for my work of punish'llent, my proudly rejoicing ones!" And then a noise ie heard in the mountr1ins as or a great multitude, for Jehovah is mll6tering his forces from the remotest parts, and preparing with the weapons of his wrath to destroy the earth. A cry of terror will be heard through the land; men's hands will droop, their hearts will melt, for the day of judgment is near. Horror will be depicted on every face. 'l'he lightning, the fire that bums up the stubble (Joel ii. 6), will be flashed back, as it seems, from the amazed eyes. In prophetic thought every great epoch of calamity and ruin is a judgment, a "day of Jehovah." For wrath and clemency are the two opposite aides of the unity of his being and character. No spring-time is ushered in without storms; no epoch of fruitful manhood is gained without struggles, within or without; no mischief departs from society, no false power is overthrown, without violence. Well for us if, stayed by religious faith, we can see the day of Jehovah shown amidst the darkest times, and whon nations are perplexed with fear of change to be able to say, "The Lord reigneth." If he is a living God, then his will must be felt in political change. Nothing good can pass awa.y; only falsehood must be overthrown. If. THE DAY OF JEHOVAH. Its description is borrowed: 1. From the most fearful phenomena of nature. The sta.rs are hidden, the sunrise is overclouded, the light of the moon is withdrawn. A universal trembling seems to fill the air, while the earth would bound from its place. So close h the sympathy of the human spirit with nature, its dark or bright aspects seem to be the aapect of the God of nature in wrath or in kind- ness to man. 2. From the most/earful scenes of war. In a few bold lines the picture is struck out. Fugit.ives are seen flying in every direction, like frightened gazelles, or like a flock of sheep without its shepherd. Those overtaken are pierced by the spear, or str1ick down by the sword. Children at the breast are dashed to pieceii, houses plundered, women outraged. More horrible is the specta.cle of a battle-field than that of Nature in her wildest uproa.r. It is the opening of the hell in the heart of man. 3. Its moral purpose defined. There is, then, some light to be found even here. Tbe God of justice and holiness is "searching home for evil on the face of the earth, and for the guilt of the unrighteous." "Ever and anon some bright white shaft Burned thro' the pine-tree roof-here burned and there. As if God's messenger thro' the close wood screen Plunged and replunged his weapon at a venture, Feeling for gutltrJ thee and me." 'l'he thought that God holds inquisition for evil and evil-doers is deeply stamped in Bible lore. There are heresies which be cannot and will not tolerate. They are not identica.l with what some call heresies. These are often departures from oitr fashions of life and or thought; but it is only disagreement with him and his law of inward right that is the condemnable dissent. Again, it is his object to bring down the pride and arrogance of the ha.ughty. How deeply marked, again, is this thought of <JVerstepping our proper limits as the essence of sin, from the Fall onwards! It is fixed in the word "transgression." The" lust to seem the thing we are not" is at the root of display, of ambition, of domineering over others. The prophets saw in the bloated dominion of great states like Egypt and Assyria the effect& of these unbalanced lusts, which must sooner or la.ter topple the tyrants into ruin. And thus the purpose of judgment resolves itself into that of sifting mankind-to make the people "rarer than fine gold, and men than Ophir's treasures." When ill weeds are cleared away, there is a chance for good plants to flourish; and when a ma.ea of human evil has disappeared, room is made for something of another quality, to renew the tradition of the Divine in man. III. 'l'Hl!: FINAL DEVASTATION. (Vers. 17-22.) Here is a picture of the Medes- a horde of savages, who despise civilization, and who will pour in upon Babylon, as in later days Attila ea.me with his hosts to tread on the necks of the Romans. The dread memory of the cities of the plain can alone furnish a parallel to what will be seen on the site of Babylon. Where now the sounds of luxury and mirth are heard in proud pala.ces, soon not a nomad tent will be pitched, nor a shepherd'~ fold ; but only the cries of wild creatures will be heard, and satyrs hold their obscene dances. This magnificent picture of the overthrow of human greatness and pride springs, let us observe, from conscienoe. And none can study such pictures or visit the ruins of ancient cities 234 THE IlOOK 01!' 'l'HE PROPHET IS.AI.AH.
without ~ quickening of the_ :pulse of consdence. Such gli~pses 68 "lte can gain of aucient hfc 111 those proud -c1t1es of the Orient bear out the views of the prophet. It wns a life which overpassed -life's restrictions, and which ended in death. Mournful is the inscription on Sardanapalus's tomb, "Let us eat, dl'ink, and love; for the res~ is of little wort.h." We may learn the lesson that, when men so speak of life, they h!L\re "liuse<l it; and while we believe that there is a sacredness in human life !Lnd in the grand prodnct.s of human life, this is ·only so as long as they reflect the purposes of God, Out of i,uch scenes as those the prophet depicts, a solemn voice seems to speak declaring that human life and glory are held cheap in comparison with those profound and, from us, half-hidden, half-«"evea.led ends towards which the whole creation moves.--J.