rnffcrs through the deterioration of its component particles. If the individual witbors, the nat.ion withcrs too. II. h"DffIDUAL WAYWARDNESS MAY WORK THE RUIN OF A LAND. When WO look into the admirable work of Yan Lcnnep, we find him ascribing the barrenness of l'alestine at present to the cutting down of forests, the fall of terraces, and the consequent ,Yant of rain. 1 A land thus lies at the mercy of individuals much more than we imagine. An indi,·idual may cut down the trees on his patch of freehold, and his neighbour follow his example, to carry on his self-indulgence with the proceeds, and the result may be the change of climate which turns a paradise into a waste. Wo ha Ye already seen that Palestine was peculiarly dependent upon bountiful provision in the shape of the early and latter rains; and if individuals, through the necessities begotten by their self-indulgence, outrage the arrangements of providence, the land becomes of necessity accursed. III. As A MATTER OF FACT, THE Hor.Y LAND IS NOW AN EMBODIMENT OF TBE CURSE OF Gon. 'l'ravellcrs arc struck with the brown and barren aspect of the wholo land. Spots here and there,-of c-0urse, burst into beauty through the gift of rnin, but as a whole the land is no longer "with milk and honey blessed," but under the anathema of Heaven. Ho"· much longer this blight is to rest upon its bloom we cannot say, but the fact is patent to all observeri;. IT. THE MUTE APPEAL OF A STRICKEN LAND SHOULD NOT BE LOST UPON THE oDSER,ERS OF IT. \Vhen the question of slavery was being discussed, before God setllcd it by permitting the American civil war, attention was directed to the" waste lands" created by the slave-labour. It was shown that the iniquitous system made Yirgin and splendid soil in the conrse of years, through monotonous cropping, a wilderness, and that the spectacle of the deterioration of the earth should weigh with tl,inkers. 1 And N aturc is surely meant to 'Ii peak to man's spirit by her deformities as well as by her beauties; by her manifest wrongs as well as by her manifold bene- dictions. Such a man as Ruskin, considering the question as art critics will, pleads eloquently for the natnral beauty which the advancing needs of railway and of manufacture threatens with desolation. Bnt such a wilderness as Palestine now is, such a wilderness as the slave states of America were becoming, speaks to the conscience of observers, and calls for penitence and tears. The muteness of the appeal, the golden silence, which characterizes such impressive scenes, should make each witness of the waste a penitent worshipper! Y. OnEDIEKCE TO Gon WILL YET REGENERATE NATURE. We see the reverse of the disaster in Ps. l:s:vii. 5, 6, "Let the people praise thee, 0 God; let all the people praise thee. Then shall the.earth yield her increase." The wilderness shall yet blossom as the rose when the children of men shall learn their privilege and duty as children of God.-R. M. E.
Ver. '29.-The purpose and limits of revelation. This passage states fairly both the purpose and limits of revelation. I. THE PURPOSE OF REVELATION. It is not to gratify curiosity, but to secure obedience in the successive generations. In other words, it is not speculative, but practical. 1. The objections urged against revelation largely consist in the disappointments_ of sptcul.ative curiosity. Because God did not inform man scientifically about the creation of the world ; because he did not deliver an articulated theological system; because he did not compose a philosophical text-book ;-therefore this popular, miscellaneous, and discursive Book cannot be Divine. But so far from such arguments being valid, they go to substantiate the Divine character of the Book. For- 2. It is an intensely practical Book, inculcating on parents and children obedience to God. It takes up wan i[l the family, and urges him to obey God and try to get his children to obey him. It reveals God as a Father seeking the obedience and trust of his human children, and inviting them to the heaven of obedience to his command- meIJts. It makes man understand sufficient about God to know the duty and the blessedness of obeying him. And here let us notice two important positions taken up 1 Ve.n Lennep, ut aupra, p. 26. 2 Of. Calmes' 'Slave Power,' p. 77, etc. OH, :UX, 1-20.] THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY, 461
by the revelation. (1) H declares that we have been made in the Divine imaCl'e. Let !flen make us out to be p~ysically in the image of ,the beas~, we are spiritually in the imago of Goel. Aml (2) 1t declares that for man s salvation God became incarnate. Mutual acquaintance and understanding are ma_nifestly possible a~d practicable up 0 n these terms. Man can reason upwards from his own nature, whwh, as Carlyle sairl after Ohrysostom, is "the true Shechinah;" and man can appreciate Godhead wheri' revealed through a sinless human life. As a revelation, then, it is most reasonable. II. Tm: LIMITS OF nEVEl,ATIO:s". H leaves a realm of secrecy to God. That i8, it does not profess to reveal God fully, for "he cannot, on account of his incomparable greatness and excellence, bring his plans and operations within the comprehension of his ereatnres."l 'rho finite cannot take in the infinite. "\'ie only know in part. But we lcnow. To doubt the possibility of knowing God would lead us straight to universal scepticism. Agnosticism has no logical halting-gl'ouncl on this sirle 0f universal donbt. 2 Hence we venture not beyond the assigned limits of the knowable. We take all that God gives and use it reverentially. At the same time, we recoznizc a world beyond onr ken, of essence and of purpose and of perception, which is God's alone, Our pride is broken; we are penitent before him, and we adore.-:&. M. E.