Echelon

“ All Ezekiel saw as he looked up indicated the presence of the God of Israel and His glory, ready to deal in judgment with His unfaithful people.
Then the vision unfolds itself. First the living creatures are seen. The tenth chapter calls them by the name of cherubim. They are the same beings as described in Revelation iv:6-9. The cherubim are not symbolical figures but real beings, for they are called "living creatures." They are not angels but belong to another class. Four cherubim Ezekiel beheld with faces of the lion, the ox, the eagle and the face of man. ”

“ One of the most striking facts to be gleaned from a general survey of the past history of the Equisetaceae is the persistence since the latter part of the Palaeozoic period of that type of plant which is represented by existing Equisetums. There is perhaps no genus in existence which illustrates more vividly than Equisetum the survival of an extremely ancient group, which is represented to-day by numerous and widely spread species. ”

“ Ezekiel is a book of priceless value from our present point of view. Who can read without his heart thrilling of the living creatures that "had the likeness of man," and such a man—a man with four faces, with four wings, with a calf's feet, and a man's hands, sparkling like burnished brass, looking like burning coals of fire and like the appearance of lamps (Ezek. i., 5—13) . ”

“ Ezekiel saw the quadruple man,—man, ox, lion, and eagle; that is to say, the master of thought, the master of the field, the master of the desert, the master of the air. Nothing forgotten. It is posterity complete, from Aristotle to Christopher Columbus, from Triptolemus to Montgolfier. Later on, the Gospel also will become quadruple in the four Evangelists, making Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John subservient to man, the ox, the lion, and the eagle, and, remarkable fact, to symbolize progress will take the four faces of Ezekiel. At all events, Ezekiel, like Christ, calls himself the "Son of Man." ”

“ I. Equisetales.—The plants of the single living genus Equisetum, which vary in height from a few inches to 40 ft., have subterranean rhizomes, from which the erect shoots arise. The habit of the plant depends on the degree of branching rather than upon the foliage. The internodes are elongated and hollow. The leaves are borne in whorls, those of each whorl cohering, except at their extreme tips, to form a sheath. The leaves of successive whorls alternate with one another, and this applies also to the branches which arise in the axil of the leaf sheath. ”

“ Note, Our choice is often made our punishment; and it is a righteous thing with God to remove teachers into corners when they, or their people, or both, grow indifferent to solemn assemblies. Ezekiel must shut up himself, some think, to give a sign of the besieging of Jerusalem, in which the people should be closely shut up as he was in his house, and which he speaks of in the next chapter. He must shut himself within his house, that he might receive further discoveries of the mind of God and might abundantly furnish himself with something to say to the people when he went abroad. ”

“ This is mentioned as a fish of Ceylon by Ives, 1775 (p. 57) . It is no doubt the same that is described in the quotation from Pyrard [see Gray's note, Hak. Soc. i. 388] . It may represent the genus Equula, of which 12 spp. are described by Day (Fishes of India, pp. 237–242) , two being named by different zoologists E. caballa. But Dr. Day hesitates to identify the fish now in question. The fish mentioned in the fourth and fifth quotations may be the same species; but that in the fifth seems doubtful. Many of the spp. are extensively sun-dried, and eaten by the poor. ”

“ Echion Das Echion - Einige nennen es Doris, Andere Alkibiadion, die Römer Alcibiacum - hat längliche, rauhe, etwas zarte, denen der Anchusa ähnelnde Blätter, aber kleiner und fett, mit feinen, anliegenden Borstenhaaren, welche die Blätter rauh machen, dünne, zahlreiche Stengelchen, beiderseits mit zarten, gefiederten, dunklen Blättern, welche nach der Spitze des Stengels zu verhältnismässig kleiner werden. Nächst den Blättern stehen die purpurfarbigen Blüthen, in welchen sich die, einem Vipernkopf ähnlichen Früchte. befinden. Die Wurzel ist dünner als ein Finger, schwärzlich. ”

“ One gentleman in Ceylon, not less distinguished for his genuine kindness of heart, than for his marvellous success in shooting elephants, avowed to me that the eagerness with which he found himself impelled to pursue them had often excited surprise in his own mind ”

“ It is wiser to admit that in many cases we are without the means of accurate diagnosis, and that the specific names applied to fossil Equisetums do not always possess much value as criteria of taxonomic differences.
The specimens of fossil Equisetums are usually readily recognised by the coherent leaf-segments in the form of nodal sheaths resembling those of recent species. The tissues of the cortex and central cylinder are occasionally represented by a thin layer 259of coal pressed on to the surface of a sandstone cast, or covering a flattened stem-impression on a piece of shale. ”

“ At night the only break in the profound stillness is when the tide is ebbing, and the Equille can be heard rushing under the bridge a quarter of a mile away. We cannot discover the meaning of that word, and so consult a foreign relative, who fells us that at Dinard, in France, they catch the équille,—a small fish, also called a lançon, because it darts in and out of the sand, and in its movements is something like an eel. ”

“ A number of vigorous Echini were thoroughly shaved with a scalpel over the whole half of one hemisphere, i.e. the half from the equator to the oral pole. They were then inverted on their ab-oral poles. The object of the experiment was to see what the Echini which were thus deprived of the lower half of three feet-rows would do when, in executing their righting manœuvres, they attained to the equatorial position and then found no feet wherewith to continue the manœuvre. ”

“ Nothing is known of the structure of the fossils beyond the character of the superficial pattern of the impressions, and it is impossible to speak with absolute confidence as to their nature. The author of the species makes use of the generic name Equisetum; but in view of our ignorance of structural features it is better to adopt the more usual term Equisetites.
Since Kidston’s description was published I noticed a specimen in the British Museum collection which throws some further light on this doubtful fossil. Part of this specimen is shown in fig. 57, A. The stem is 21 cm. ”

“ The scientific researches of all kinds, which have in modern days been instituted in Ceylon, have been attended with the most important results, bearing upon its history and its various tribes, as well as on its natural wealth; and the masterly and marvellous work Sir Emerson Tennent lately published on the isle of Ceylon, seems intended to compensate for many instances of neglect which Ceylon and its inhabitants have experienced from the English since they seized on it. ”

“ Ezekiel lies passive; he broods, gazes and builds his [Pg 60] visions up, in a fashion like none of his terser predecessors; for he had time on his hands, not available to them in days when the history of the nation was still running. Ezekiel's style swells to a greater fulness of rhetoric; his pictures of the future are elaborated with the most minute detail. Prophets before him were speakers, but he is a writer. Many in Israel besides Ezekiel took advantage of the leisure of the Exile to the great increase and arrangement of the national literature. ”

“ The book of Ezekiel starts with the description of a great vision, which the prophet had among the captives of the river Chebar. The first word "now," which really means "and," connects the book with Jeremiah, as Joshua is connected in the same way with Deuteronomy. The two statements "I was" and "I saw" in the first verse make it clear that Ezekiel is the author of this book. The third verse has been marked by the critics as an addition by some person, who edited the book later. There is no evidence for that. In describing his own person and descent, he no longer uses the personal pronoun. ”

“ Fig. 7. The interior of the upper part or vertex of a large Echinus, from the tertiary strata of Malta. The greater portion of the shell is broken away, but a small fragment showing the outer surface remains on the upper left hand of the specimen. The five large petalous ambulacra are beautifully seen. Perfect examples of this echinite (Echinanthus Clypeaster altus, of Parkinson) , are not uncommon.
Fig. 19. A spine of Cidaris sceptrifera, from the chalk of Kent.
Fig. 20. An elegant Turban Echinite, (Hemicidaris crenularis, of Lamarck,) common in the Coral Rag of Wiltshire. ”

“ The heroes are not in a state of blessedness; nor is the condition of the uncircumcised one of acute suffering. The whole of existence in Sheôl is essentially of one character; it is on the whole a pitiable existence, destitute of joy and of all that makes up the fulness of life on [pg 278] earth. Only there is “within that deep a lower deep,” and it is reserved for those who in the manner of their death have experienced the penalty of great wickedness. The moral truth of Ezekiel's representation lies here. The real judgment of Egypt was enacted in the historical scene of its final overthrow ”

“ There are perhaps other and more subtle affinities between the symbol of the vision and the prophet's inner consciousness of God. Just as the vision gathers up all in nature that suggests divinity into one resplendent image, so it is also with the moral action of God as conceived by Ezekiel. His government of the world is self-centred; all the ends which He pursues in His providence lie within Himself. His dealings with the nations, and with Israel in particular, are dictated by regard for His own glory, or, as Ezekiel expresses it, by pity for His great name. ”

“ To Ezekiel the divine Presence is so overpowering, the command is so definite and exacting, that no room is left for the play of personal feeling; the hand of the Lord is heavy on him, and he can do nothing but stand still and hear. ”

“ Book 26 Ezekiel 26:001:001 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
26:001:002 In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,
26:001:003 The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him. ”

“ Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself? 6 O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be before thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still. [308] 7 How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it. ”

“ Equisetaceæ.—The common species of Equisetum, or Marestail, is a plant that grows in marshy tracts, and on the banks of ditches and rivers; it has a jointed stalk, garnished with elegant sheaths which embrace the stem, and verticillate linear leaves: it attains a height of two feet, and is half an inch in diameter. In the fossil state there are many plants allied to the Equisetum, but only a few that are generically the same.
« 105 »
Lign. ”

“ This outline of the prophet's conception of salvation illustrates the truth of the remark that Ezekiel is the first dogmatic theologian. In so far as it is the business of a theologian to exhibit the logical connection of the ideas which express man's relation to God, Ezekiel more than any other prophet may claim the title. Truths which are the presuppositions of all prophecy are to him objects of conscious reflection, and emerge from his hands in the shape of clearly formulated doctrines. ”

“ In order to understand the place which the sixteenth chapter occupies in this section41 of the book, we must remember that a chief source of the antagonism between Ezekiel and his hearers was the proud national consciousness which sustained the courage of the people through all their humiliations. There were, perhaps, few nations of antiquity in which the flame of patriotic feeling burned more brightly than in Israel. No people with a past such as theirs could be indifferent to the many elements of greatness embalmed in their history. ”

“ There is little harm in retaining provisionally the two families already referred to, if we do not allow a purely arbitrary classification to prejudice our opinions as to the affinities of the several members of the Equisetales.
The Equisetaceae might be defined as a family including plants which were usually herbaceous but in some cases arborescent, bearing verticils of leaves in the form of sheaths more or less deeply divided into segments or teeth. The strobili were isosporous and consisted of a central axis bearing verticils of distally expanded sporophylls with sporangia, as in Equisetum. ”

“ But for the drowsy and the careless, do thou endeavour to convert and confirm, and warn and cure them, as sensible how great a reward thou shalt have for doing so, and how great danger thou wilt incur if thou beest negligent therein. For Ezekiel speaks thus to those overseers who take no care of the people: “Woe unto the shepherds of Israel, for they have fed themselves; the shepherds feed not the sheep, but themselves. Ye eat the milk, and are clothed with the wool; ye slay the strong, ye do not feed the sheep. ”