Vers. 24--34.-The mighty l,a,id low. I. ENCOURAGEMENT AGAINST FEAR. Let not Judah fear the Assyrian, who, like the Egyptian in the days of yore, wields over her the rod of the slave-driver. In a short time, the hot tide of Divine wrath• will pass from Israel, and the Assyria.ns will in turn feel it. 'l'he·scourge that was laid in the ancient time on the back of the Egyptian oppressor will be bra11dished- over the heads of the Assyrians. Their burden will fall from Judah's shoulder, from Judah's neck the yoke. The proverb say~, "A youth is ruined by fat," and so will the swollen bulk of the Assyrian body melt away. There is a play:in the Hebrew on the words" yoken and "youth." The prophet in a word-picture paints the onward march of the great host. Swiftly be comes on, spreading trembling and causing flight before him. Panic-struck clamours sound through the vales, and from hill to hill the alarum is given. • Fugitives pour in through the gates of the city. Already the invader is at Nob, near Jerusalem', and has bis hand lifted on high, as it were, to smite the sacred hill with a fatal blow. Then suddenly his own crown is cleft by the hand of Jehovah; the lofty crested warriors fall as the trees in the forest before the woodman's ·axe. This Lebanon--of warlike spears, this moles belli, is prostrate before the "majestical One" whoee seat ill on Zion. • II. GEl\"ERAL LESSONS. There was an anointed king in Zion, the representation· of Jehovah's majesty, then; there are spiritual forces, representative of Divine might and will, ruling in the world now. There were moments of prophetic insight in which the hollowness of worldly might, the doom of kingdoms that were not kingdoms of righteousness, were clearly seen. There are such moments now. What is force without justice, nnmbers wi.thout principle? One breath from the lips of eternal Truth shall suffice to drive them away. All that has fixed the eye of the people in fascinated terror, filled their ears with tumult, their hearts with oommotion, dismayed not the prophet. He seems to look above, his feet securely planted upon a cliff, on the boiling surge below. There is a hand that can stay these waves, a voice that can command, " Thus far and no further; here shall thy proud billows be stayed." 'fhen shall ·these hosts become such "stuff as dreams are made of,n these onward-rolling columns melt into wreaths of cloud, become thin air, and "leave not a wrack behind." ·•: •• • " The might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword. Bath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord. I • Our cares and troubles may be to us personally as the invasion of an Assyrian host. If we would know the prophetic confidence, we must live the prophetic life ; the ear attent the heart obedient---" fixed, trusting in the Lord." Nothing can bring us peace, lift us' out of the degradation of fears that unman, but faith in our principles. They rn ust triumph in the end; in them alone is strength, freedom, victory.-J. Vers. 1-4.-.The helpleB$'11Q,s of man wnder the wrath of God. The anger of the Lord is here expressly declared against the oppressor. We are again reminded: 1. That God judges those who are in authority over men; that however these may be placed above the reach of human justice, they will not escape Divine retribution. 2. That God especially requires an account of our treatment of the suffering and the dependent. Whoso wrongs the widow or the orphan must expect a fearful reckoning with the pitiful and righteous One (Matt. xviii. 6). But tho special truth ~hich is provided for U8 in this passage is the utter impotence of man, and the certamty and severity of his doom when God" arises to judgment." We learn- OH, X, 1-34.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 195
I. TllAT SIN I& MOVING ON TO A DAY 0lr DIVINE JUDGMENT. "The dRy of visita- tion" (vor. 3) ie sure· to come. 'l'he desolation that is in store may h1we to "come from far; " it may be out of sight now; it may come "as one that travelleth " may be hidden by intetvening days and weeks; but it is on its way. Not more surely does the sun move to the western sky, does the spring move toward the summer, rloes youth move toward manhood and manhood toward age and death, than does sin move on to a day of wrath, of Divine visitation. All sin takes this sad course; not only such 'daring and presumptuous sin as that of the text-cruel wrong at the hand of those appointed to administer justice-but all departure from the revealed will of God, and also the deliberate and persistent refusal to enter his service. II. THAT IN THAT DAY BIN WILL LEAN IN VAIN ON ITS OLD SUPPORTS. Not only will national alliances foil the nation which God is visiting with his displeasure, but all the supports aud consolations with which individual souls have surrounded themselves will prove to be of no avail then. "To whom will ye flee for help?" (ver. 3). What human arm will arrest the uplifted hand of God? Of what avail then human friend- ships, abundant "resources," magnificent estates, royal or princely patronage, the devices of the cunning counsellor?- ~ow will these be brushed away by the tempest of his holy indignation I • III. THAT SIN WILL TBEN BE EXPOSED TO A THREEFOLD PENALTY. 1. Irreparable loss. "Where will ye leave your glory?" (ver. 3). Our earthly treasures, our bodily powers, our worldly honours and positions,-these are things which God's punitive providence will take away from us ; and where is the custodian to whose hands we can confide them? Who will receive them from us and restore them to us? 2. Spiritual bondage. " They shall bow down under the prisoners," or "bow down among the oaptives" (ver. 4). Sin leads down to a. cruel bondage. Evil dispositions, bad habits, shameful lusts, "have dominion over us" (Rom. vi. 16). 3. Spiritual death. "They shall fall under the slain." We add the welcome truth, not stated or even hinted here, but elsewhere revealed-, • IV. THAT THERE· IS AN UNFAILING REFUGE NOW FOB TBE PENITENT AND BELIEVI~G SPIRlT.-C.