o.t o. distance, they ought also to groan when they perceive the tokens of approaching ruin" (Calvin). 2. The siege and Ct~pture. "We seem to see and bear the last hurry- ing stnges o~ the siege and capture" (Cheyne). In one of the valleys the hosts of the cnomy are seen thickly trampling and spreading dismay and confusion all around. As the undermining of the walls by the siege artillery goes on, cries of woe beat a;.:ainst the surroundi~g, pills, and are echoed back again. 'fhe terrible famed bowmen of Elam (comp. Jer. xhx. 85) and the people of Kir, together forming, as it would seem, th~ vanguard of Assyria, are seen advancing. The valleys about the ciry, all teeming with associations of the pasl:r-Kedron, Gfhon, Rephaim, Hinnom'-arc plo,.ghecl by hoofs of horses and wheels of chariots; and the foe is drawn up in column, ready to enter the "great gate," HO soon as it shall be broken down by the hattering-rarus. 3. .'171e state of the inhabitants. J:ehovah draws aside the curtain from Judah. This may mean (1) he exposes their weakness to the enemy; or (2) he takes away the blind- ness of the people to their danger. Prob<1.bly the former. In either case the hand of an overruling Providence is recognize,l. The "forest house," or arsenal built by Solomon on Zion, is examined (1 Kings vii. 2; x. 17; cf. eh. xxxix. 2). The " city of David," i.e. the fortress on Mount. Zion, is inspected by the leading men, and the numerous breaches in the .walts are observed. They survey the houses, and take material from them to repair the wall. They concentri!.te the water-supply in ouc reservciir-thS:" lower pool," anq form,a pa.sin between the two wa.lls. These prepara- tions may be compared with those of Hezekiah (2 Chron. mii. 2-5). IV. FATAL FORGETFULNESS. All th~~ precautions would be too late! A dreadful word I And why ? 1. The Divine ~u.nsel has been j<11'gotten. u Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass'' (eh. xxxvii. 26). These harpers, and violinists, and tabret- players, and feasters have not "regarded the work of Jehovah, nor considered the operation of his hands" (eh. v. 12); Self-reliance may h~ religious, or it may mea.n an attempt to be independent of God, and so end in alienation from God. How feeble and how foolish policy must become if from the first it ignores the Divine will, and at the fast only come3 to acknowledge a destiny above human might and human calcula- tion! The idea of all that will be exists _in the mind of God; we may know something o( his meaning by constantly consulting th1:i uliving oracles," by truthful thinking, by loyal acting-in a word, by communion with the living God. What can attention to ramparts and ditches and reservoirs avail, if men have not found their defonce in God? If he be, trusted, wl:!at is there to fear? If he be denied, what can shield from calamity? . "The fate of Jerusalem is said to have been fashioned long ago in God. But Jerusalem might have averted its realization, for it was no absolute decree. Ii Jerusalem repented, that realization would be averted" (Delitzsch). 2. Divine warn- ings !lave been neglected. God had called-in that day; at every critical time. By many ways he speaks-by the living and passionate tones of prophet and brother man, by the general course of events, by the touch of sorrow, by the hints of personal experience. There is a time for everything under the sun; to know our opportunity ma.kes the wisdom of the world ; to know the "time of our visitation" is the wisdom of heaven. But, 11las ! the Jews knew it not; "rushing to the banquet-table with despair in their hearts, and wasting the provi,ions whioh ought to have been husbanded for the siege." "Let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die." The sensualism of despair (Cheyne). When the light of life, bright faith and hope toward God, dies out, what remains but to counterfeit its glow by some artificial illumination, kindled from the tow of physical excitement? .A love ef life which scoffs at death (Delitzsch). "l'is dangerous to scoff; to scoff at the great scoffer Death, what is this but the last extreme of self-abandonment? And does not despair imply the last sin we can commit? An<l is not recklessness its evidence?, And follows there not upon all this the shadow of a state unforgiven, a mind eternally un.reconciled? Who can but tremble as he meditates on these things? " Probably if the real feeling of the great mass of worldly men were ex pressed, they could not be better expressed than in the le.n,,auage of Isaiah : ' We must soon die, at all events; we cannot avoid that-it is the common doom of all. And since we have been sent into a dying world; since we have had no agency in being placed here; since it is impossible to prevent this doom,-we may as well enjoy life while it lasts, and give ourselves to pleasure and revelry. While we can, we \'jill take Mo THE BOOK OF TH:m PROPH:Ji1T ISA.IAB. [oH. nu. 1-M.
onr oomfort, and, when death oomee, we will submit to it, because we cannot Bvoid It'" (Barnes). But such argumentation cannot really satisfy the conscience. Blessed the Vi' ord which evermore, in the mercy of the Eternal, calls to repent.anoe, and reminds us that "now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation" 1--J,