Chapter XXII: Part 22

+I. The benevolent design of God in chastisement.+ God smites in order to heal. Scripture teaches throughout that God's dealings with men are--1. _Not capricious._ 2. _Not indiscriminate._ 3. _Not unjust._ He does not impose burdens that cannot be borne, nor exact obedience which man cannot render, nor select favourites for preference or victims for vengeance, without any regard to the relations existing between man and Himself. Contrary to all this, God's smiting is that--(1) of a _Rescuer,_ who inflicts blows upon the chains that He may set us free; (2) of a _Physician,_ who in mercy probes the wound that He may heal it; (3) of a _Father,_ who uses the rod for the salutary purposes of correction and reformation (H. E. I., 56-74).

+II. The conduct befitting in men when under chastisement.+ _"And they shall return,"_ &c. This return includes--1. _Submission_ (H. E. I., 143). 2. _Entreaty for help._ (See also ver. 20.). This involves humble confession of sin, and hearty reliance upon God (H. E. I., 145-147). 3. _Sincerity of purpose,_ as manifested in the fulfilment of vows. (See also verse 21.)--_William Manning._

THE BURDEN OF DUMAH.

xxi. 11, 12. _The burden of Dumah, &c._

There are three distinct prophecies in this chapter, and they are all termed _burdens,_ as denoting heavy judgments. The first respects Babylon; the next, _Dumah,_ Idumea, or Edom, inhabiting Mount Seir; and the last, Arabia.

The fall of Babylon by the Medes and Persians is announced under the form of a _watchman_ stationed to discover approaching objects, with orders to declare what he saw (vers. 6-9). It was an event peculiarly interesting to Judah. Babylon was the floor on which Judah was to be threshed, till the refuse should be separated from the grain. The event which destroyed the one delivered the other (ver. 10).

The fall of Babylon was interesting to other nations as well as Judah; particularly to the Idumeans or Edomites, who were reduced to servitude within a few years after the taking of Jerusalem. Now, seeing that Judah had received a favourable report, Edom must needs inquire of the watchman (like Pharaoh's baker of Joseph, after he had announced good tidings to the butler), whether there was nothing equally favourable to them. [We are not to understand, however, that messengers were really sent out of Edom to Isaiah; the process was merely a pneumatical one.--_Delitzsch._] The answer is, NOTHING; but, on the contrary, the lot of Judah's enemies, "a burden."

The revolution would indeed, for a time, excite the joy of the conquered nations (chap. xiv. 7, 8); but the Edomites should meet with a disappointment. To them a change of government should only be a change of masters. The fair morning of their hopes should issue in a long and dark night of despondency. In the day of Babylon's fall, according to the prayer of the captives, when every prisoner was lifting up his head in hope, Edom was _remembered,_ as excepted from an act of grace, on account of his singular atrocities (Ps. cxxxvii. 7-9).

The Edomites were very impatient under the Babylonish yoke, and very importunate in their inquiries after deliverance; reiterating the question, "What of the night? Watchman, what of the night?" When will this dark and long captivity be ended? And now that their hopes are repulsed by the watchman's answer, they are exceedingly unwilling to relinquish them. Loth to depart with an answer so ungrateful, they linger, and _inquire_ again and again, in hopes that the sentence may be reversed. But they are told that all their lingering is in vain. "If ye will inquire, inquire ye, return, come" again; yet shall your answer be the same.

And what was the crime of the Edomites that should draw down upon them this heavy _burden,_ this irresistible doom? _Their inveterate hatred of the people of God_ (Obad. 10). Perhaps there was no nation whose treatment of Israel was so invariably spiteful, and whose enmity was accompanied with such aggravating circumstances. They were descended from Abraham and Isaac, and were treated by Israel, at the time they came out of Egypt, as brethren; but as they then returned evil for good (Num. xx. 14-21), so it was ever afterwards. Their conduct, on the melancholy occasion of Jerusalem being taken by the Chaldeans, was infamous (Obad. 10-16).

The passage affords a tremendous lesson to ungodly sinners, and _especially to those who, having descended from pious parents, and possessed religious advantages, are, notwithstanding, distinguished by their enmity to true religion._ The situation of the Edomites rendered it impossible for them to be so ignorant as other heathen nations of the God of Israel; and their hatred appears to have been proportioned to their knowledge. Such is the character of great numbers in the religious world. They have both seen and hated the truth. The consequences will be, if grace prevent not, they will flatter themselves awhile with vain hopes; but, ere they are aware, their morning will be changed into an endless night.

Edom was once addressed in the language of kindness and brotherly affections; _but having turned a deaf ear to this, all their inquiries after deliverance are now utterly disregarded._ Such will be the end of sinners. "When once the Judge hath risen up and shut the door," they may begin to knock, may inquire and return, and come again, but all will be in vain; a night of ever-during darkness must be their portion.

The passage also, taken in its connection, holds up to us _the different situation of the friends and enemies of God under public calamities._ It is natural in such circumstances for all to inquire, "What of the night? Watchman, what of the night?" Each, also, may experience a portion of successive _light_ and _darkness_ in his lot. But the grand difference lies in _the issue of things._ God's people were thrashed on the floor of Babylon; and, when purified, were presently restored. To them there arose light in darkness. Weeping continued for a night, but joy came in the morning. Not so with Edom; their night came last. Such will be the portion of God's enemies: they may wish for changes, in hope of their circumstances being bettered; but the principal thing wanting is a change in themselves. While strangers to this, the oracles of Heaven prophesy no good concerning them. A morning may come, but the night cometh also.--_Andrew Fuller: Complete Works,_ pp. 514, 515.

The whole Bible has, as its common and pervading argument, one mighty subject, which, appearing in a thousand different forms, is substantially the same in every page of the sacred volume. That subject is, the salvation appointed for the chosen of mankind and the ruin decreed for those who reject the offer. Therefore when the prophetic Scriptures publish to us promises of peace and denunciations of woe, let us never deem that the Divine Spirit had no _ulterior_ purpose in these predictions. Let us never cast aside the volume and cry that we are not Edom, or Egypt, or Babylon, or Tyre; and that, therefore, we have nothing to do either with their crimes or their punishment. Let us not vainly dream that the mighty machinery of the prophetic messages was put into play merely to call down curses on a few of the temporary dynasties of this perishable world! "All Scripture was written for _our_ use," and these "springing and germinant prophecies" (as they have been called) have a significancy beyond the revolutions of petty kingdoms. They represent, in majestic order and manifest type, the great truths of eternal salvation and eternal ruin; they exhibit, in the sensible language of exterior imagery, what the great Teacher of after-times gave in the higher language of spiritual truth. If the laws of God be uniform and unchangeable, we are justified in reading by this light from _heaven_ the prophetic declarations of the course and principles of His earthly providences.

With such views as these elevating our thoughts beyond the details of perished empires into the mightier truths of the eternal empire of our God, let us reflect briefly upon the words before us.

The prophet appears to introduce himself as addressed in scorn by the people of the land which he is commissioned to warn. "Watchman, what of the night?" What new report of woe hast thou to unroll, who has placed thyself as an authorised observer and censurer of our doings? But the prophetical watchman--the calm commissioner of Heaven--replies, adopting their own language, "Yea, the morning (the true morning of hope and peace) cometh, and also the night (the real and terrible night of God's vengeance); if ye will (if ye are in genuine earnest to inquire), inquire! Return, come." Obtain the knowledge you see, the knowledge of the way of life; and, acting upon this knowledge, repent and return to the Lord your God.

Regard, then, the guilty Edom that is warned; and the office and answer of the watchman who warns it.

I cannot now undertake to count over the array of those who address the spiritual watchmen of the Church of Christ in tones of derision, and mock their ministry. Some there are who ask the report of "the night" with utter carelessness as to the reply; some there are who ask it in contempt.

But what is still the duty of him who holds the momentous position of watchman in the city of God? On the occasion before us, remark--1. He did not turn away from the question, in whatever spirit it was asked. 2. He uttered with equal assurance a threat and a promise. 3. He pressed the necessity of care in the study, and earnest inquiry after the nature, of the truth; and he summed up all in an anxious, a cordial, and reiterated invitation to repentance and reconciliation with an offended but pardoning God. Thus, the single verse might be regarded as an abstract of the duties of the ministerial office.--_W. Archer Butler: Sermons,_ vol. ii. pp. 339-345.

NIGHT AND MORNING.

xxi. 11, 12. _Watchman, what of the night?_

That there is night in this world few will question. He must be a bold optimist who thinks everything as it is, is for the best possible in the best possible of worlds. Darkness still covers the earth. God's children, who have a glorious light within them, have a dark night all round about them. Night is the symbol of gloom and suffering; and it is the season of sin. It is moral night, because "men loved darkness rather than light." Every true-hearted, earnest Christian is a watchman: he watches for his own soul, and for the souls of others; and he longs for the advent of the world's new morning, when the shadows shall flee away. Regarding the earnest Christian as the person accosted in the text, what are his thoughts and fears about the night? What are his hopes about the morning?

1. _When the Christian looks out upon the world, he sees himself surrounded by the night of unbelief and irreligion, and yet he beholds streaks of sunny dawn._ There are many things at which if he looked exclusively he would despair--materialism taught by popular teachers, atheism the creed of not a few, abounding luxury, sensuality defiling and degrading all classes of the community. But, looking beyond these, he sees evidences of Christian truth and hope such as the world never before witnessed--Sunday-schools, tract societies, home and foreign missions, various organisations for Christian labour, generously supported and efficiently maintained; and, as he looks, he feels that the morning draweth nigh.

II. _When the Christian man looks into his own heart, he sees much that speaks of the night, but much also that tells of the coming morning._

III. _The Christless man, as well as the Christian, may well ask, "What of the night?"_ He may relieve the gloom of his existence by a few sparks of transient merriment, but soon they will be all extinguished; and for him there will be no morning!--_W. M. Statham: Christian World Pulpit,_ iii. 193.

Passing from the historical application of this oracle, we observe that it may be taken as setting forth the spirit of inquiry first raised in the soul by the hand of God, the form that inquiry will take, the answer it will receive, and the direction in which it will find ultimate satisfaction.

+I. Thoughts on the spirit of religious inquiry.+ The picture before us is that of a walled city; the middle watch of the night, when the citizens are asleep. But one anxious spirit cannot sleep; he turns out into the dark, silent, deserted street, oppressed by a strange feeling that something is going to happen. He hears the heavy footfall of the watchman pacing to and fro on the city walls. With eagerness not to be repressed, he cries, "Watchman," &c. This is symbolical; it has its counterparts in our own time. 1. _This restless inquirer is the exception._ The many sleep, only one wakes and inquires. The danger is common, but only one feels any apprehension of it. There are multitudes of sinners, few inquirers concerning the way of salvation. 2. _The spirit of inquiry appears in an unexpected quarter._ A man of Seir, an Edomite, lifts up eager questions; the men of Israel sleep. The old, old story. Many lepers in Israel: Naaman cleansed; ten healed, the Samaritan only returns to give thanks. The boldest ventures of faith were made by the Gentile centurion and the Syro-Phœnician woman. Those who pressed into the kingdom were not Scribes and Pharisees, but publicans and sinners. So it is still. 3. _The inquiry was well directed._ The appeal was not to the citizens who were asleep, but to the watchman who was awake. If you have questions to ask, ask of the man of quick perception, keen sensibility, high standing, broad and firm basis of hope in Christ. Not necessarily of the minister, but of the man who is spiritually wide-awake; he is the true watchman. 4. _The inquiry was weighty._ What of the night? Is it far spent? When will the day dawn? What of the foe? Are they quiet in their camp? Or are they endeavouring to surprise and capture the city? We have all cause to put questions of corresponding importance. 5. _This inquiry was earnest._ In some cases the inquiry is listless, is only a matter of compliment; or it is entered upon reluctantly, as an unpleasant duty. But this man is in earnest. He calls again and again. He _will_ be heard; it is a matter of moment to him. He does not know what is about to happen; the watchman should know--placed high, outlook wide, senses trained. The inquirer will not submit to be disregarded. Oh, for more of this earnestness.

+II. Thoughts on the answer.+ 1. _The answer comes through the watchman._ Human lips start inquiries and through human lips the answer comes. One heart is filled with fear; another heart filled with faith must be its helper. Let those to whom the answer has been entrusted give it promptly, clearly, joyfully. 2. _The answer declares God's methods with men._ God has two great methods: one has its image in the _morning,_ the other in the _night._ Let _morning_ set forth compassion, tender mercy, loving gifts; _night,_ judgment, awful anger, heavy inflictions. If the morning be neglected or resisted, then the night will certainly fall upon you. Note the order in which these methods are employed. 1. _Morning,_ fresh, clear, dewy, bracing, beautiful, comes first. So in the history of the world, of the Church, of the individual. First the morning of youth! prize it highly, use it wisely. Upon the sinner comes first the morning of mercy, of invitation, of entreaty and promise. Alas that he should despise and neglect it! 2. But the _night_ comes afterwards! True, the night of death comes to all, but there is an infinite distance between death _in_ Christ and death _out of_ Christ. He who dies _in_ Christ, passes into the eternal day; he who dies _out of_ Christ, is cast into "the outer darkness!"

"Inquire"--seek to know the way of salvation. _"Return"_--as the prodigal from the far country. _"Come"_--blessed word! "Come" penitently, believingly, NOW!--_J. R. Wood._

"Night" is suggestive of anxious, perplexed, critical states; _e.g.,_ travellers in the desert, voyagers on the ocean, sufferers in the sick-chamber. Very naturally do we transfer such thoughts as these to our spiritual experiences (Ps. cxxx. 1, 8). Our text may be taken as suggestive of the World's Cry and the World's Hope in all ages.

I. THE WORLD'S CRY. _"What of the night?"_ This is--1. _The cry of a soul awakened to its guilt._ The very purpose of conviction is to show the sinner his wandering, downward, benighted state. Hence the terror which first views of guilt usually cause. The flash which in the midnight hour shows the traveller the path of safety, also shows him the dreadful precipice which yawns at his feet. When the sinner is aroused from his sinful career, he is bewildered by the many voices of hope and fear, of warning and promise, which greet his ear; he is oppressed with anxiety to know how such a night of danger and heart-searching will end. 2. _The cry of a soul struggling with its doubts._ The night of mystery often burdens the hearts of true believers, as Job and David found when they struggled with the great problems of life. Life is a new thing to each of us, and many of the same problems perplex us still: _e.g.,_ the existence of moral evil, the infinite goodness of God, the truth of Divine revelation. These sometimes press upon us with unusual weight, and shroud us in thick darkness. 3. _The cry of the Church in its hours of anxiety and peril._ These have been frequent, and have been due to many causes: _e.g.,_ persecution from without, indifference within, general ungodliness and unholy living, tides of scepticism. The watchmen of the Church have to keep an earnest and anxious vigil when such nights as these settle upon her. 4. _The cry of humanity itself._ There are times when not merely a few men are oppressed by the burdens of their time, but when men in the mass become awake to them. The world betrays its keen sense of disease by the strong remedies it employs. Against wide-spread ignorance, it opposes vast educational schemes; for deep-rooted vices, it contrives various measures of reformation; under a sense of the terrible ravages of the war-spirit, it yearns for international peace. Nations, as well as individuals, have trying experiences of the terrors of social and moral night.

II. THE WORLD'S HOPE. _"The morning cometh."_ In the midst of all the world's darkness we may cherish this blessed hope (H. E. I., 3421-3423). But whence is it derived? Solely from the fact that God in Christ is reconciling the world unto Himself. It is along the track of Divine revelation that we look for the bright rays of the morning. There is hope for our race because of what Christ is--the Revealer of God, the Saviour of sinners, the Head of the Church, the Restorer of humanity. The way, then, to help on the dawning of that day we all long to see, is to live _in_ Him, to live _for_ Him. Life derived from Him, and spent for Him, will be truly blessed in itself, and will be a means of blessing others.--_William Manning._

THE GRIEVOUSNESS OF WAR.

xxi. 15. _The grievousness of war._

In our quiet sanctuary, so full of holy and peaceful memories, let us think about war; the more deeply we do so, the more will the aptness of the phrase which forms our text become apparent to us.

+I. The grievousness of war is seen in its causes.+ War is grievous in its origin and in all the things that foster it. It has its origin in the unholy lusts and pitiful mistakes of mankind (Jas. iv. 1). These lusts and mistakes, what are they? 1. The lust for increased possessions and for power (P. D., 143, 150). 2. The false glory with which war has been invested. To steal and kill on a small scale is infamous, but to do so on a large scale is heroic! The wholesale butcher surrounds himself with pomp and pageantry that dazzle the eye and enslave the mind (P. D., 3470, 3476). 3. Blindness to the real fields on which true courage and heroism are manifested. The Christian courage which can meet and overcome the assaults of wickedness, which can turn aside the edge of scorn, and hurl back the weapons of temptation; that can urge men through living martyrdoms which do not keep time to music or song, which carries Moffat into South Africa, &c.,--this is too ethereal for most men to discern or admire. They have no suspicion of the moral victories that might be theirs on the fields of humble service and self-sacrifice. 4. Insensibility to the worth of human souls. A suspicion of the value of life would unnerve the warrior for his task; he could not then, as he does now, regard men as mere food for powder.

+II. The grievousness of war is seen in its effects.+ These are twofold:--1. _Physical._ "The grievousness of war" cannot be exaggerated, if we look at it from this point of view alone. Think--(1) of the physical and mental suffering that is caused by it (P. D., 3468, 3469, 3472, 3476); (2) of the far-reaching and crushing desolation caused by it (P. D., 3466); (3) of the frightful cost of preparation for war; of the armed truce in which the nations of Europe live. 2. _Moral._ These are still more terrible. (1.) War brutalises those actually engaged in it (P. D., 3464). (2.) War makes criminals by producing a state of want. (3.) War aggravates national animosities, and leaves to unborn generations a legacy of hatred. Every war sows the seeds of future conflict. (4.) War and preparation for war check the progress of those agencies by which the misery of our race would be abated, and its happiness indefinitely increased. The cause of education, of mission, of the Gospel, languishes under the blight of the war-spirit. The cost of a very few wars would evangelise the world (P. D., 3476).

Let this meditation move us to action. 1. Let us exert our utmost influence to bring it to pass that national power shall be wielded by men who love peace. 2. Let us encourage everything that tends to facilitate international intercourse (P. D., 3461). 3. Let us on every possible occasion exalt moral qualities above mere physical daring (P. D., 1798, 1810-1803). 4. Let us put forth every effort to diffuse the principles of Christianity. The Gospel is the only true and effectual peacemaker; only in Christ will men ever be lastingly reconciled to each other.--_William Manning._

THE IRRESISTIBLENESS OF GOD'S JUDGMENTS.

xxii. 18. _He will surely violently turn and toss thee like
a ball into a large country._

Such was the prophet's message to a haughty statesman who prided himself on his power. Learn from it--1. +The ease with which God effects His judgments.+ There are many things we wish to do which require great preparations and extensive machinery; but to toss a ball from the hand is an easy matter, mere child's play. He who takes up the isles as a very little thing, performs all His works with an ease which cannot be baffled or disturbed. 2. +The utter uselessness of any resistance to the Divine judgments.+ As surely as a ball must follow the line of projection, so surely must we go whither the judgments of God carry us when His set time to visit us is come (H. E. I., 2269, 4960). 3. +The awfulness of falling into the hands of the living God.+--_William Manning._

THE GLORY OF THE MESSIAH.

xxii. 24. _And they shall hang upon him all the glory of
his father's house--_

As on the nails or spikes fixed in the walls of the ancient temples and palaces it was customary to hang suits of armour, shields, helmets, swords, &c., that had been taken in war as spoils of victory, or that had been used by illustrious ancestors. The declaration is made concerning Eliakim, and the meaning of it is, that all his relatives would connect with him all they deemed illustrious, and would rest upon him as their common support. Some of the expressions used concerning him are appropriated by our Redeemer to Himself (comp. ver. 22 and Rev. iii. 7); and, without adopting the view that Eliakim was a type of Christ, we may say that, true as this declaration was concerning Eliakim, it is still more eminently true of Him to whom "the key of David" belongs by right. Upon _Him_ "they shall hang all the glory of His Father's house."

I. THE GLORY THAT IS PLACED UPON CHRIST. Applying the text to Christ, the phrase "His father's house" acquired a new and more glorious significance, even that of the Church of the living God, the one family in heaven and on earth. All the glory of that spiritual and eternal house depends upon and is justly ascribed to Christ. 1. _All the glory of purchasing the Church._ All the persons of whom it is composed were in circumstances of bondage and misery, yea, under sentence of death, for which He ransomed them at inconceivable cost (1 Pet. i. 18, 19). 2. _All the glory of redeeming the Church._ This is not a mere repetition of what has just been said. We are the subjects of a twofold redemption--a redemption of price and a redemption of power. From the penalties of sin Christ redeemed us by His blood; from the power of sin, by His Spirit. A supremely difficult and an eternally glorious task is that which He thus undertook and has accomplished. 3. _All the glory of preserving the Church._ What a marvellous history of dangers and deliverances it has had! 4. _All the glory of perfecting the Church._ It shall be complete in number, complete and resplendent with every spiritual grace. Remember what marvellous symbols are employed to set forth the beauty and the preciousness of its component parts, what treasures of spiritual wisdom and grace are already included in it. Hereafter, when it shall stand in all its radiance, the wonder and the admiration of all heavenly intelligences, all the glory of it shall hang upon Christ.

II. THE PERSONS WHO UNITE IN PLACING THIS GLORY ON CHRIST. "_They_ shall hang," &c. 1. The penitent sinner hangs upon Christ all the glory of his hope of acceptance with God. 2. The justified believer hangs upon Him all the glory of the favoured position in which he stands. 3. The spiritual veteran hangs upon Him all the glory of his triumphs. 4. The dying Christian hangs upon Him all the glory of the calmness and courage with which he advances to the final victory. 5. The glorified Church hangs upon Him all the glory of its perfected salvation. 6. Angels and archangels, though they were not the subjects of redemption, join in the song of salvation (Rev. v. 11-13), and ascribe to Him all the splendour in which they shine. 7. GOD exalted Him to the right hand of power, and gave Him a Name above every name (Phil. ii. 9-11).

"Oh that with yonder sacred throng
We at His feet may fall,
Join in the everlasting song,
And crown Him Lord of all!"

--_George Smith, D.D._

GLORIFYING GOD IN THE FIRES.

xxiv. 15. _Glorify ye the Lord in the fires._

We are required to honour God, not only in all we do (1 Cor. x. 31), but in all we suffer (_text_). Consider--

I. THE STATE HERE SUPPOSED. _"In the fires."_ Fire and water are both Scriptural figures of affliction (Ps. lxvi. 12; Isa. xliii. 2; 1 Pet. iv. 12). Stripped of metaphor, the passage before us supposes a state of suffering. In this state we may be found--1. As _men_ (Job v. 6, 7; H. E. I., 47-51); 2. As _Christians_ (Ps. xxxiv. 19). This may seem strange to the natural man, who concludes that the favourite of Heaven is entitled to every indulgence upon earth; and it has proved a source of temptation to the people of God themselves, who have been led from their sufferings to suspect their safety. But this inference is unscriptural (Heb. ii. 10; Isa. liii. 10; Matt. x. 25; Heb. xii. 6; H. E. I., 189-196). Could we view many of those who are infinitely dear to God, we should find them in a state of affliction, often exceedingly trying; and we should see them there, not hardening themselves by infidel reasonings or stoical apathy; not endeavouring to banish all sense of their sorrows by repairing to the dissipations of the world; but waiting humbly upon God (Ps. lxi. 1, 2; H. E. I., 157, 158). This is well; but it is not enough to _seek_ God in our afflictions, we must _serve_ Him. Consider, then--

II. THE DUTY HERE ENJOINED. _"Glorify,"_ &c. We cannot add to God's essential glory, but we can declare it; we can make it more fully and widely known (Ps. xix. 1). This is the duty to which we are at all times called (1 Pet. ii. 9). We discharge it in affliction, when we verbally and practically acknowledge--1. God's _agency,_ recognising that our trial has not come upon us by accident, but by His appointment or permission (Job ii. 10; H. E. I., 143; P. D., 92, 99). 2. His _rectitude_ (Ps. cxlv. 17; Dan. ix. 7; Ps. cxix. 75). 3. His _wisdom,_ which regulated His corrections and every circumstance connected with them. He never errs in the time, the place, the kind, the instrument, the continuance of affliction; it is precisely the very thing we need, and nothing could be altered without injury (H. E. I., 179-188). 4. His _goodness,_ in sending the affliction at all (H. E. I., 162-165), and in the alleviations and compensations by which it is accompanied (H. E. I., 117-121). A grateful mind will never overlook these. 5. His _power,_ to support us in the affliction, and in due season to deliver us from it. All the records of Scripture should minister to our faith in His ability to help and deliver; He is unchangeable; He is as near you as He was to His people of old; and you are as dear to Him as they were (H. E. I., 198-202).

III. REASONS FOR DISCHARGING THE DUTY. We ought to glorify God in the fires--1. Because _it is our duty to honour Him at all times, and affliction cannot possibly exempt us from it._ Though He has permitted affliction to come upon us, He still remains our Creator, our Preserver, our Benefactor, our Redeemer, and as such is entitled to the homage of our heart and life. 2. Because _affliction furnishes one of the finest opportunities_ for honouring God (H. E. I., 3692-3694). 3. _Hope should animate us,_ because it is distinctly declared that those who honour God shall be honoured by Him.

As the consequence of sanctifying God in the fires, one of two things is certain: either they will be removed, for when the end is answered the dispensation will cease; or you will be compensated for their continuance, by increase of grace, or the future recompense of glory, or in both these ways combined.

But can we, who are so weak, perform a duty so hard? No, _you_ cannot do it; but the grace of God will be sufficient even for this. View your difficulties in connection with your supplies, God's commands in connection with His promises, and boldly face them all (Phil. iv. 12, 13).--_William Jay: Works,_ vol. xii. pp. 159-169.

Glorify God--1. In the fires of persecution by resolute adherence to the truth; 2. In the fires of temptation by a firm resistance to evil; 3. In the fires of affliction by patient submission to His will.--_George Smith, D.D._

THE GRAND APPROPRIATION.

xxv. 1. _O Lord, Thou art my God._

I. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN GOD AND OURSELVES. 1. The Lord is our God in a necessary and absolute sense. 2. He should be our God by choice (H. E. I., 306, 307, 2381, 2385, 4630-4647, 4970). 3. If He is thus to become our God, it must be through the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the exercise of an appropriating faith (H. E. I., 1652).

II. THE ADVANTAGES WE MAY ANTICIPATE FROM THIS CONNECTION. 1. Light in darkness. 2. Guidance in perplexity. 3. Protection in danger. 4. Strength in duty. 5. Consolation in sorrow. 6. Sanctity and glory.

III. THE DUTIES ARISING OUT OF THE CONNECTION. 1. We should exalt Him. 2. We should be jealous for His honour. 3. We must obey His commands. 4. We should acquiesce in His will. 5. We should seek our pleasure and satisfaction from Him.--_John Corbin._

THE GOSPEL FEAST.

xxv. 6-8. _And in this mountain, &c._

The blessings of the Gospel are, with wise adaptation to our views and feelings, often compared to the objects in which man naturally take most delight; and here, as in other places, they are compared to a costly entertainment bestowed by the Sovereign of the universe on the children of His love. It was the custom of Oriental monarchs on great occasions to make rich feasts on a scale of magnificence, of which we in the West can form scarcely any idea (Esther i. 3-7).[1] At these entertainments wise men were often assembled, and important questions in morals and literature were discussed: hence the benefits of knowledge and wisdom were often exhibited under the image of a great feast (Prov. ix. 1-5). The prophet, as our Lord Himself afterwards (Matt. xxii. 1-3; Luke xiv. 16-24), speaks in accordance with the habits of thinking common in his time, when he sets forth the blessings of the Gospel under the image of a great feast.

I. A BANQUET OF GRACE AND SALVATION SPREAD FOR THE NEEDY (ver. 6). 1. _It is a feast worthy of the Founder_ (Esther i. 7). He who studies it most closely, will be most struck by the vastness of the resources and the magnificence of the generosity of Him who spread it. 2. _It is eminently a feast of reconciliation and restored friendship._ The feasts of the ancients were often connected with sacrificial rites, were employed to confirm covenants, and to celebrate the reconciliation of those who had been estranged and at enmity with each other. We have an interesting illustration of all this in what we are told of Jacob and Laban (Gen. xxxi. 43-55). When Joseph was about to reveal himself in love to his brethren, and to unite them all in a new bond of peace, he made a feast for them (Gen. xliii. 31-34). So did the father of the prodigal, to testify the perfectness of his reconciliation to his guilty but penitent child (Luke xv. 23). The feast of which our text speaks, is a feast founded upon a sacrifice; it is a feast of reconciliation effected by means of sacrifice; it is the sublime and glorious realisation of the ancient symbol of the feast that followed upon the presentation of the peace-offering (Lev. vii. 11-16). It is the fact that it is a feast of reconciliation that gives sweetness and preciousness to all the sweet and precious things of which it is composed, just as it was the fact that they symbolised his restoration to his place in his father's home and heart that made the ring, and the robe, and all the choice viands before him, delightful to the pardoned prodigal (chap. xii. 1; Rom. v. 1, 2, 11). 3. _Its magnificence and its delightfulness are heightened by the number of those who partake of it._ The rich provisions of the Gospel are as widely spread as they are widely needed. This is a joy to the Christian, for to a noble mind happiness multiplied is happiness heightened.

II. ILLUMINATION FOR THE IGNORANT (ver. 7). There was a symbolical fulfilment of this prophecy in the hour of our Saviour's death (Matt. xxvii. 51); that which had hidden the Holy of Holies from the sight of men was rent in twain. A spiritual fulfilment of it is the need of the world and of each individual: by a veil of ignorance and prejudice the truths which it would be to their highest interest to see clearly. This is declared concerning the Jews (2 Cor. iii. 15), but it is just as true of the majority of the Gentiles: they also see no desirableness in Christ, no preciousness in the salvation He offers them. But this destructive veil has been taken away from the hearts of millions, and shall yet be removed from the heart of a vaster multitude--by the diffusion of God's Word, the preaching of the Gospel, and the accompanying agency of the Holy Spirit. The preliminary fulfilment of this prophecy at the day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 5, 41) shall have still more glorious counterparts in the not distant future.

III. CONSOLATION FOR THE SORROWING AND LIFE FOR THE DYING (ver. 8).

* * * * * * * *

This glorious prophecy is in the course of fulfilment all around us; but to us individually it may be as if God had not been faithful to His Word. We may have no appetite for spiritual enjoyments, no craving for spiritual blessings (Col. ii. 18, 19). In this case, so far as we are concerned, this feast will have been spread in vain (Luke xiv. 18). If any man is conscious that for him the Gospel has no attractions, if he can listen to this prophecy without a glow of thankful joy, let him cry mightily to God for that new heart without which all that God's wonderful compassion has moved Him to do for our race will leave him still unblessed (H. E. I., 4090).--_Samuel Thodey._

This beautiful passage may be taken as presenting some of the principal aspects of the establishment of Christ's kingdom upon the earth. It expresses in a most lively manner the feelings of hope and joy which the Gospel is naturally fitted to call forth, and it unfolds the Saviour's work to us under the ideas of a _feast,_ a _revelation,_ and a _victory._

+I. The Gospel speaks to men of a feast.+ It assumes that they are spiritually destitute, in actual danger of perishing, and it tells them of a feast. 1. A feast _provided for all_ (ver. 6). Christ came not for the exclusive benefit of Jew or Gentile; He came for _man_ (Luke xix. 10). He invites all to share in the blessings He has provided (Luke xiv. 16), and declares that the invitation will not be given in vain (Matt. viii. 11). 2. _A feast of the best things._ Suggested here by the richness and flavour of wines long preserved. We are apt to miss the truth that the blessings which the Gospel offers are of the richest quality and of the highest value conceivable; we act as if it required us to give up a certain good for a doubtful and visionary one. This accounts for the eagerness with which men seek first "the world," regarding "the kingdom of God" as something to be made room for after all else has been obtained (H. E. I., 5006, 5007).

+II. The Gospel is a revelation to men of God's gracious purposes+ (ver. 7). A thing may be a mystery to us in two ways: because it is beyond all human comprehension; or, because though it is comprehensible a veil rests upon it. In the former case the mystery must ever remain what it is; in the latter, the covering has only to be removed, and the mystery is at an end. The morning dispels the mystery of the night. So the Gospel discloses eternal truths of which man has no suspicion (Eph. iii. 2-12). The central, supreme revelation of the Gospel is Christ; and this is so because in Him God, who had dwelt in thick darkness, stands manifestly before us (John xiv. 9; 1 Tim. iii. 16; H. E. I. 855-857, 2241-2243). In Him, too, man is for the first time disclosed to himself; for the first time he catches a glimpse of his nature, of his relation to God, of his glorious possibilities.

+III. The Gospel speaks to man of an eternal victory.+ _"He will swallow up death in victory;"_ or "He shall utterly destroy death for ever." Here we have suggested to us the crowning work of Christ (2 Tim. i. 10; Heb. ii. 14). In Him the believer has the promise and pledge of a final and glorious triumph. 1. _How great, then, should be our confidence even in the midst of the deepest affliction!_ Doubts, fears, temptations threaten to destroy us; but with Christ strengthening us, our conflict leads to certain victory. He who has conquered will make us "more than conquerors." 2. _With what assurance, therefore, should we approach the hour of death itself!_ By Him who leads us on, death has been vanquished and captured. Hence death is one of our possessions (1 Cor. iii. 21-23). Death, as in the old time men thought of it, no longer exists; for the Christian it is swallowed up in victory (H. E. I., 1611-1614).--_William Manning._

The parable of the Great Supper (Matt. xxii. 1-14) illustrates this prophecy. Consider--

+I. The Founder of this feast:+ "the Lord of hosts." _Hosts_--all creatures in the universe, rational and irrational; subject to His inspection; under His control; designed for His glory. What think you of the Founder of this feast? What feast ever had such a Founder? It is a feast worthy of its Founder. How wonderful that He should condescend to provide a feast for the world!

+II. The nature of the feast.+ Not only the best, but the best of the best; bountiful supply; rich variety.

+III. The persons for whom this feast has been prepared.+ All may partake of it; only those are excluded who exclude themselves. 1. Are you making excuses? Will your excuses stand the test of the day of judgment? You must partake, or perish! Delay not; for, as far as you are concerned, the feast will soon be over. Not now too late; "yet there is room." 2. Are you participants? What present blessings; what future glories! Bless the Founder's Name. Seek to bring others to the feast.--_Henry Creswell._

I. THE AUTHOR OF THIS FEAST. Not a prodigal, squandering the fruits of the industry of others. Not a conqueror, satiating admirers with spoils unjustly acquired. Not a pompous Ahasuerus, whose only design is to set forth his own grandeur. God, moved with compassion for rebels against His authority; spreads a rich feast that they may not perish.

II. THE SITE OF THIS FEAST. _"In this mountain."_ It is in the everlasting Gospel this entertainment is prepared. In coming to Christ for the pardon of our sins and the salvation of our souls, we come "unto Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." The figure of a "mountain" denotes the _elevation, security,_ and _publicity_ of the Gospel feast. 1. Its _elevation._ In coming to it, we leave all that is debasing behind. 2. Its _security._ In coming to it, we reach a place where we may rejoice without fear (Luke i. 71-75). 3. Its _publicity._ It is our own fault if we do not see it and reach it.

III. THE RICHNESS OF THIS ENTERTAINMENT. _"A feast of fat things, of fat things full of marrow."_ Carnal images that set forth spiritual truths. In the Gospel, and in the Gospel alone, is found that which satisfies the hunger of the soul and fills it with delight.

IV. THE GLADNESS OF THE ENTERTAINMENT. _"A feast of wines on the lees, of wines on the lees well refined."_ A figure founded on the influence of wine on the human system (Ps. civ. 15). The Gospel, when rightly understood and cordially embraced, makes a heavy heart light. What can raise men's spirits so high, or make them so truly cheerful, as a sense that all their sins are forgiven them? The joy of a literal "feast of wines" is transient, and after the midnight revel come days of unpleasant reflection, reproach, and melancholy. But the joy of the Gospel is pure and permanent.

V. THE EXTENSIVENESS OF THE ENTERTAINMENT. It is "unto all people." Other entertainments may be confined to the rich, the great, and the noble; here all such distinctions are done away. Christianity is a universal religion, designed to redeem and gladden the whole world. Its invitations are extended to all (Prov. ix. 1-5; Rev. xxii. 17).--_William Reeve, M.A., Miscellaneous Discourses_ (pp. 229-237).

I. THE FEAST. The blessings of the Gospel are compared--1. To "fat things full of marrow." What are they? Complete justification, adoption, the sustaining confidence of being an object of God's everlasting love--a love which had no beginning and shall have no end, union with Christ (and all that great truth implies), the doctrine of resurrection and everlasting life. These are a few of the "fat things full of marrow" which the King of kings has set before His guests. 2. To "wines on the lees well refined"--symbols of the joys of the Gospel; such a sense of perfect peace with God, the sense of security, communion with God, the pleasures of hope, of hope that falls far short of the reality. The description of the wines--"wines on the lees well refined"--reminds us that the joys of the believer are ancient in their origin,[2] that they are most excellent in their flavour and aroma, and that they are pure and elevating in their nature. The joys of grace are not fantastical emotions, or transient flashes of meteoric excitement; they are based on substantial truth, are reasonable, fit and proper, and make men like angels (H. E. I., 1082, 3052, 3053).

II. THE BANQUETING HALL. _"In this mountain."_ There is a reference here to three things, the same symbol bearing three interpretations:--1. The mountain on which Jerusalem is built. On a little knoll of that mountain--Calvary--that great transaction was fulfilled which made to all nations a great feast. 2. The Church. Frequently Jerusalem is used as a symbol of the Church of God, and it is within the pale of the Church that the great feast is made unto all nations. 3. The Church of God exalted to the latter-day glory. Then shall the glory of the Gospel be unveiled more clearly and enjoyed more fully than at present.

III. THE HOST OF THE FEAST. _"The Lord of hosts."_ 1. The Lord makes it, and makes it all. It is utterly improper for us to bring anything of our own to it; the Lord provides even the wedding-garment in which we are to sit at it, and no other will be allowed. 2. Only the Lord of hosts could have provided what man needed. But He has done it, and done it effectually. 3. As the Lord of hosts has provided the feast, it is not to be despised. To despise it will show our folly, and involve us in great guilt. 4. As He has provided all the feast, let Him have all the glory.

IV. THE GUESTS. _"For all people."_ For all, irrespective of national, social, intellectual, or even moral differences. The declaration, "for all people," gives hope for all who wish to come. Between the covers of the Bible there is no mention of one person who may not come, no description of one person who may not trust in Christ. To him who trusts Christ the whole feast is open, there is not a blessing of which he may not partake.--_C. H. Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit,_ No. 846.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Alexander gave a feast after his return from India of five
days' continuance, when ninety marriages were celebrated
and nine thousand guests assembled. Diodorus Siculus
describes the festivities with which Antisthenes, a rich
citizen of Agrigentum (B.C. 414), celebrated the marriage
of his daughter: all the citizens of Agrigentum were
entertained at his expense on tables laid for them at their
own doors, beside a great number of strangers. The
festivities, as in the parable of the Ten Virgins, took
place in the evening, and the whole city was one blaze of
light. The Roman and Egyptian banquets were proverbial for
their costliness and splendour. In Persia still, royal
banquets are prolonged for many weeks; and a Chinese
emperor used frequently to make a feast that lasted a
hundred and twenty days.--_Thodey._

[2] _Old_ wines are intended by "wines well refined;" they have
stood long on the lees, have drawn out all the virtue from
them, and have been cleared of all the coarser material. In
the East, wine will be improved by keeping even more than
the wines of the West! and even so the mercies of God are
the sweeter to our meditations because of their antiquity.
From old eternity, or ever the earth was, the covenant
engagements of everlasting love have been resting like
wines on the lees, and to-day they bring to us the utmost
riches of all the attributes of God.--_Spurgeon._

THE TRIUMPHS OF CHRIST.

xxv. 8. _He wil swallow up death in victory, &c._

It is important at the very outset that we should clearly recognise the Person and the dignity of the Person of whom all these things are declared. Otherwise it will be impossible for us to look for the fulfilment of these marvellous promises. We have the authority of St. Paul for declaring that the Person is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. To HIM he ascribes the victory over death (1 Cor. xv. 54). Thus St. Paul authorises the most exalted conceptions we can find of the dignity of our Lord; for the work which he declares will be fulfilled by Christ is in our text ascribed to Jehovah: "The Lord God will wipe away," &c. It is of "the Lord of hosts" that Isaiah speaks throughout (vers. 6-8). Thus we have here one of the invaluable incidental proofs with which Scripture abounds of the deity of our Lord. If He is "the Lord of hosts," _then_ we can believe all the things here declared of Him.

+I. The deliverance of Christ's people from death.+ "He will swallow up death in victory"--as the rods of the magicians were swallowed up by the rod of Aaron; as the hosts of Pharaoh were swallowed up by the waters of the Red Sea; as the darkness of the night is swallowed up in the brightness of the morning. True, God's people must depart hence, like other people; but in regard to them Christ "has swallowed up death in victory." 1. By imparting to them a spiritual life and blessedness which are not touched by the dissolution of the union of body and soul. 2. By sustaining and comforting them while that mysterious process is being accomplished. How often has the deathbed of the believer been a scene of triumph! 3. By utterly changing the character of death in regard to them. To them it is not a curse but a blessing (H. E. I., 1571-1594, 1594-1643). 4. By the promises which on the morning of the resurrection He will surely fulfil. "THEN," &c. (1 Cor. xv. 54; H. E. I., 4334-4354).

+II. The deliverance of Christ's people from sorrow.+ "The Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces,"--tears of sorrow for sin; of mourning under affliction, trials, and bereavements; of grief caused by the wickedness of men and the injury done to the cause of truth and righteousness: all shall be wiped away, every cause of sorrow brought to an end.

+III. The deliverance of Christ's people from the shame and contempt of the world.+--_Samuel Thodey._

A SORROWLESS WORLD.

xxv. 8. _And the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all
faces._

The vision presented is that of a sorrowless world; a vision which has haunted the imagination of men in every age. The Bible declares that that which has been merely a bright but disappearing dream shall be a glorious fact.

+I. Look at sorrow as a fact.+ How early we become acquainted with it. How our experience of it increases with every year of life. How numerous are its sources. How inevitable it is (H. E. I., 47-50). But the profoundest, heaviest, most oppressive, and most enduring sorrow of which we are capable is the sorrow of the soul which is caused by consciousness of guilt. Unlike all other sorrows, in the thought of death it finds no relief; by that thought it is unspeakably aggravated (H. E. I., 1334-1341; P. D., 1664, 1668).