THE ALLEGORY. 207 



prophecies of Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah and John. 

 Thus, when the Lord Jesus is represented by a Lamb 

 (John i. 29, &c.), the figure alludes to the meekness, 

 puritj, submission, and fitness for sacrifice of that 

 animal ; and when He stands as the lion (Kev. v. 5), 

 the qualities of power, prevalence, majesty, and 

 terribleness, are comprehended in the symbol. The 

 mystic cherubim, — whether they represent the church 

 or the heavenly angels, or both, — are pictured by 

 various animals (Ezek. i. ; Rev. iv.) ; and the change 

 of character which the kingdom of Christ will intro- 

 duce upon earth, is figured by the harmonious com- 

 panionship of ferocious creatures with those of gentle 

 dispositions (Isaiah xi.). 



But not infrequently the parallelism is drawn out 

 and expanded into so many particulars as to constitute 

 an allegory or parable. Thus Jotham instructs his 

 people by the story of the trees selecting a king 

 (Judges ix.) ; the prophet Ezekiel sketches the history 

 of Assyria under the emblem of a cedar (Ezek. xxxi.), 

 and Nahum depicts the same ferocious monarchy 

 under that of a lion (Nah. ii. 11 — 13) ; the former 

 prophet again represents the Egyptian king as a 

 crocodile, and graphically describes him as caught in 

 the net of the nations (Ezek. xxxii.) ; and gives a most 

 vivid picture of Israel, under the imagery of a lion's 

 whelp trained by the old lioness to the love of blood, 

 and at last taken in the toils (Ezek. xix.). The fre- 

 quency with which the vine is chosen as the subject 

 of allegorical representation is remarkable ; as are also 

 the variety and copiousness of the details which are 

 employed to depict it (See Ps. Ixxx. ; Isa. v. ; Ezek. 



