The mightiest king is not irresponsible. Although he may find no authority on earth to exercise control over him, he shall find that an unseen Power holds him in check, and chastises his oppressions. From the ubiquity of God's scepter he cannot escape. We have here described -

I. A MONSTER OF MISCHIEF. He is represented as "a young lion of the nations," as "a whale in the seas." He is noteworthy, not for intellectual or manly qualities, but merely for animal strength and violence. This is ignoble and infamous. This is to degrade one's self. He who was created to be a ruler over the animal tribes lowers himself to be their equal. His crown is gone. To do good is worthy of a man; to do mischief is beast-like. "Thou troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers." It is easy to do mischief; it is tenfold harder to do permanent good. Amaniac can destroy in an hour what a man of genius has taken long years to create. The king who devotes himself to aggressive warfare lowers himself to the level of a beast. A lion of the forest does the same.

II. HIS HUMILIATING CAPTURE. "I will therefore spread out my net over thee." The man who has been a firebrand among the nations, a pestilent destroyer, God often takes, with facility, in one of his nets. In the net of bodily disease King Herod was taken - "was eaten up of worms, and died." Sometimes God captures men by means of their own vices. Their lust or their drunkenness hath slain them. Sometimes God uses the plot of a conspirator, the intrigue of a palace cabal. Sometimes God uses the simplest agency of nature, as when the snow-flakes overwhelmed Napoleon's army, and defeated his purpose. A change of wind is sufficient to capture the royal monster, as when God turned the waves of the Red Sea over Pharaoh and his host. It is the height of folly for a king to be self. willed or to lose sight of the King of kings.

III. HIS COMPLETE DESTRUCTION. "I will cast thee forth upon the open field." The figure is maintained, viz. that the dead carcass of the monster shall lie unburied in the open field. This is not spoken of the person of Pharaoh, but of his imperial power, his existence as a monarch. His rule was to be destroyed. His crown and scepter should pass into hostile hands. Improbable as this event seemed at the moment of Ezekiel's announcement, it nevertheless came to pass. The dynasty of the Pharaohs ceased. The line of the Ptolemies occupied the throne. The improbable very frequently becomes the actual.

IV. NOTORIOUS DISHONOR. "I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee." The extreme idea of degradation and infamy is here delineated. Men crave for posthumous fame. They yearn to have a place of honor in the memory of coming generations. For the lifeless body to be treated with insult and neglect is a perpetual dishonor. Still greater is the dishonor when precious human blood is poured out, as a worthless thing, to irrigate the soil. Herein is the old doctrine confirmed, "They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." In silent, unexpected methods God vindicates himself,

V. HIS FUNERAL DIRGE. "I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light." The inanimate objects of nature are poetically described as sympathizing with the doleful event. Man and nature are linked together. Man's fall was felt throughout the natural world. "The whole creation groaneth and travalleth together in pain until now." Man's recovery wilt be the consummation of nature's joy. "Then shall all the trees of the field rejoice;" "There shall be new heavens and a new earth." If only to give to men a livelier impression of the greatness of the disaster in Egypt, the luminaries of heaven are supposed to hide their faces in a mantle. In Egypt the light of the sun and of the moon are most brilliant. Seldom ever is a cloud seen. Hence the singular occurrence of sudden darkness would leave a deeper effect upon the human mind. The distant stars are moved by man's rise or fall.

VI. A WORLD-WIDE SHOCK. "I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee." Pharaoh had seemed to be the highest embodiment of strength. His army had been prodigious. The desert on every side had been a rampart of defense. His power was well-established - had been of long continuance. His scepter had wide renown. If he fell, who can stand? where could safety be found? A sense of insecurity shock every monarch. Every man's life seemed to tremble in a balance. Distant nations heard the news of Pharaoh's fall with bated breath. Clearly a tremendous power hovered about them, all the more to be dreaded because unseen. Each man felt that he might be the next to be stricken down. All human calculations failed. Calm self-possession, in all seasons, is the special heritage of the godly. - D.

As the prophet continues his utterance in the same strain, our thought is directed to the same class of truths, and we learn -

I. THAT GREAT SINNERS ARE GREAT TROUBLERS. Egypt was a young lion among the nations, fierce, dangerous, dreaded (Ver. 2). It was a crocodile in the river, "breaking forth," "troubling the waters," and "fouling" them (Ver. 2). Great cities like Rome and Sparta, powerful kingdoms like Assyria anti Egypt, strong men like Scylla and Napoleon, have been sad troublers of their time. They have been invaders of territory, destroyers of institutions, disturbers of domestic life. And whenever strength is found dissociated from Christian principle and the Christian spirit, there must always be grave danger of trouble. To propound their own notions, to contrive their own comfort, to extend their own influence, unprincipled or selfish men will use their strength to disturb their neighbors' peace, reckless of the good they are undoing and of the misery and mischief they are causing.

II. THAT THEY FIND THEMSELVES DEFEATED IN THE END. God spreads out his net (Ver. 3), and the raging animal, the powerful fish, is taken in it. In the height of their power great nations and strong men imagine themselves to be absolutely secure, and they laugh at the designs of their enemies. But they do not know what forces are at work either within or around them; and they do not calculate that there is One who is working above them and against them. And as surely as the night follows the day, the hour of darkness will come to those who use the light of heaven to abuse their privileges and to wrong their fellow-men. Defeat and calamity await them. And sometimes it will be found -

III. THAT PALPABLE DISCOMFITURE SUCCEEDS DEFEAT. This great dragon of the deep could not be buried out of sight; its carcass was "upon the green field," "laid upon the mountains," and "filling the valleys," even" watering the laud with its blood" (Vers. 4-6). It could not be hidden; the ruin of the once proud kingdom should be

"Gross as a mountain, open, palpable." Every eye should see it, every tongue should talk about it. Let men who are now prominent in power take heed lest they should become conspicuous for shame and for destitution, lest the name that is now on the lip of praise should be branded with dishonor. Unrighteousness, impurity, and selfish cruelty, when they have run their guilty and wretched course, will be held up before the eyes of men to receive the execration they deserve. The false divinity of today will be the fiend of tomorrow.

IV. THAT THE DISCOMFITURE OF ONE MAY MEAN THE CONFUSION OF MANY. When Egypt's light went out, the world immediately around it would be in darkness; all those who were walking in its light would be utterly benighted and confused (Vers. 7, 8). If we live in no better and no more enduring light than that of a very strong but unprincipled power, we may prepare for utter darkness before long. Our light will be extinguished; we shall lose our guide, and grope our way miserably. Well it is for those who choose the Sun of Righteousness, the Light of the world, that in the beams of his Divine truth they may rejoice all the day, may do their life-work, may "have light at eventide," and may be ready for a still brighter and everlasting morning under other skies. - C.

In order to justify the humiliation and the calamities appointed for Egypt, the prophet mentions the evil which the king and people of that land have committed, and which an omniscient and righteous Ruler cannot possibly pass unnoticed and unrebuked. According to his metaphorical habit, Ezekiel pictures Egypt as a young and ravening lion, seizing and devouring prey; as a dragon or crocodile, troubling the waters with its feet, and fouling the rivers. Such creatures are regarded by men as noxious, and as fit to be seized and destroyed.

I. THE CAUSE OF A NATION'S MORAL NOXIOUSNESS. The ultimate cause, recognized by inquirers who penetrate beneath the surface, is estrangement from God, a spirit of rebelliousness against God, leading to the violation of Divine Law and defiance of Divine authority.

II. THE MANIFESTATIONS OF A NATION'S MORAL NOXIOUSNESS.

1. An ungodly people is its own enemy. Its irreligiousness reacts upon itself, and saps the springs of national life.

2. Its example is injurious to surrounding peoples, who are in danger of being corrupted thereby; for "evil communications corrupt good manners."

3. Mischief is done by unprincipled states by fostering discord, suspicion, and war. The weak are oppressed, and powerful rivals are provoked to hostilities. The peace of the world is ever threatened by ambitious, aggressive, and quarrelsome nations.

III. THE PUNISHMENT OF A NATION'S NOXIOUSNESS. In the figurative language of Ezekiel, the dragon is captured, dragged to the shore, and suffered to die, so that its flesh is left to be consumed by birds and beasts, and its blood is mingled with the waters of the rivers. By this it is intimated that Egypt, as a punishment for the evil and mischief it has wrought, shall be brought low, its power crippled, and its glory dimmed. - T.

The greatness of the catastrophe by which Egypt is to be overwhelmed is depicted by the prophet in a strikings, and poetical manner. It is represented that an impression is made thereby upon the heavenly bodies by which the earth is illumined, and upon the nations and kings who are astonished witnesses of the overthrow of one of the greatest monarchies of the world.

I. THE LUMINARIES OF THE DAY AND OF THE NIGHT VEIL THEIR SPLENDOUR AND WITHDRAW THEIR SHINING. The Scriptures teach us that all nature is a vehicle for the manifestation of Divine attributes, and that creation, in a very real sense, is one. Hence the sympathy appointed between nature and humanity. When men's sins are grievous, the floods cover the earth and sweep its guilty inhabitants into destruction. When the children of light strive in battle with the children of darkness, the sun stands still to prolong the hours of victory and pursuit. When the Savior expires upon the cross, it is amidst thick darkness. When the Holy Spirit is given, it is with the rush of wind and with lambent flames. These are but some instances of the part which nature plays in human history. No wonder, then, that when the Almighty, by the hand of his servant Nebuchadnezzar, smites Egypt to its fall, the sun, the moon, and the stars should be represented as withholding their light, as weeping over the calamities of one of the greatest of human powers.

II. THE PEOPLES AND THEIR KINGS ARE AMAZED AND TREMBLE AS FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY.

1. They experience a natural compassion for fallen greatness; it is a spectacle fitted to melt every heart. Envy and hatred vanish in the presence of misfortune so appalling.

2. They feel themselves in the presence of a supernatural power, which is righteousness taking the form of judicial interposition. The consciousness of the nearness and action of such a power is enough to rouse any nation from insensibility, secularity, and unspirituality. The hand of God is seen and the voice of God is heard. The Lord himself is near.

3. They mingle with the general apprehension of the activity of supernatural justice a certain apprehension and fear with regard to themselves. Have they not shared in some measure Egypt's sin? Have they not reason to dread Egypt's punishment? Who are they that they should be exempt from the retributive justice of the Eternal? The sword is brandished before them: may it not smite them? They tremble every man for his own life. - T.

The sword has been a mighty factor in human history. However peace and harmony may be the ideal state of human society, the chronicles of the past and the observation of the present concur to assure us that there are elements in man's nature which will surely reveal themselves in hostility and in mutual ill will, in bloodshed, and in violent death. Nation rises against nation. The sword is drawn, and is only sheathed when one combatant is constrained to submit to the superior power of the other.

I. THERE IS A SENSE IN WHICH THE SWORD OF THE MIGHTY CONQUEROR IS THE SWORD OF GOD HIMSELF. When the King of Babylon attacked the King of Egypt, there is no doubt he was actuated by motives of hostility, of personal ambition, perhaps of revenge. But for all this, and although he knew it not, he was the minister of God, was doing God's work, executing God's purposes. The Almighty can overrule the wrathful passions of men to bring about the objects he desires to compass.

II. THE SWORD OF THE CONQUEROR IS THE SYMBOL OF SUPREME POWER. Men talk of submitting matters to the arbitrament of the sword, implying that there is no possibility of going behind and beyond this. In all earthly government physical force is the Ultimate resource; it may not be brought prominently forward, but it lies in the background, to be used when necessary. God's power controls and rules the nations; he cannot be resisted. "The nations are as nothing before him; they are counted as less than nothing and vanity;" "Let not the rebellious exalt themselves!"

III. THE CONQUEROR'S SWORD IS THE EMBLEM OF THE EXECUTION OF DIVINE JUSTICE. We speak of the sword of the magistrate, as well as of the sword of the soldier: "He beareth not the sword in vain." There is certainly no allusion in this prophetic passage to judicial functions, if they are understood to be distinct from military operations. Yet in God's hand the sword is not a weapon of violence, far less of injustice. He never smites vindictively, but always as a righteous Ruler and an impartial Judge. Even in warfare he is exercising a magisterial as well as a military office and power. His sword subdues the rebel, corrects the offender, and establishes the rule of justice, and brings about the purposes of equitable and happy peace. - T.

Every man is linked to society by organic ties. A king especially holds an important and responsible place. He is the key-stone of the arch. "No man liveth unto himself." He lifts others up or drags others down. He goes not to heaven, nor to hell, alone.

I. WAR IS THE SCOURGE IN GOD'S HAND. "By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitudes to fall." Even the angry passions of men God utilizes for righteous purposes. However reluctant, the devil shall become his servant. Sin shall illustrate the splendors of his grace. His amazing power shall form and mould all things to his will. The cruel sword shall serve to establish the empire of universal peace.

II. ONE MAN'S DESTRUCTION INCLUDES TEN THOUSAND OTHERS. Every man is, in greater measure or less, a moral magnet. The fall of a great commercial house brings down to ruin smaller enterprises. The bankruptcy of an employer of labor brings loss to all his servants. If the commander-in-chief falls in battle, the entire army is weakened. If a throne is overturned, all the inhabitants of the land suffer. We are bound each to each by manifold ties, and influence each other's destiny. A sense of responsibility should lend dignity to all our words and actions.

III. HUMAN DESTRUCTION IS MEASURED IN NATURE'S DESOLATION. "I will destroy all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters;" "The country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full." Under man's care, cattle increase, and the fields become trebly fertile. But if the inhabitants are swept off by the sword, domestic cattle disappear, and wild beasts roam at large. The land, uncultivated, cannot maintain the flecks. Desolation spreads far and wide. Barrenness appears where formerly plenty smiled. The face of nature mourns in sympathy with ruined man.

IV. THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IS WELL PURCHASED WITH THE LOSS OF ALL THINGS. "When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, then shall they know that I am the Lord." All knowledge is power, but the knowledge of God is power of the highest kind; it is life. To know God is practical wisdom; it is the only path to safety, elevation, and honor. If the issue of suffering, loss, or defeat in battle be to gain the knowledge of God, then, however great the outlay, the reward is amply satisfying. To know God is the way to obtain likeness to God; and this is the supreme privilege of every man. This is wealth that is abiding, joy that is eternal: honor that never fades.

V. SEVERE DISASTER BRINGS INTO VIEW THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. "The daughters of the nations shall lament her." The prosperity of a man or of a nation often excites envy. But distress awakens compassion. The sight of suffering moves into action the better part of human nature; it awakens the deepest feelings of the soul. In a time of great disaster, men forget their rivalries and hostilities, and, by their deeds, proclaim the oneness of the human family. Such sympathy in suffering has a benign and purifying influence on human nature. The night-dew is a preparation for higher fertility and beauty in the garden, both in nature and in the soul. - D.

The great river appropriately represented the great nation which it enriched; and the picture of the fall of the kingdom includes the desertion of the banks of these "great waters" by man and beast (Ver. 14); and also the sinking of the river itself: "Then will I cause their waters to subside" (Fairbairn's translation). Such a river as the Nile may well illustrate -

I. A NOBLE LIFE. It is a source of beauty and fertility, and therefore of enrichment, to the land through which it runs. Itself an object of delight to the eye, it is the source of verdure all along its banks. By its overflow, or through simple agricultural appliances, it waters the whole district in which it flows, and makes all the difference between barrenness and abundance. Thousands of animals drink of it and bathe in it, while the inhabitants of town and village flock to its banks in their various necessities. A noble human life may be all this in a higher sphere.

1. It may add very considerably to that spiritual worth and beauty on which Christ looks down with Divine satisfaction.

2. It may be the source of all kinds of good - of health, of sustenance, of knowledge, of wisdom, of purity, of piety; of life at its best below, of the beginning of the life eternal.

3. It is a constant source of blessing. As the river runs, not spasmodically, but night and day, continually sending forth its refreshing and nourishing moisture into the land, so a true, Christian life is incessantly and unconsciously communicating good, in many forms, to those around it.

II. A LIFE PITIFULLY REDUCED. A very pitiful sight would be a river in such a state as that here imagined (rather than foreseen). Instead of being what it once was, it is now to the prophet's eye a diminished stream, its waters are low (not deep, but sunk; "the verb is properly to 'sink'"), and lie far beneath its banks; and they am such that no beast cares to drink of them; no man approaches to use them for the purposes of human life, whether of nourishment or of cleansing. The river is useless, worthless, abandoned to itself. How much more pitiable is the life that has been reduced; the life that has sunk, that moves not any longer on the higher plane of heavenly wisdom, but only on the low and muddy levels of selfishness, of covetousness, of a base indulgence; the life that has shriveled up into a poor dirty stream, no longer reflecting the beauty that is about it or the glory that is above it; the life that is unvisited, that no man cares to consult, by which no virtuous man directs his own, from which no man gains any strength, or impetus, or pure refreshment, which does no man any spiritual good; the life that is severely left alone!

III. THE CAUSE OF ITS DECLINE. If any river be thus actually reduced (as in Ezekiel's thought), it is because it is no longer fed as it once was by the rains of heaven. If a noble human life is thus reduced, it is because it is no longer supplied from above. It lacks the truth, the influences, the sustaining power, which should come to it from God. These may be cut off by some serious sin; or they may be withdrawn because we no longer keep open the channels through which they come.

1. Keep the mind open to all Divine wisdom and the heart to all holy influences.

2. Draw down the renewing rains of Heaven by constant communion and earnest prayer.

3. See that no "great transgression" diverts the waters; and the river of our life will flow on to the sea, without loss to its beauty or its power. - C.

This vision of the poet-prophet is one of the boldest and most sublime in the whole compass of literature. As a lofty flight of imagination it excites the wonder and admiration of every reader gifted with poetical appreciation. Ezekiel is bringing to a close his prophecies regarding the nations by which the land of Israel was encompassed. How far from the narrowness and the lack of sympathy sometimes attributed to the Hebrews was the prophet of the Oriental captivity! How wide the sweep of his vision! How ready his sympathy for the fate of other peoples than his own! And, above all, how sublime: his conception of the unity and the true immortality of the human race! As he was not limited by space, but interested himself in the territories and the dominions of distant monarchs, so he disdained the bounds of time, passed beyond this scene of discipline and probation, and anticipated the community of the heathen nations in the realm of Hades. There his prophetic spirit beheld Pharaoh and his people surrounded by the kings and armies and multitudes from other lands, participating in a just and common fate.

I. THE COMMON SIN OF THE NATIONS. Of all those mentioned by the prophet, it may be said that they were unfaithful to their trust, and incurred the just displeasure of the Ruler of the universe.

1. They had all forgotten God, for it is in this light that we must view their idolatry.

2. They had all sought their own aggrandizement and glory rather than the life of righteousness.

3. They had all been rapacious, violent, and unscrupulous in their treatment of neighboring peoples.

II. THE COMMON DOOM OF THE NATIONS. It is said of one after another of these guilty states, that they were all slain with the sword, and bore their shame with them that go down to the pit, to the midst of Sheol. It is said that "their iniquities were upon their bones" by which we may understand that their sin clave to them, that they were counted responsible for it, and were required to bear the penalties attaching to it. It would be absurd to attempt a precise explanation of the poetical language of this splendid vision, which is utterly insusceptible of logical analysis. It expresses the mood of the inspired prophet; it conveys a great moral truth; it aids us in the appreciation of national continuity and vitality; it brings powerfully before our mind the amenability of governments and states to the moral law and jurisdiction of the Eternal Righteousness.

III. THE COMMON WOE AND LAMENTATION OF THE NATIONS. "Son of man," said the Lord, "wail for the multitude of Egypt." Although the nations are represented as lying still in the depths of Sheol - their swords under their heads - yet they are represented as in some measure conscious; Pharaoh of Egypt being "comforted" at the awful approach of his compeers in pride and terror, and the Zidonians as ashamed because of their sin and its recompense. Mourning and lamentation must ensue upon sin, even though during its commission there be insensibility and obduracy.

IV. THE COMMON TESTIMONY OF THE NATIONS. The fate of the colossal world empires of antiquity has preached, in tones of power and in terms of unmistakable precision, to the after-times. These nations, in their worldly pride and in their providential fall, have taught mankind that there is but one sure foundation for a people's well-being, and that those who build upon another foundation are doomed to fall. God himself is the Source of true national life and prosperity. Where he is repudiated or forgotten, ruin is sure. Where he is honored and obeyed, there and there only will there prevail progress and stability and peace. - T.

The prophet is a man of power. He is a king bearing an invisible scepter. As a monarch wields only a borrowed power - a power lent by God - so a true prophet is God's vicegerent. Here he unfolds a terrible vision, the outline of a woeful reality. He leads the Egyptian king to the mouth of a vast abyss, in which lie multitudes of the vanquished and the slain. He is invited to contemplate the condition of those thus dishonored by the King of Babylon. And he is forewarned that such will be his doom. Escape was just possible, but it was almost a forlorn hope.

I. DUTY OFTTIMES IS EXCEEDINGLY PAINFUL. God's servant is called upon to wail He is even an agent, though a subordinate agent, in casting king and people into the abyss of death. He is under obligation to act for God. The path of duty is often severely rugged; yet no other path is smoother, though another path may seem to be. The course of righteousness will be in the end peace, but in the process there is strife and hard discipline. The harvest will be plentiful, but severe exertion is required, and faith is put to the strain. The pain of travail must precede the joy of young life. Through toil we pass to honor.

II. SIN ALWAYS LEADS TO TERRIBLE DEGRADATION. Sin is already real degradation, although very often men do not see it. But the disease will appear by-and-by on the exterior circumstance. The seed will come to the fruitage. Sin is no "respecter of persons." Even "the daughters of the famous nations" - eminent for strength and beauty - "shall be cast down into the nether parts of the earth." There shall be visible a terrible downfall, an unmitigated degradation. As the lower orders of creatures cannot sin, neither can they suffer such degradation. The balances are in the hands of supreme justice, and the hour of final retribution draws on apace.

"Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small."

III. SELF-ESTEEM IS NO SAFEGUARD AGAINST JUST RETRIBUTION. "Whom dost thou pass in beauty? Go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised" The spirit of vanity may tempt us to say, "We are better than they. The doom of others will not be our doom" It is marvelous how men are taken in the web of self-deception. Yet no external circumstance has ever yet saved men from the effects of unrighteousness. Riches have not saved them. The beauty of Cleopatra did not protect her from a terrible doom. The honor of our contemporaries cannot save us. Posterity will easily reverse the present judgment of men, and the hand of justice will tear in pieces our flimsy reputation. Present fame may be future disgrace.

IV. ASSOCIATION WITH OTHERS WILL BE DETERMINED BY MORAL AFFINITIES. In the present state, men are associated by natural affinities and by external circumstances. But such arrangements are temporary and provisional only. Children nursed at the same breast and fed at the same table will have their final portion as separate as the poles asunder. Now kings consort with kings, nobles with nobles, poets with poets; but in the final apportionment, the righteous of every social grade will consort with the righteous; vile kings will consort with vile beggars. Earthly circumstance and pomp will have disappeared. Only moral distinctions will remain. Association in sin must terminate by association in woe. Human beings and all beings gravitate to that state for which they are fitted. No affinities are so deep and strong as moral affinities, and, though for a time suppressed, they will by-and-by be uppermost.

V. THE RUIN OF OTHERS IS IMPOTENT TO DETER FROM SIN. "The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell" If only men would be warned by the fall and ruin of others, we might hope that all future generations of mankind would be saved. There are beacons without number to frighten men away from the rocks and quicksands of peril, yet all to no purpose. We think others to be in peril, not ourselves. Alas! "the heart is deceitful above all things." Nothing will turn us away from the fascinating eye of sin but the working of almighty grace within. Beacons become to us what scarecrows do to birds - they soon cease to alarm.

VI. SELF-INFLATION IS THE PRELUDE TO ETERNAL SHAME. "They were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living;" "With their terror, they are [now] ashamed of their might." After all, what a frail reed is the mightiest scepter or the most martial arm! What real weakness is at the heart of him who brandishes the gory sword! Like the frog who attempted to inflate himself to the magnitude of an ox, so the paltry man who assays to play the tyrant soon collapses. One sharp prick, and the windbag soon collapses. As a child feels overwhelmed with shame when he sees in the clear light of morning the tree or the gate-pest that terrified him in the darkness; so men at length discover the emptiness of the monarch, whose frown was for a moment their terror. All pretence to power and authority shall presently be hurled to the ground, ay, cast into the pit of oblivion. All real power shall abide.

VII. GOD'S TERROR IS SUPREME OVER MAN'S. "I have caused my terror in the land of the living." There is such a thing as power in the universe - an infinite power - before which it becomes every man to tremble; but this power is in the hand of God. "Jehovah reigneth, therefore let the people tremble." "Before him the inhabitants of the earth are as grasshoppers; they are like the small dust of the balance." His power is real, all-pervading, all-enduring. No being in the universe can diminish it nor resist it. Being a real power, it is becoming that it should inspire us with awe. The terror which tyrants and warriors awaken is only for a moment. The sham soon gets exposed. But presently the King of kings will make even tyrants shake, and the hearts of warriors melt. "Vengeance is mine," saith God; "I will repay." When Jehovah appears, tyrants hide themselves "in dens and caves of the earth."

"Fear him, ye saints, and ye will then Have nothing else to fear." D.

In this highly figurative prophetic utterance we have -

I. THE PROPHET'S VISION ITSELF. He sees Egypt taking her place, as a fallen power, amongst the departed in the nether world. Nothing could save her; there was no reason why she should not go down as other guilty powers had done, "Whom did she pass in beauty?" (Ver. 19). No distinction could be made in her case; she must "go down and be laid with the uncircumcised" (Ver. 19), "she and all her multitude" (Ver. 20). "The strong amongst the mighty" (in Shoal) give the latest comer welcome (Ver. 21). Assyria, with all tier company, is there to greet her; there, too, is Persia (Elam), and there is Scythia (Ver. 26), with "their swords under their heads, but their iniquities upon their bones (Ver. 27); Edom also is there, with her kings and princes, and "all the Zidonians, gone down with the slain." The old kingdoms that arose and that were sustained by violence have "perished with the sword" (Matthew 26:52), and the prophet of Jehovah is commissioned to" cast down Pharaoh" (Ver. 18) into "the nether parts of the earth" with them.

1. It is Egypt's sad fate to be discrowned of her power, as a mighty monarchy, to come down from her high place of honor and of command, to suffer an humiliating prostration from which she could have no hope of recovering.

2. It was Egypt's comfort that, in this descent, she would take her place amongst the greatest and strongest powers that once were upon the earth, but that had "gone down" to the shades. Pharaoh should see these, "and be comforted." She would not suffer alone.

II. ITS HISTORICAL PARALLEL. Those who have lived as God's servants, and have cared for the cause of righteousness, for the kingdom of God, have watched that they might witness the working of his hand among the great kingdoms of the earth. And they have seen that issue which Ezekiel here foretells concerning Egypt. They have seen great empires, rich and flourishing cities, powerful republics, that once "stood strong and even claimed to be immortal, broken under the weight of their iniquities, burdened with their wealth and all the corruptions it engendered, struck by the holy hand of Divine retribution," go down," and disappear. We look for them now, but they are no more. The same skies and the same hills and plains are there; the rivers that ran through the land still flow on; but what is left of their buildings, if anything is left at all, is in ruin; and the power that once was has utterly departed. It lives in nothing but in story and in song. But what is -

III. ITS PERSONAL APPLICATION. Not only the king or the prince, but also "the multitude," are seen in the nether parts (Vers. 18, 24, 26). The people are there. This directs us to:

1. A common impending fate. Some day the grave will hold all the living. Indeed, to the poet's eye, this earth is less the home of the living than the resting-place of the dead.

"The hills,
Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun, the vales
Stretching in pensive quietness between;
The venerable woods, rivers that move
In majesty, and the complaining brooks
That make the meadows green; and, poured round all,
Old ocean's grey and melancholy waste,
Are but the solemn decorations all
Of the great tomb of man."

(Bryant.) As the multitude that once trod the earth now "slumber in its bosom," so we also shall soon find our place beneath the ground.

2. A poetical consolation. Small comfort would it be to Pharaoh (see Ver. 31) to find that he and his were in no worse plight than other kings and peoples who tenanted the shades. But such as it was, it was at his service. And it is quite true, as the same writer (supra) reminds us -

"Yet not to thine eternal resting-place Shalt thou retire alone. Thou shalt lie down With patriarchs of the infant world, with kings, The powerful of the earth, the wise, the good, Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past, All in one mighty sepulcher." But we want some better consolation than this very imaginary and unsatisfying one. Surely this is a very poor alleviation for losing life and all that a true and full human life holds. We must look elsewhere for our comfort. And we shall not fail to find it.

3. The real redeeming thought, viz. that the future to which we look forward, as the disciples and followers of Christ, is neither the dark grave in the cemetery nor the little less inviting Sheol of Hebrew thought, but the home of the blessed in the near presence of God, where life is free and full and pure, the mansions of the Father's house. - C.