not commit (practice) sin" (1 John iii:9). If he falls in sin a gracious provision is made. We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and therefore we can confess our sins; forgiveness and cleansing follow according to the divine promise (1 John i:9; ii:1-2).[3] [3] The responsibility of Ezekiel in delivering the message was great. Every servant of the Lord Jesus Christ with a far greater message than Ezekiel's should also feel that responsibility. If it were felt more, there would be more earnestness, more prayer and greater results. After this solemn charge the hand of the Lord rested upon Ezekiel and he was commanded to go into the plain, where Jehovah would talk with him. He obeyed and beheld again the Glory of the Lord, which he had seen by the river of Chebar. Once more he fell on his face. Then the Spirit entered into him and said unto him: "Go, shut thyself within thy house." He had no opportunity to exercise his office as watchman and deliver the warning message. Immediately after the charge he was commanded to separate himself from the captives and then became a prisoner in his house. But more than that. They were to put bands upon him and bind him with them. Does this mean that the people would bind him so that he could not leave the house? It probably meant the opposite. He was to shut himself in the house and they came with bands and bound him, to get him out of the house by force. But he was not to go among them. Then God Himself made the Prophet dumb. "And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover, for they are a rebellious house (verses 25-26). First he was to be bound so that he could not go amongst them, and then God Himself would make him dumb so that he could not reprove the people. Different suggestions have been made about the meaning of the condition in which the Prophet was put. Some have even declared that there is a contradiction in all this, in view of verses 16-21, while rationalistic expositors think that the Prophet suffered from some nervous disorder which deprived him temporarily of the power of speech. That the Prophet was unfitted by God to go amongst the people and deliver the message in public was a testimony against the nation. They were beyond hope, therefore, on account of their rebelliousness; he was not to be a reprover to them. It witnessed to the fact that judgment upon the nation could not now be arrested. And yet his dumbness was not complete nor constant. The last verse of the chapter makes this clear. "But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; he that heareth let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear; for they are a rebellious house." Thus the Prophet was completely cast upon Jehovah. Jehovah directed him in being silent or in uttering His message. Blessed are all servants of the Lord, who know the