THE

MESSIAH;

OR THE

REDEMPTION OF MAN.

BOOK VII,

U

The Argument.

Including the Prophecies of Ezekiel, Joel, Obadiah, Hosea, Haggai,

Micah, Zechariah, and Malachi, respecting the Messiah, and restoration of Israel to a state of happiness and prosperity.

THE

MESSIAH;

OR THE

REDEMPTION OF MAN.

BOOK VIL

JEHOVAH TO THE PROPHET EZEKIEL.*

KNOW, Son of man, I've constituted thee

A watchman over Israel's tribes to be:

Should'st thou not warn them of their vicious state,†
If, through thy fault, they practise that's not right,
Persist, are lost, assured thou shalt pay,
From thy account, the righteous penalty..

* Ezekiel was carried captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, in the year 598 B. C.; and was placed on the river Chebar, in Mesopotamia, where he received the divine revelations contained in his book, and continued to prophecy about 21 years.

+ See chap. xxxiii.

But, if they truly execute thy trust,
"Tis not thy soul shall be for ever lost;
Their disobedience but repeated tell,
On them, the faulty, punishment shall fall;
If they will not repent, but mercy scorn,

The crime's their own, and neither Mine nor thine.
Then, cry aloud, proclaim their wickedness,
Tell them that they against their God transgress;
Make clearly known, that I will none to die,
That 'tis my wish all quit impiety,

Repent and live; not one be lost or sold,
But all be gather'd to my gracious fold;
For, as I live, I can no pleasure find
In man's destruction; nor am I unkind:*
Believe but sinner, holiness pursue,

That instant pardon from Me shall issue!
Why follow vice? Why nourish vicious lust?
Why ill pursue at thy immortal cost?
Turn, ah turn, then, from your evil way,
Ungrateful Israel, O why will you die !--
Yet, wo to shepherds, who themselves but feed,†
Neglect the charge that of their care's in need;
Who eat the carcase, then the fleece require,
Of flocks demanding constant past'ral care!

* This certainly, to all unprejudiced minds, affords convincing proof against predestination, before the world existed, to eternal happiness or misery; for, if a certain number were then set apart to be partakers of the former, and all the rest forced to see the latter, this strenuous declaration must have been useless, if not mockery.

+ See chap. xxxiv.