residue of 13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; against all Because they say unto you, Idumea, which have appointed "Thou land devourest up men, my land into their possession and hast bereaved thy nations; with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful 14 Therefore thou shalt devour men no minds, to cast it out for a prey.

Verse 8. For they are at hand to come.] The restoration of the Jews is so absolutely determined that you may rest assured it will take place; and be as confident relative to it, as if you saw the different families entering into the Israelitish borders. It was near at hand in God's determination, though there were about fifty-never been removed from it: but they polluted it with eight of the seventy years unelapsed.

Verse 11. I will multiply upon you man and beast] faned the Lord's name among the heathen; and, on The agriculturist and the beast of burden.

The great promise of a

A. M. cir. 3417.

B. C. cir. 587. Ol, XLVIII. 2. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman,

cir. annum 30.

Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do and will bring you into your
not this for your sakes, O house

of Israel, of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye, went. 23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be f sanctified in you before their eyes.

24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, - Chap. xx. 41; xxviii. 22.- Or, your. Chap. xxxiv. 13; xxxvii. 21.

• Psa. cvi. 8.

Verse 23. I will sanctify my great name] By changing your hearts and your conduct, I shall show my hatred to vice, and my love to holiness: but it is not for your sakes, but for my holy name's sake, that I shall do you good in your latter days.

Verse 24. I will take you from among the heathen] This does not relate to the restoration from Babylon merely. The Jews are at this day scattered in all Heathen, Mohammedan, and Christian countries. From these they are to be gathered, and brought to repossess their own land.

own land.

Cir. 587.

A. M. cir. 3417.

Ol. XLVIII. 2. Tarquinii Prisci,

R. Roman., cir. annum 30.

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you..

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

ye

27 And I will put my m Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and shall keep my judgments, and do `them. Isa. lii. 15; Heb. x. 22.- -k Jer. xxxiii. 8. Jer. xxxii. 39; Chap. xi. 19; xxxvii. 14.

chap. xi. 19.

m

Spirit, the great principle of light, life, and love, within you, to actuate the new spirit, and to influence the new affections and passions; that the animal spirit may not become brutish, that the mental powers become not foolish. I will put my Spirit within you, so that as the new spirit may influence the new heart, so will my SPIRIT influence YOUR new spirit, that each may have a proper mover; and then all will be pure, regular, and harmonious, when passion is influenced by reason, and reason by the Holy Ghost.

And the cause shall be evidenced by the effects; for Verse 25. Then at the time of this great restora- I will cause you to walk in my statutes-not only to tion-will I sprinkle clean water upon you―the truly believe and reverence my appointments relative to what cleansing water; the influences of the HOLY SPIRITI command you to perform; but ye shall walk in them,, typified by water, whose property it is to cleanse, whiten, purify, refresh, render healthy and fruitful.

your conduct shall be regulated by them. "And ye shall keep my judgments;" whatsoever I enjoin you to

From all your filthiness] From every sort of exter- avoid. And ye shall do them-ye shall not only avoid nal and internal abomination and pollution,

every appearance of evil, but keep all my ordinances

And from all your idols] False gods, false worship, and, commandments unblamably. false opinions, and false hopes.

Will I cleanse you.] Entirely separate you. Verse 26. A new heart also will I give you] I will change the whole of your infected nature; and give you new appetites, new passions; or, at least, the old ones purified and refined. The heart is generally understood to mean all the affections and passions.

And a new spirit will I put within you] I will renew your minds, also enlighten your understanding, correct your judgment, and refine your will; so that you shall have a new spirit to actuate your new heart.

I will take away the stony heart] That heart that is hard, impenetrable, and cold; the affections and passions that are unyielding, frozen to good, unaffected by heavenly things; that are slow to credit the words of God. I will entirely remove this heart: it is the opposite to that which I have promised you; and you cannot have the new heart and the old heart at the same time.

And I will give you a heart of flesh.] One that can feel, and that can enjoy; that can feel love to God and to all men, and be a proper habitation for the living God.

Verse 27. And I will put my Spirit within you] To keep the heart of flesh alive, the feeling heart still sensible, the loving heart still happy. I will put my

Here is the salvation that God promises to give to restored Israel; and here is the salvation that is the birthright of every Christian believer: the complete destruction of all sin in the soul, and the complete renewal of the heart; no sin having any place within, and no unrighteousness having any place without. "But where are they that are thus saved?" Ans. Wherever true Christians are to be found. "But I know many true Christians that have not this salvation, but daily mourn over their evil hearts?" Ans. They may be sincere, but they are not true Christians; i. e., such as are saved from their sins; the true Christians are those who are filled with the nature and Spirit of Christ. But I will ask a question in my turn: "Do those you mention think it a virtue to be always mourning over their impurities ?" Most certainly. Then it is a pity they were not better instructed. It is right they should mourn while they feel an impure heart; but why do they not apply to that blood which cleanses from all unrighteousness, and to that Spirit which cleanses the very thoughts of the heart by his inspiration? Many employ that time in brooding and mourning over their impure hearts, which should be spent in prayer and faith before God, that their impurities might be washed away. In what a state of nonage are many members of the Christian Church!

Gracious promises to

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B. C. cir. 587.
OL XLVIII. 2.
Tarquinii Prisci,
R. Roman,
cir. annum 30.

EZEKIEL.

28 " And shall dwell in the cities,
ye
land that I gave to your fathers;

and ye shall be my people, and
I will be your God.

29 I will also P save you from all your uncleannesses and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and 'lay no famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.

31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. 32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.

V

33 Thus saith the Lord GoD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the

Chap. xxviii. 25; xxxvii. 25. Jer. xxx. 22; chap. xi. 20; xxxvii. 27. Matt. i. 21; Rom. xi. 26. —— See Psa. cv. 16. Chap. xxxiv. 29.— Chap. xxxiv. 27.—t Chap. xvi. 61, 63. Lev. xxvi. 39; chap. vi. 9; xx. 43.

W

builded.

the house of Israel.

and the wastes shall be

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B. C. cir. 557. Ol. XLVIII. 2. Tarquinii Prisci R. Roman..

34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate cir. annum 30 in the sight of all that passed by.

35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.

36 Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.

37 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will a increase them with men like a flock.

38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Deut. ix. 5; ver. 22. Ver. 10.x Isa. li. 3; chap. xxviii. 13; Joel ii. 3.- -y Chap. xvii. 24; xxii. 14; xxxvii. 14.- ― See chap. xiv. 3; xx. 3, 31. Ver. 10.- Heb. flock of holy things.

Verse 28. Ye shall be my people] Wholly given up the sustaining hand of God, because the works are to me in body, soul, and spirit.

And I will be your God.] To fill you with love, joy, peace, meekness, gentleness, long-suffering, fidelity, and goodness, to occupy your whole soul, and gratify your every desire.

death would soon be restored.

finished! Learn this, that as it requires the same power to sustain creation as to produce it, so it requires the same Jesus who cleansed to keep clean. They feel that it is only through his continued indwelling, that they are kept holy, and happy, and useful. Were he Verse 29. I will also save you from all your unclean-to leave them the original darkness and kingdom of nesses] I repeat it; "I WILL save you from all your sins." Verse 30. Ye shall receive no more reproach of famine] Ye shall be daily and hourly fed with the bread that endures unto eternal life. “But will not those get proud, who are thus saved, if there be any such? and will they not undervalue the blood of the covenant, for then they shall not need it?" Ans. Hear what the Lord saith,

Verse 35. This land that was desolate by sin, is become like the garden of Eden by righteousness.-Satan's blast is removed; God's blessing has taken place.

Verse 36. Then the heathen] They shall see how powerful Jehovah is, and how fully he saves those who come unto and worship him.

Verse 37. Thus saith the Lord God] In answer to Verse 31. Then shall ye remember your own evil the question, "Who shall have such blessings?" we ways] Ye shall never forget that ye were once slaves say, they that pray, that seek earnestly, that strive to of sin, and sold under sin; children of the wicked one; enter in at the strait gate. "Thus saith the Lord, heirs to all God's curses, with no hope beyond hell. I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of IsSuch cleansed people never forget the horrible pit and rael." Neither Jew nor Gentile shall be thus saved the miry clay out of which they have been brought. who do not earnestly pray to God; and for this thing; And can they then be proud? No: they loathe them for this complete salvation; this setting up of the kingselves in their own sight. They never forgive them-dom of Christ upon earth, and particularly in their own selves for having sinned against so good a God, and so souls. loving a Saviour. And can they undervalue HIM by whose blood they were bought, and by whose blood they were cleansed? No! That is impossible: they now see Jesus as they ought to see him; they see him in his splendour, because they feel him in his victory and triumph over sin. To them that thus believe he is precious, and he was never so precious as now. As to their not needing him when thus saved from their sins, we may as well say, as soon may the creation not need

Verse 38. As the holy flock] The Church of Christ, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.

The flock of Jerusalem] The Jerusalem that is from above, the city of the living God, the place where his Majesty dwells. As they came in ancient times to the solemn national feasts, so shall they come when they have fully returned unto the Lord, and received his salvation by Christ Jesus.

I do not ask my reader's pardon for having considered

This chapter treats of the same subject with the preceding, in a beautiful and significant vision. Under the emblem of the open valley being thickly strewed with very dry bones is represented the hopeless state of the Jews when dispersed throughout the provinces of the Chaldean empire. But God, contrary to every human probability, restores these bones to life, thereby prefiguring the restoration of that people from the Babylonish captivity, and their resettlement in the land of their forefathers, 1–14. The prophet then makes an easy and elegant transition to the blessedness of the people of God under the Gospel dispensation, in the plenitude of its manifestation; when the genuine converts to Christianity, the spiritual Israel, shall be no longer under the domination of heathen and anti-christian rulers, but shall be collected together into one visible kingdom, and constitute but one flock under one Shepherd, 15–28. The vision of the dry bones reviving is considered by some as having a remote view to the general resurrection.

587.

Ol. XLVII. 2. Tarquinii Prisci, R. Roman., cir. annum 30.

live:

B. C. 587.

THE hand of the LORD was | Behold, I will cause breath to 4 M. cir. 3477. upon me, and carried me out enter into you, and ye shall O1. XLVIII. 2. bin the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

C

2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, d thou knowest.

4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.

Tarquinii Prisci,
R. Roman.,
cir. annum 30.

6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; f and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

8. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered 5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; them above: but there was no breath in them.

Chap. i. 3.- Chap. iii. 14; viii. 3; xi. 24; Luke iv. 1. Or, champaign.—d Deut. xxxii. 36; 1 Sam. ii. 6; John v. 21;

NOTES ON CHAP. XXXVII. Verse 1. The hand of the Lord was upon me] prophetic influence was communicated.

Rom. iv. 17; 2 Cor. i. 9.- Psa civ. 30; ver. 9.- Chap. vi. 7; xxxv. 12; Joel ii. 27; iii. 17.

vision, where it refers to the bones: "I will cause the The SOUL to enter into you,'

And carried me out in the spirit] Or, And the Lord brought me out in the spirit; that is, a spiritual vision, in which all these things were doubtless transacted.

The valley which was full of bones]. This vision of the dry bones was designed, first, as an emblem of the then wretched state of the Jews; secondly, of the general resurrection of the body.

Verse 3. Can these bones live?] Is it possible that the persons whose bones these are can return to life? Verse 4. Prophesy upon these bones] Declare to your miserable countrymen the gracious designs of the Lord; show them that their state, however deplorable, is not hopeless.

Verse 5. Behold, I will cause breath] ruach signifies both soul, breath, and wind; and sometimes the Spirit of God. Soul is its proper meaning in this

Verse 6. I will lay sinews upon you] Observe the progress: 1. Here are the bones. 2. The ligaments, called here sinews, are to be added in order to unite the bones, that the skeleton might be complete. 3. The flesh (the whole muscular system, the subjacent and superjacent muscles, including the arterial and venous system) clothes this skeleton. 4. The skin (the dermis and epidermis, or cutis and cuticle) envelopes the whole of these muscles or flesh; and now these bodies are in the state that the body of Adam was before it received the animal and intellectual principle from God. 5. There was no breath in them they had not yet received their souls. 6. The wind, in ruach, the soul, came into them. They were endued with animal and intellectual life; and they arose and evidenced a complete restoration to life, and began to perform its functions, ver. 10.

The vision of the

A. M. cir. 3417.
B. C. cir. 587.

Tarquinii Prisci,
R. Roman.,

9 Then said he unto me, Pro- to come up out of your graves,

Israel.

OL. XLVIII. 2. phesy unto the wind, prophesy, and bring you into the land of
son of
and
man,
to the wind,
say
cir. annum 30. Thus saith the Lord GOD; h Come
from the four winds, O breath, and breathe
upon these slain, that they may live.

10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, i and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. 11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost we are cut off for our parts.

12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, 1O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you

8 Or, breath. h Psa. civ. 30; ver. 5.- Rev. xi. 11.- - Psa. cxli. 7; Isa. xlix. 14.- Isa. xxvi. 19; Hos. xiii. 14.

Verse 9. Prophesy unto the wind] ruach. Address thyself to the soul, and command it to enter into these well-organized bodies, that they may live.

B. C. cir. 587.
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A. M. cir. 3417.

Tarquinii Prisci,
R. Roman.,

cir. annum 30.

13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of graves,

your

14 And shall put my Spirit in you, you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD. 15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions:

m

Chap. xxxvi. 24; ver. 25.-————— Chap. xxxvi. 27.- - See Num. xvii. 2.-P 2 Chron. xi. 12, 13, 16; xv. 9; xxx. 11, 18.

1. There was a noise, which was followed by a general shaking, during which the bones became arranged and united.

2. The flesh and skin came upon them, so that the dry bones were no longer seen.

3. The spirit or soul came into them, and they stood up perfectly vivified.

Come from the four winds] SOULS, come from all parts where ye are scattered; and reanimate these bodies from which ye have been so long separated. The four winds signify all parts-in every direction. Literally it is, "Souls, come from the four souls ;" Perhaps these might be illustrated by three periods "Breath, come from the four breaths;" or, "Wind, of time, which marked the regeneration of the Jewish come from the four winds." But here n ruach has | polity. both of its most general meanings, wind or breath, and soul,

Verse 11. These bones are the whole house of Israel] That is, their state is represented by these bones; and their restoration to their own land is represented by the revivification of these bones.

Verse 12. I will open your graves] Here is a pointed allusion to the general resurrection; a doctrine properly credited and understood by the Jews, and to which our Lord refers, John v. 25, 28, 29: "The hour is coming when they that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and come forth."

I

And cause you to come up out of your graves] am determined that ye shall be restored; so that were ye even in your graves, as mankind at the general resurrection, yet my all-powerful voice shall call you forth. Verse 13. When I have opened your graves] When I shall have done for you what was beyond your hope, and deemed impossible, then shall ye know that I am Jehovah.

Verse 14. And shall put my Spirit] ruchi. Here П ruach is taken for the Holy Ghost. They were living souls, animal and intellectual beings, when they had received their souls, as mentioned above: but they could only become spiritual, holy, and obedient creatures by the Spirit of God actuating their spirits. See the notes on chap. xxxvi. 25, 26, 27.

THREE degrees or processes have been remarked in this mystic vision. When the prophet was commanded to prophesy-to foretell, on the authority of God, that there should be a restoration to their own land,

1. The publication of the edict of Cyrus in behalf of the Jews, which caused a general shaking or stir among the people, so that the several families began to approach each other, and prepare for their return to Judea, Ezra i. 2, 3. But though partially restored, they were obliged to discontinue the rebuilding of their temple.

2. The edict published by Darius in the second year of his reign, Ezra iv. 23, 24, which removed the impediments thrown in the way of the Jews. Ezra vi. 6, 7, &c.

3. The mission of Nehemiah, with orders from Artaxerxes to complete the building of the temple and the city, Neh. ii. 7, &c. Then the Jews became a great army, and found themselves in sufficient force to defend themselves and city against all their enemies.

As to the spiritual uses of this curious vision, I must leave them to preachers. I have given the literal meaning, and what the different parts refer to; and if they found their observations on these, they may profit their hearers.

Verse 16. Son of man, take thee one stick] The two sticks mentioned in this symbolical transaction represented, as the text declares, the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah, which were formed in the days of Rehoboam, and continued distinct till the time of the captivity. The kingdom of Judah was composed of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with the Levites; all the rest went off in the schism with Jeroboam, and formed the kingdom of Israel. Though some out of those tribes did rejoin themselves to Judah, yet no