"There was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and
woe."--_Ezekiel 2:10._
THIS is a sad text; but when people are wicked, sadness must always
follow.
You heard how kind God had been to the Israelites, and how much He had
done for them; how He gave them their beautiful land, and their city
of Jerusalem, and blessed them whenever they were good. And if they
sinned, He sent punishment, that they might learn to do better; and
when they were sorry He forgave them, and made them happy again. But
they would not keep to what He told them; they would worship idols, and
grow worse and worse, till at last God said that there could be only
"lamentation, and mourning, and woe," for the trouble they had brought
on themselves.
God sent a great army under the king of Babylon, and Jerusalem was
given up to them. The fierce soldiers came in, and burnt the houses,
and robbed the Temple; and as to the young king, Jehoiachin, they took
him and his mother, and all his chief lords and priests, and carried
them away to Babylon, where he was a long time in prison.
The chapter to-day was written by a holy prophet, whose name was
Ezekiel, and who was taken away to Babylon at the same time as the
young king. God came and spoke to Ezekiel, that he might go on warning
the people, that if they did not repent now that they were punished, He
would be obliged to go on punishing them still.
Think about that. You know if you have done wrong and been punished,
it is that you may mind another time, and not do the same over again.
If you are obstinate or careless, and go back to the old fault, then
you will have to suffer more and more; and there can be nothing but
"lamentation and mourning and woe."