Divine. 2. It includes only that which is absolutely insufficient and unsatisfattory. n supplies trea.sures which the thief can steal, joys which pa.II and perish, friendships which linger only for a few passing years. It has nothing which filla and satillfie, the human soul, made, as that is made, for heavenly wisdom, for b.oly service, for the worship and the love of God. Its harvest is only a heap of husks, and not the granary of life-sustaining corn. 8. It makes no provision for the time of trial-for "the day of grief and of desperate sorrow," for the day of death, for the day of judgment.-0. Vera. 12-14.-The overthrow of the enemies of God. I. THAT THE ENEMIES 01' G-0D'B PEOPLE ARE THE ENEMIES OF G-0D llIMSELF. .. God will robuke,, those who come up against his people to spoil and to rob them. Those who assail Israel come beneath his ban, and a.re subject to his "woe." Jesus Christ taught nothing more plainly or cmphatica.lly than that they who befriended his disciples were, in his estimation, befriending him (Matt. x. 40-42; xxv. 40). It is equally true that those who oppose his friends and disciples are accounted his own enemies, Woe unto him that puts a s~umbling-block in the way of any of his "little ones" I To wrong them is to aggrieve him. IL TnAT THEm WORST SUCCESS IS IN DESPOil.ING THE HOLY OF THEIR HERITAGE. There is nothing worse that can be said of them than that they are •• those that spoil, that rob us." But the worst despoiling is that which robs the wise and good of their highest heritage, of the excellency which they have in Christ-of peace, of joy, of spiritual integrity, of moral beauty, of helpfulness, of hope. III. THAT THEY JUKE TBEm ASSAULT WITH EVERY CONFIDENOJ!l OF 8UCOJ!l88, The enemies of Israel came on with a "noise like the noise of the seas," like the II rushing of mighty waters," i.e. with the dash and daring of those that are bent on carrying everything before them. Sin is often arrogantly confident; it has no belief in the inviolable purity, in the impregnable uprightness, of the people of God. It says with a sneer that every man has his price. It believes that its weapon will pierce any shield, however firm ; will slay a.ny soul, however strong. It goes, Goliath-like, confidently to the encounter ; the noise of its impudent assurance is in the air. IV. THAT THEY ARE LIA.BLE TO BE UTTERLY AND llldlllEDIATELY OVERTHROWN', When God rebukes them they II flee far off, and a.re chased as the cha.ff of the. mountains before the wind," etc. "At evening-tide is trouble, and before the morning he is not. n So absolutely, so speedily, is the enemy destroyed. Does it accord with our observation that evil is thus suddenly and irremediably cast down? The truth is: 1. That when the fatal blow falls it strikes that which is ripe for destruction. The last blow of the hammer seems to do the work; but, in fact, it succeeds only because all the preceding ones have loosened the particles and made the final stroke effective. So when the decisive judgment comes down from Heaven, it brings irrecoverable ruin because long years of folly and of sin have been preparing for the disaster which ensues. 2. 'l'hat when God's judgment occe overtakes the sinner, it is often found to be t.hat from which there is no escape or recovery. The empire is hopelessly dissolved; the "house" is utterly ruined; the family is scattered, never to be reunited; the fortune is dissipated, never to be repaired; the reputation is blasted, and no labours or severities can restore it• poverty, ~hame, death, appear and will take no denial; at evening-tide is trouble, an'd before the morning tlie worst has happened, (1) 'l'ake care to be on God's sido; be able to say, "'l'he Lord is on my side," or there will be irretrievable di~aster at the end. (2) Remember that Christ identifies himself with his friends. True as it is that those who assail his people will be rebuked of him, it is equally true that they who espouse the cause of his disciples will win his approving smile and his large rewa.rd.-C.
Ver. 1.-JVie mission of Syria. Discernment of this mission, so far as it bears upon Israel, and carries religious lessons for all the generations, depends on our underst11nding the history of the times. 'l'wo nations, distant fro~ each other, contended f?r the country wbicb lay between them. Egypt and Assyria bolh wanted to be un1versal world-powers. Had the kingdom of David been kept together, it might have oa:ec- tively resisted both; but when separated under Jeroboam, and encouraged to chensh rival interests, the southern portion naturally inclined to ally with Egy_Pt, and the northern as na.ture.111 allied with Syria to resist the encroachments of Assyria. To the OH. xvu. 1-14.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 301