HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vera. 1-21.-The last days of Jerusalem. The shameful story of Judah's dis- obedience and sin is now drawing to a close. Here we have an account of the capture of Jerusalem a.nd its king by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon. Zedekia.h, the, king, was la.ken prisouer, His sons were first put to death before his eyes. Then his own eyes were put out. He was bound in fetters of brass, a.nd carried away to Babylon. Jerusalem itselt', the city of David a.nd Solomon, wa.s a scene of desolation. Nebuzar- adan, captain of the Babylonian guard, burnt with fire the house of the Lord anr\ the king's house and a.11 the principal houses of the city. The men of war had deserted their posts and fled from the city. All who remained there were taken captive. The poor of the land only were left to be vinedre,;sers and husbandmen. What were the causes of this sad downfall~ I. 'l'BE WICKEDNESS OF ITS RULERS. One after the other, the kings of Judah had done evil in the sight of the Lord. 1. They disobeyed God's commands. They imitated the idolatry and the vices of the heathen. 2. They ill-treated God's prophets. When men begin to despise and ill-treat God's messengers, those who are trying to lead them to what is right, they a.re blind to their own true interests. The treatment which the Prophet Jeremiah in particular received showed how low in degradation the kingcl.om of Judah had sunk. After the prophet's fearless denunciations of national sin (Jer. xiii.-xix.), Pashur, who was chief governor of the temple, smote Jeremiah, and put him in the stocks, or pillory, that was in the high gate of Benjamin, near the temple, where all men might see him and mock at his disgrace. We have seen how J ehoiakim cut the roll of Jeremia.h's prophecies with his penknife, and burned its leaves. Jeremiah's last years at Jerusalem were years of increased suffering and persecution. Zedekiah actually put him in prison. The princes cast him to perish in a hideous pit in the prison-house, where he sank in the mire, but at the intercession of an Ethiopian officer, Ebed-Melech, the king rescued him. Wickedness in high places soon proves eo be a nation's ruin, II, THE CORRUI'TION OF ITS PEOPLE. Unhappily, the people were just as corrupt and as godless as their rulers. .A. nation is responsible for its national sins. The sins of Judah cried aloud to Heaven for vengeance. And in the days of the Captivity they were taught to feel that there is a God that reigneth in the earth. We learn from the fate of Judah and Jerusalem: 1. The danger of forsaking God. Tbey forsook God in the day of their prospedty. And when the hour of their need came, the gods whom they served were not able to deliver them. 2. The danger of disregarding God's Word. How often, in these later years.of Judah's history, was the Law of God utterly neglected and forgotten! No life can be truly happy which is not based on the Word cf God. No home can be truly happy where the Bible is not read. No nation can expect prosperity which disregards the Word of God. 3. The danger of despising God's warnings. Every message God sends us is for our good. If it is worth his while to speak to us, it is worth our while to listen. Neglected warnings-what guilt they involve I what danger they threaten I "Because I have called, an,l ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; . . . I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh."-C. H. I.
Vers. 18-21.-Spacefor repentance. "And the cnptain of the guard took Scrafah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, nnd the three keepers of the door," etc. 'l'his piece of history may be usefully employed to illustrate that space which lleaven allows to be given men for improvement in this life. Notice here- I. SPAOE FOR IMPROVEMENT, "And the captain of the guard," etc. Though we have reason to think that the army of Chaldeans were much enraged against the city for holding out with so much stubbornness, yet they did not therefore put all to 6.1·e and sword aR soon as they had taken the city (which is too commonly done in such cases), but three months after Nebuzar-adan was sent with orders to complete the destruction of Jerusalem. Thie space God gave them to repent after all the foregoing days of his patience; but in vain. Their hearts were still hardened. 'l'hns wicked men constantly ignore " things that belotig to their peace." n. ~INOS, 498 THE SECOND BOOK OF 'l'HE KINGS. [ou. xxv. 1-80,
II. SPACE FOR lMI'ROYEMf.NT NEGLEOTED, "And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war," etc. These men, to whom time had been given to do the work required, day after day neglected it. No effort was put forth to avoid the three.tened calamity. It is ever thus. Men are waiting for a more "convenieut season." The cry, "Unless ye repent ye shall all likewise perish," was neglected. III. NEGLECTED SPACE FOR IMPROVEMENT AVENGED. fl And Nebuzar-adan captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the King of Babylon to Riblah." "Be sure your sins will find you out." "Rejoice, 0, young man, in thy youth; , , , but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment." IV. THE AVENGEME1''T OF THIS NEGLEOT WAS TERRIDLE IN THE EXTREME, 11 And the King of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Hiblah in t.he land of Haml\th. So Judah was carried away out of their land." The city and the temple were burnt. The walls were never repaired until Nehemiah's time; and Judah was carried out of their land, etc. The history of this calamity is too well known to record here. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is folly set in them to do evil."-D. T.