a sign to himself that his words would certainly come true, the Lord gave him a token. In the very day that the temple should fall, and the people be slain should one escape, a man fleeing for his life; and he should tell the tidings to Ezekiel himself. You will see by-and-by how exactly this was fulfilled.

(Read Ezekiel xxiv.)

22. THE FALL OF TYRE.

You have not forgotten the merchant city of ancient days. You remember how the prophet Isaiah speaks of Tyre-her riches, her strength, and her destruction. In the book of Ezekiel three chapters are devoted to Tyre. First, her ruin is foretold; then her glory is described in beautiful word-pictures; and lastly, there is a mournful lamentation for the King of Tyre. The merchant city had beheld the fall of Jerusalem

with exultation. In former days she had been jealous of the glory of the temple and of the holy city, and now she felt when they were laid waste that she should be replenished. Tyre had said, “Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people." The Lord heard her triumphant tones, and He answered, "I am against thee, O Tyrus." Her proud position on her sea-girt rock could not save her; for the Lord would bring many nations against her. They should rise upon her like the waves of the ocean, beating against her strong walls. Her tower should be broken down by the engines of war. The trampling of the horses' hoofs should be heard in all her streets. Her strong garrisons should be brought down to the ground when once a breach was made in the city walls. Then should all the riches and merchandize of Tyre be made a spoil. Her pleasant houses should be destroyed. The very stones and timber of Tyre should perish, and she herself be left bare and desolate, scraped like the top of a rock, a suitable place for the fishermen to spread out his nets to dry. And as her princes came down from their thrones, and laid aside their robes and broidered garments, they would utter this lamentation over her ruin, crying, "How art thou destroyed that wast inhabited of sea-faring men, the renowned city, which was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it! Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure."

(Read Ezekiel xxvi.)

23. THE PRINCE OF TYRUS AND FATE OF SIDON.

Once more the Lord's servant speaks of Tyre. This time the message is to the "Prince of Tyrus." His heart was full of pride. He exalted himself saying, "I am God, and sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas." He considered himself as wise, nay, wiser than Daniel, that wonderful man whose fame had spread abroad as the revealer of secrets. And instead of acknowledging that it was God, who had given "him power to get wealth," this Prince of Tyre gloried in his own wisdom and his traffic, which had brought all this wealth to his capital. But this pride of heart was displeasing to the Lord. He would rise in judgment against this King, and bring him low. Strangers should be sent against him, who would defile the brightness of his glory, and despise the beauty of his wisdom.

The fair city of Tyre had been as Eden, the very garden of the Lord. Her prince had been adorned with every costly gem. The sardius, topaz, and diamond flashed on him, with their ruby, golden and rainbow-tinted hues. The beryl, the onyx, and jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and glowing carbuncle in their golden settings, studded the royal robes. Like the cherub which covered God's ark, so had the king covered and protected Tyre. Like a wall of fire, he had been her defence. But when iniquity abounded in the city, Tyre and her princes were cast down, and to the astonishment of the nations. They should never any more be a terror in the earth. The neighbouring city of Sidon was to share the same fate. She, too, had been an enemy to God's people, "a pricking thorn to the house of

Israel." But now her time of visitation had arrived; and when the children of Israel were once more gathered into their own land, Sidon should know that Jehovah was the Lord God.

(Read Ezekiel xxviii.; Daniel ii. 19.)

24. LAMENTATION OVER TYRE.

When the prophet foretold the destruction of Tyre, he could not help recalling her splendour and her riches. He could not but lament that by her own sinfulness and folly she should bring such ruin upon herself. The situation of Tyre on the shores of the Mediterranean, the great sea whose waters wash three continents, fitted her well to be the "merchant for the peoples of many isles." She was proud of her position, and boasted, saying, "I am of perfect beauty." In an exquisite metaphor, Ezekiel compares the kingdom of Tyre to a beautiful and stately ship. The majestic cedars of Lebanon were taken for her masts. Senir-that is, Mount Hermon-supplied her with fir for her boards. The oars were made of the strong oaks of Bashan, while the benches on which the rowers sat were made of ivory brought from Chittim; that is, Cyprus, and the islands round it. The sails of this galley were made of the fine linen of Egypt, with delicate embroidery, while streamers of blue and purple floated over it. The sailors were brought from the neighbouring town of Sidon, and from Arvad, near Tripoli. The wisest men in Tyre were chosen for pilots, and watching constantly lest the ship should spring a leak were skilful men of Gebal, a city of Phoenicia, for her