Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/365

 with the  house  of Juda. Not according  to  the  covenants  which  I made  with  their  fathers,  which  they  made  void. But this  shall  be the  covenant  that  I will  make  with  the  house  of  Israel  after  those days. I will give  my  law  and  will  write  it  on  their  hearts,  and I will be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people. I will forgive their iniquity  and  I will  remember  their  sin  no  more.”

The captive  Jews  were  treated  with  kindness  by  the  king of Babylon,  but  they  longed  for  the  land  of  their  fathers  and  for the city  of  Jerusalem. This longing  of  their  hearts  is  beautifully expressed in  one  of  the  Psalms:  “Upon  the  rivers  of  Babylon, there we  sat  and  wept,  when  we  remembered  Sion. On the  willows in the  midst  thereof  we  hung  up  our  instruments,  for  there  they that led  us  into  captivity  required  of  us  the  words  of  songs. How shall we  sing  the  song  of  the  Lord  in  a strange  land? If I forget  thee,  O Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand  be  forgotten. Let my tongue  cleave  to  my  jaws,  if  I do  not  remember  thee,  if  I make  not  Jerusalem  the  beginning  of  my  joys."

During the  captivity  God  did  not  abandon  His  people,  but sent the  prophet  Ezechiel,  who  admonished  and  instructed  them. He also  consoled  them  by  telling  them  of  a divine  vision  which foreshadowed the  deliverance  of  the  people  from  their  captivity. The spirit  of  the  Lord  brought  Ezechiel  to  a plain  filled  with bones of  dead  men. Being told  by  God,  he  commanded  the  bones to come  together,  which  was  done,  and  they  were  covered  with flesh and  skin,  but  there  was  no  spirit  in  them. And the  Lord told Ezechiel  to  say  to  the  spirit:  “Come,  spirit,  and  let  them live again.”  The  spirit  entered  into  them,  and  they  lived;  they stood upon  their  feet,  an  exceeding  great  army. Then the  Lord said: “These  bones  are  the  house  of  Israel;  they  say  that  our