The Mountain-Height of Israel - Moral and Spiritual Elevation
W. Clarkson Ezekiel 34:14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and on the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold… I will feed them upon the mountains of the height of Israel" (literally, see Revised Version; see also Ezekiel 17:23 and Ezekiel 20:40); i.e. upon the mountain-height of Israel; and the reference is to - I. THE EXCELLENCY OF ISRAEL IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. The neglected and scattered sheep that had been untaught or misdirected by their rulers should be eared for by the Lord himself; they should be placed on the very summit of sacred privilege, they should be sheep feeding on the mountain-heights of the Holy Land. Mount Zion was "the holy mountain (Ezekiel 20:40), where the best spiritual pasture was to be had for the hungering heart of the devout Hebrew; but "everything in Israel had a moral elevation." At any rate, Israel in its best days, under David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Hezekiah, Josiah, attained to an elevation of knowledge and of character which was comparatively great and high. Its superiority to all surrounding nations was seen in: 1. Its knowledge of the living God. While they were worshipping gods of their own creation - false, capricious, cruel, lustful - the people of God were honoring One who was just, holy, kind, true, faithful; one who was worthy the deepest reverence, the fullest trust, the strongest affection that the human soul could offer; One whose service constituted the most lofty enjoyment and exerted the most elevating influence on the minds and lives of his worshippers. 2. Its morality. There are many passages in Scripture condemning immoralities among the Jews, and there were periods when Hebrew morality declined. In the time of our Lord it had sunk with the sinking of religion into formality and routine. Yet an historical comparison between the morale of the Jewish nation and that of all contemporary peoples would show that the children of Israel, in any period of their history, towered high and far above their neighbors. Comparatively speaking, they were true, and pure, and temperate, and just. To be taught and trained as was the Hebrew child in his home and in his school and in the sanctuary of God, was to ascend and to move along the "mountain-height of Israel." The very best and the saintliest men of Israel, whose names are held in highest honor by the good and pure of every land, were the mountain-peaks that did not rise straight and lonely from the deep valleys; they rose from the high elevation, the mountain-ranges of general national piety and purity. The idea is far more perfectly realized, and the prophecy finds its complete fulfillment in - II. THE HIGHER EXCELLENCY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. Here we stand on loftier ground. We have: 1. A still loftier conception of the character and the will of God. Learning of Jesus Christ, knowing God as revealed to us in him, we recognize a Divine Father, grieved with his children's sin and departure from himself; yearning over them in their distance and their misery; seeking at his own infinite cost to save them; engaged through the centuries in the gracious and glorious work of redeeming the human race to holiness and happiness, to the kingdom of heaven. 2. A still higher morality. Sitting at the feet of the great Teacher, following in the steps of the Divine Exemplar, restrained and constrained by the influences of the Holy Spirit of God, we rise to and walk along the lofty mountain-range of Christian morals, breathing a Christian atmosphere, engaged with our Lord and Leader in his great work of grace and truth. With Christ's own truth in our mind, with his example before our eyes, with his Spirit willing to dwell within and to inspire all that seek his presence and his power, (1) how utterly unworthy of us is everything small and mean in feeling and in action! (2) how it becomes us to take a high and noble course, to speak in an elevated strain, to breath a pure and bracing air, to do lofty and magnanimous deeds, as we move up the mountain-path to the heavenly places! - C. Parallel Verses KJV: I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. WEB: I will feed them with good pasture; and on the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed on the mountains of Israel.