Ezekiel 27

Ezekiel 27:16

The Agate They occupied (RV “traded”) in thy fairs with . . . agate. —Ezekiel 27:16. The agate is our stone for June.Perhaps the name agate doesn’t mean anything to you. When people speak of a diamond or a pearl you have at once a little picture in your mind; but an agate! Let me see if I can draw a picture of an agate in your mind. Do you know a kind of sweet that is in layers—brown, cream, and pink, or green, white, and brown? Sometimes the layers are one above the other, sometimes they are in rings, and the sweet looks like slices of a tiny jam roll with all the jam in the middle, or like the rings that you see in the trunk of a tree that has been sawn through. Well, if you can imagine something of that kind in stone, you see an agate; only, the colors are more often grey and brown and red and yellow than green or pink.Striped agates are known as banded or ribbon agates, and those with circles are known as ring or eye agates.

But there are agates with more unusual markings still. For instance, some have a pattern zigzagging across them, and these are known as fortification agates because the zigzags are supposed to resemble the walls and angles of a fortress.

Others have feathery designs which make them look as if a piece of seaweed or moss had become embedded in them. These are spoken of as moss agates.The name “agate” itself is taken from a river in Sicily which used to be called the Achates. It is now the Drillo. In the bed of this river the agates of ancient times were found. Today agates are found in many countries—India, China, America, South Africa, Australia, Brazil. But you will find them also nearer home, for agates are discovered in many parts of Scotland—indeed, they are often known as Scotch pebbles. You will see them in any shop where they sell Highland jewelry. But of course you won’t mix them up with the clear yellow or pale brown crystal so often set in kilt brooches.

That is the cairngorm or Scotch topaz.The agate may not be so valuable as some other precious stones, but it has a beauty all its own, and it is useful as well as beautiful. It is very hard—harder even than steel—and because it does not rust as steel would, it is used in the making of certain scientific instruments. The knife-edge on which the beam of a chemical balance is suspended is made of agate; and pestles and mortars for pounding hard substances are also cut from the stone.The agate’s strange markings and figures made it specially suitable for amulets. And in olden times people who believed in such fancies used to attribute certain virtues to it. They said it was a symbol of strength and mastery, and that its wearer was sure of victory. Then, too, it was supposed to heal diseases of the eye, and to be an antidote against the bite of spiders or scorpions.

It was also said to quench thirst and cure fever. It was a pet stone of the weather clerk, for it was believed to control the weather.

In ancient Persia it was said to ward off tempests; and in Arabia prayers for rain were frequently made to an idol of red agate in the Mohammedan temple, the Kaaba, at Mecca.We are inclined to smile at these ideas, for we know how untrue they are; but the poor agate can’t help all the foolish fables that have grown up around it. If the agate could speak, it would say, “Forget all the stupid tales that people have made up about me, and I’ll tell you a tale more wonderful— the true tale of how I came to be.“Thousands of years ago, when the world was being made, there were certain rocks formed by matter boiling up from the hot center of the earth. As these molten rocks cooled, empty air spaces like bubbles were left in them here and there. But these air spaces did not remain empty. Into them flowed gradually layer upon layer, coating after coating of a stuff called silica. Sometimes the silica was grey or clear, sometimes it was tinged with red or brown or yellow.

Occasionally it was colored with pink or purple or green. At last all the air space was filled and became hard and solid, and there was I!“Later the stone round about me began to crumble and decay, but I was so hard that I did not decay with it, and so I was set free.

I rolled from my old home into the bed of a stream, and here I am! Outside I am a plain uninteresting-looking fellow, inside I am a creature of lovely colors. Cut me and polish me, and you will have a thing of beauty for ever.”That is the agate’s story, and its message to us comes from that story. It is this—“Be beautiful within.”The agate is not lovely to look upon till you cut it and see its heart. Its outer coat is not the best of it. Now, I am sorry to say that with some people their outer coat, that is to say, their appearance, is the best of them. They are lovely to look upon, but their hearts are black and ugly. Perhaps we are inclined to envy beauty.

We long for curly hair or a straight nose, or a favorite shade of eyes, and our hair is lank, or our nose turns up, and our eyes are green. Well, the agate has a cheering message for us. It tells us that it is not less valuable though its outer covering is plain. What really matters is the beauty in its heart. And that is a beauty we too can have. We can all be kind and gentle, unselfish and loving, straight, and true.Beauty of heart! Let us all try to have it. For that is the beauty that lasts, that is the beauty that is loveliest, that is the beauty that is best beloved. (The texts of the sermons in this series are Genesis 2:12; Job 28:19; Proverbs 3:15; Jeremiah 17:1; Ezekiel 1:26; Ezekiel 27:16 (2), Ezekiel 28:13; Matthew 13:45; Revelation 21:19-20 (2).)

Ezekiel 27:19

Old Iron Bright iron.—Ezekiel 27:19. Rust.—Matthew 6:19. Today we have two texts and they have both come with me to the pulpit. The first is “bright iron,” and here you have a nice, bright, sharp penknife. The other is the enemy of bright iron. Now, of course, bright iron has just one enemy—that is “rust,” so here is a bit of old rusty iron that once lived on a trash-heap.Which of those two things looks best, and which do you think is of most use? There isn’t much doubt about the answer, is there? But if you don’t take proper care of your penknife it may soon look just like this piece of rusty old iron.What is it that makes iron rust?

Scientists will tell you that it is something in the air that acts upon the surface of the iron, burning or oxidizing it. If there is water present this process takes place more easily, so that if you leave an iron article out of doors on a wet day it will rust much more readily than on a fine day.

If you don’t take trouble to remove the rust it will gradually eat away the iron.Now, people as well as iron can rust. They are not meant to rust; they are meant to be bright and useful; but if they will allow the rust to form, and will not take the trouble to remove it, of course all their brightness and usefulness is spoiled.There are two reasons why rust forms on iron— first, want of use, and second, want of care.1. First, rust forms from want of use. If you lay past an iron or steel article for some time, the chances are you will find it covered with rust when you take it out again. But if you keep on using it, it stays clean and bright. Now it is just like that with the gifts God gives us.

He has given us hands to work with, but if we don’t employ them, they will become clumsy and useless. He has given us minds to think with, but if we don’t cultivate them they will become stupid and dull.

He has given us hearts to love and sympathize with, but if we don’t use them they will become hard and cold.One great enemy of usefulness is laziness. Sometimes we think it is very hard to have to go to school and learn difficult lessons. But it is just by learning these hard lessons that we are keeping our minds bright and free from rust. And when we are learning to do anything with our hands we sometimes grow impatient at having to repeat the same thing over and over again, but it is just that drudgery that is making them clever for more difficult work.I read the other day about a gentleman who was very much interested in a boy. He wanted to help him, so he asked his head gardener to take him into the garden and teach him gardening. Some time after he met the gardener and inquired how his young friend was getting on. “Oh, he’s getting on,” replied the gardener; “there he is at his favorite job, and it just suits him exactly—chasing the snails off the path!” Now, if we are lazy and won’t take pains to learn, the rust will soon grow on us, and rust, you know, clogs wheels and stops progress.

If we are idle we shall never get much farther than that lazy snail of a boy who spent his time chasing his brother-snails off the path.The other great enemy of usefulness is selfishness. You remember the story of the man who had only one talent and who went and hid it in the ground.

That man had many faults, but his biggest one was selfishness. He kept his talent all to himself. Now, God endows us all with gifts, and He means us to use them and make the most of them. To some people He gives strength, to some brains, to some wealth, to some just ordinary common sense and a sound body. But, whatever His gifts may be, He means us to use them for the sake of others. They are not really ours to keep: we have them on trust from Him; and if we allow them to grow rusty from want of use then we are abusing His trust.2. But, second, rust forms from want of care. If you put away your bicycle in the winter, or your skates in the summer, without drying them and rubbing in some grease, you need not expect to take them out again bright and shining.

If you leave your bicycle out in the rain for days on end you must look for rust on the handle-bars. And if we don’t take preventive measures to keep ourselves bright the ugly red rust of all kinds of faults will grow on us.When the Great Eastern was laying the big cable across the Atlantic to America she received frequent messages from the shore. At first these messages reached the ship quite clear and distinct, but gradually they grew fainter and fainter. Then they became jumbled and broken, and at last they ceased altogether.So the men on the ship knew there must be something wrong with the cable, and they hauled it up. They found that a little crack had come on the wire; then rust had got in and eaten away the wire; until at last the crack became too wide for any message to pass. Not until the cable had been mended could any message be sent along.And so if you have been careless and allowed the rust of selfishness, or ill-temper, or pride to grow and spoil your usefulness you must get it put right.

And how shall we get it put right? By taking these faults to God and asking Him for Jesus’ sake to forgive them and help us to get the better of them.Outside a smithy you have often seen bits of old iron—old ploughs, old harrows, odds and ends of all kinds—all more or less rusty.

If you asked the blacksmith what he was going to do with them he would probably tell you that some of the things had been brought to him to sharpen or mend, but others he was going to melt down to make into horseshoes or other useful articles.Some of us may just need sharpening and polishing to get the rust away, some of us may have to begin all over again. But of one thing we may be sure. If we put ourselves in God’s hands, He will do what is best for us, He will turn us out beautiful, spotless “bright iron.”