THE ALLEGORY. 213 



sive series of images employed in the symbolic pro- 

 phecies 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, purity., 

 submission, and fitness for sacrifice of that animal ; 

 and when He stands as the lion (Rev. v. 5), ^he 

 qualities of power, prevalence, majesty, and terrible- 

 ness, 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 cha- 

 racter which the kingdom of Christ will introduce 

 upon earth, is figured by the harmonious companion- 

 ship of ferocious creatures with those of gentle dispo- 

 sitions (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 Uon (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 



