" Go through, go through the gates." God says to them, " Go ye forth of Babylon ; flee ye from the Chaldeans ; with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth ; say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob d." " De- part ye ; for the Lord will go before you ; and the God of Israel will be your rereward6."
The remainder of the address is directed to all who have it in their power to facilitate their return. Here therefore we may see our duty towards them. We should without delay exert ourselves in their behalf :
1. We should prepare their way before them —
[As, previous to the advent of our Lord himself, a Mes- senger was sent before him " to prepare his way, and to make his paths straightf," so God commands that we should " pre- pare the way of the people," whom he has scattered over the face of the whole earth. In order to facilitate their access to their own land, and to the heavenly Jerusalem, we should " gather out the stones," " the stumbling-blocks" which lie in their way g ; and " cast up an highway " over those morasses, which present an almost insuperable obstacle to their return. If it be asked, What are these stumbling-blocks, and these morasses ? I answer, One stumbling-block is, the ungodly lives of Christians ; which give the Jews but too much reason to conclude that our religion is not a whit better than their own. Another stumbling-block is, The contempt with which we have treated them, and which cannot but have incensed them against, not the followers only, but even the very name, of Christ. The divisions of the Christian Church present also a very serious obstacle in their way : and we should do all in our power to heal these divisions, so that, if there still remain a diversity of sentiment on points of doubtful disputation, there may at least be an union of heart amongst all " who hold fast the Head," and who, we have reason to hope, are living mem- bers of Christ's mystical body. Till they see some change in our conduct in these respects, we can scarcely hope to prevail upon them to embrace our principles, however strongly we may recommend and enforce them.]
2. We should " lift up the standard" of the cross to them —
d Isai. xlviii. 20. e Isai. Hi. 11, 12.
f Isai. xl. 3 — 5. with Luke iii. 4 — 6. s Isai. lvii. 14.
VOL. VIII. Q <i