Ezekiel 14:14 - Homiletics.

Noah, Daniel, and Job.

I. THE SPLENDID PRE - EMINENCE OF NOAH , DANIEL , AND JOB . These three men are selected from ages far apart, and from the greatest diversity of circumstances. In temperament and external history there is little resemblance between them. Noah the patriarch, looms on the horizon of history in epic grandeur; Daniel is the brave hero in a tyrant's court, and the man of skill and science in a civilized society; Job belongs to the region of pastoral life, and his tragic story carries us out among the Bedouin. So wide is the range of excellence! Good men are not confined to one age, nor to one set of circumstances, nor to one school of thought, nor to one style of life. They are not found exclusively in antiquity, in modern times, in town, in the country, among the great, among the simple. There is a breadth and a variety in the possibilities of saintliness. We need not all copy one type. He who cannot emulate the knowledge of Daniel may follow the patience of Job. Nevertheless, in spite of these diversities, there are certain great common features that belong to the three Old Testament saints, and account for the present association of their names.

1 . All three were holy men , true to God and upright in life. His goodness is the greatest fact in a good man's character, and it constitutes a bond of union between all the true people of God.

2 . All three were faithful in circumstances of isolation . They all had to break from prevalent habits, and dare to stand alone—Noah against the world's sin and impenitence, Daniel against heathenism, Job against a false orthodoxy.

3 . All three were sorely tried . The faith of each was assailed in a severe and most exceptional manner.

4 . All three were victorious by means of firm fidelity . They conquered, and they conquered in quiet ways—by obedience, patience, faith, and steadfastness.

II. THE USELESSNESS OF THE INTERCESSION OF THESE THREE GREAT SAINTS . Though Noah, Daniel, and Job united to plead for Jerusalem, their intercession would be all in vain.

1 . This was contrary to expectation . There is power in intercession; there is an especial power in the intercession of a "righteous man" ( James 5:16 ); there is a still greater power in united prayer ( Matthew 18:20 ). Yet here the union of three of the very best men, selected from all ages, could not secure the safety of Jerusalem.

2 . The cause of the predicted failure of such an intercession was hardened impenitence . God is not inexorable. He is ready to listen to prayer; nay, he is more anxious to save than we are to plead for salvation. He sent his Son to save the world, an infinitely greater act than the most impassioned pleading of the best men. Therefore the failure cannot be attributed to his hardness. But it would be unjust and injurious to spare the impenitent on any plea.

3 . The intercession of Christ succeeds where that of the best. men fails. His prayers are worth those of ten thousand Noahs and Daniels and Jobs. "He ever liveth to make intercession for us;" and he alone, bearing the weight of the whole world's guilt, makes atonement for the sins of all men with ample sufficiency. We could not trust to the intercession of the saints, even if we were sure of obtaining it; and the words of Ezekiel are only hypothetical, merely by way of illustration. Christ is our one Advocate with the Father. Nevertheless, for the impenitent even his mighty intercession, which shakes the very gates of hell, is ineffectual. Christ shed tears over Jerusalem, yet Jerusalem perished.