Post by Cindy on Jun 26, 2015 8:40:07 GMT -5
““ ‘But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown,” (Ezekiel 36:8–9)
THIS TRIUMPH OF EVIL WILL BE REVERSED. It is premature. We have not yet reached the end of the story. The battle is still raging; it is too early for the foe to sing his songs of victory. All along the dark recital of victories of evil there has been the alternative picture of Divine deliverance. We make a mistake when we dwell only on the gloomy side of history. God has been revealing himself in history. Not only did he save the eight in the ark. He delivered all Israel from Egypt. He gave Canaan, and he gave restoration from the Captivity. He sent his Son to save the world. In the darkest hour when Christ hung dying on the cross while evil seemed to be most triumphant, victory was really being won by that very death of the world’s Saviour. We have not seen the end yet. Perhaps we are on the fringe of a great contest between the servants of Christ and his foes. But never was the work of Christ more manifest than it is to-day in Christian activity at home and in the harvest of the mission-field abroad. While the unbeliever exults in what he thinks is the demonstration of the falsehood of Christianity and the sure prospect of its speedy downfall, there are more earnest active Christians at work than ever there were. By the grace of God we may trust that, though the battle is still fierce, we are moving on to victory under the Captain of our salvation.
“I will increase the number of men and animals upon you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.” (Ezekiel 36:11)
THE BETTER FUTURE OF THE WORLD. There is a natural tendency among men to say, “The former times were better.” Nations cherish legends of an ancient golden age. People talk about “the good old times.” But when we search history we cannot find these happy days. On the contrary, writers in the very ages to which some of our contemporary dreamers look back with sentimental regret deplore the degeneracy of their days. Our own age is bad enough, but it is not easy to my our finger on any previous age that was not worse. This, however, is not the principal question. Waiving the point as to whether the past history of our race has been characterized by progress or by a process of degeneration, we have still to ask whether the future may not be better than anything that has been experienced in the past. Now, it is the distinct teaching of the Bible that it will be so. “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” While men turn back wistfully to the lost Eden, God promises a better heaven. We do not need to discuss the idea of a Paradise regained, for we have the more glowing picture of the heavenly Jerusalem. Even if we grant the worst that has been said of man’s continuous decline, the New Testament points to an arrest of this dreadful movement, to a redemption and more than a restoration, to a perfection of humanity never attained in the past.
Ezekiel Vol. II. 1909 (H. D. M. Spence-Jones, Ed.). The Pulpit Commentary
THIS TRIUMPH OF EVIL WILL BE REVERSED. It is premature. We have not yet reached the end of the story. The battle is still raging; it is too early for the foe to sing his songs of victory. All along the dark recital of victories of evil there has been the alternative picture of Divine deliverance. We make a mistake when we dwell only on the gloomy side of history. God has been revealing himself in history. Not only did he save the eight in the ark. He delivered all Israel from Egypt. He gave Canaan, and he gave restoration from the Captivity. He sent his Son to save the world. In the darkest hour when Christ hung dying on the cross while evil seemed to be most triumphant, victory was really being won by that very death of the world’s Saviour. We have not seen the end yet. Perhaps we are on the fringe of a great contest between the servants of Christ and his foes. But never was the work of Christ more manifest than it is to-day in Christian activity at home and in the harvest of the mission-field abroad. While the unbeliever exults in what he thinks is the demonstration of the falsehood of Christianity and the sure prospect of its speedy downfall, there are more earnest active Christians at work than ever there were. By the grace of God we may trust that, though the battle is still fierce, we are moving on to victory under the Captain of our salvation.
“I will increase the number of men and animals upon you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.” (Ezekiel 36:11)
THE BETTER FUTURE OF THE WORLD. There is a natural tendency among men to say, “The former times were better.” Nations cherish legends of an ancient golden age. People talk about “the good old times.” But when we search history we cannot find these happy days. On the contrary, writers in the very ages to which some of our contemporary dreamers look back with sentimental regret deplore the degeneracy of their days. Our own age is bad enough, but it is not easy to my our finger on any previous age that was not worse. This, however, is not the principal question. Waiving the point as to whether the past history of our race has been characterized by progress or by a process of degeneration, we have still to ask whether the future may not be better than anything that has been experienced in the past. Now, it is the distinct teaching of the Bible that it will be so. “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” While men turn back wistfully to the lost Eden, God promises a better heaven. We do not need to discuss the idea of a Paradise regained, for we have the more glowing picture of the heavenly Jerusalem. Even if we grant the worst that has been said of man’s continuous decline, the New Testament points to an arrest of this dreadful movement, to a redemption and more than a restoration, to a perfection of humanity never attained in the past.
Ezekiel Vol. II. 1909 (H. D. M. Spence-Jones, Ed.). The Pulpit Commentary