THE HOPE OF ISRAEL - The Preterist Archive

The Hope of Israel: What Is It? 105
ments should fall upon Israel and Jerusalem, and as
Paul has explained that Isaiah's prophecy referred to
those who were to be saved through the gospel,
this
part of Ezekiel's prophecy is quite clear.
In chap. XV, God foreshows the complete rejection
of Jerusalem, under the figure of the branches of a
vine, which, when broken off, are fit only for the fire
(cf. John 15:6). There is no hint of mercy or of recovery
in this chapter.
In chap. XVI, the sins of Jerusalem are denounced
as worse than those of Sodom and Samaria; for God
addresses Jerusalem, saying, "As I live, saith the Lord
God, Sodom thy sister * * hath not done as thou hast
done. * * Neither hath Samaria committed half thy
sins ; but thou has multiplied thine abominations -more
than they all" (vv. 48-51) And then He pronounces the
.
irremediable doom of Jerusalem, saying :
"When I shall
bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and
her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her
daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy
captives in the midst of them" (v. 53)
.
And, "When
thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to
their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters
shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy
daughters shall return to your former estate."
Manifestly this is just a strong way of saying that
the overthrow of Jerusalem was to be forever; since
the cities of the plain, and the northern kingdom, of
which Samaria was the capitol city, had been completely
obliterated. God had already said to the people
of Israel through Moses that their overthrow would be
"like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah . . which
the Lord overthrew in His anger and in His wrath"
(Deut. 29:23). In fact, Sodom and Gomorrah are in