ence; or If the "ministers and stewards" of Divine mysteries are so only technically and officially. The true servant must in any case be cu,lled. He must not push himself forward, but must be drawn forward by invisible, Divine leading. He does not "achieve greatness," but it is" thrust upon him." "In that day I will call to my servant." 'l'he words sug~estively remind us of that principle of Divine selection which runs through the oraer of the world. In this, in every day, the "right men" are wanted for every place. In this day, too, there is much excitement about education. What men can do by the instruction of the intellect is very limited; in quiet places and in hidden ways, unknown to the schools, the Almighty is growing men and training men till the time is ripe for their service, and his call is heard. II. His INVESTITURE. 1. It is the solemn, symbolical u:ay of transferring an office. We think of Elijah finding the son of Sbapbat ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen, and casting his mantle upon him as he passed by (1 Kings xix. 19). That was the prophet's simpler dress ; this is the tunic of a man of rank and state. The gir<lle was an essential article of Oriental dress, worn by all classes and by both sexes. The fineness of its quality denoted the rank of the wearer. Here it was probably similar to that worn by the priests (Exod. xxviii. 39; :xxxix. 2!l). Josephus describes it as made of linen so fine that it looked like the slough of a snake, and it was embroidered with flowers of scarlet, blue, purple(' Ant.,' iii. 7. 2). This is the only place where the word abneth is used for any but a priestly girdle. 2. The girdle is in other ways symbolic. Jehovah "girds kings with a girdle," and "ungirds them according to his pleasure" (Job xii. 18). Thus to be "girded with strength" is a symbol of Divine invigoration (1 Sam. ii. 4); to be "girded with gladness," of refreshment (Ps. :x.:x.x. 11). "Have your loins girt about with truth" (Eph. vi. 14); "Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end "-are noble Christian exhorta- tions, ca1Tying with them all the force of the old Oriental imagery. To be ungirt is a way of describing nervelessness, lack of strength and manhood ; and the very picture of the good servant is of one "whose loins are girt about, whose lamp is burning." Ill. THE SPmlT AND FUNCTIONS OF TllE STEWABD. 1. He is to be like a fat her to the people. An appropriate term for the chief man of a town or the prime minister of a country (1 Chron. ii. 24; iv. 5; cf. ix. 6; Job x:xi:x. 16; Judg. v. 7). So the Roman eenators were patres. It speaks of benevolence united with wisdom and experience-a 'rule both firm and loving. The great Father in heaven must be the sublime ideal before us in all positions of rule and influence on earth. 2. He is to bear the key. This is an ancient badge of office ; Callimachus represents the priestess of Demeter as having a key upon her shoulder ('Hymn.ad Cererem,' l. 45), and in the 'Snpplices' (291) of .2Eschy- lus, in like manner, 16, priestess of Hera, is "key-holder" of the goddess. For illustration the following interesting passage may be cited from Roberts: "How much delighted was I when I first saw the people, especially the Moors, going along the streets, with each his key on his shoulder I The handle is sometimes made of brass, though some- times of silver, and is often nicely worked in a device of filagree. The way it is carried is to have the corner of a kerchief tied to a ring; the key is then placed on the shoulder, and the kerchief hangs down in front. At other times they have a bunch of large keys, and then they have half on one side of the shoulder and half on the other. For a man thus to march along with a large key on his shoulder, shows at once that he is a person of consequence. 'Roman is in great favour with the modehir, for be now carries the key.' 'Whose key have you got on your shoulder?' 'I shall carr.Y my key on my own shoulder.'" (For the application to the apostles and to the Lord himself, see Matt. :xvi. 19; Rev. iii. 7.) 3. His tenure of office. 'l'he nails must be those hooks or spikes which were worked into the mortar of the walls of houses while still soft, answering the purpose of cramp-irons to hold the walls together, and pegs to hang things on. So, in temples, armour, shields, helmets, swords, spoils of war, were hung on such nails. An appropriate image these of stability, of (to use a modern coinage) reliableness. All may depend upon a man such as this; all "know where to find him;" sacred aud precious trusts may be reposed on him without fear of disap- pointment. So in Zech. x. 4 the " peg " means a prince. IV. AnusEs OF BTA'l'ION AND OFFIOE. There is" another side" to everything good in human institutions. "All tLu honour of his father's house" will be found banging 11pon Eliakim. All his bumble relations-the "small fry," as we say_; the "small 3!32 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JSAIAH. [oH. xxn. l-25.
vessels," as the prophet calls theI11--,will look up to liim, and he will she1l lustre. and give supP?rt to all. The allusion is to vessels of a small kind-basins, leathern bottles, earthen p1tcheri:, We must respect the judgment of the majority of commentators who see a turn rn the pro.pbccy about Eliakim here. '!'here is an impression of nep.u~ tism, of favouritism; and it seems that the firm "peg'' is, after all, to be looseued fron:i its place. And if so, how instrucliTe the JJa~sage I_ How is it that man, onco high· 1n esteem and general confidence, came to be weighed m the balances and found wauUn"? Some weakness of flesh and blood, some uu<lue leaning to one's kith and kin so~e element. of partial icy: or favo~rit!sm, is often the cause. " His family makes a ~rong use of him; and he 1s more y1eld10g than he ought to be, and makes a wrong uso of his office to favour them! He therefore falls, and brings down all with him that huna upon the peg, and who have brought him to ruin throu"'h the rnpncity with which they have grasped 11.t prosperity" (Delitzsch). Whatever view may be taken of the passa"'e 'twere well to remind ourselves of the old lesson, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed_ lest he ~all." God i:aise~ up and brings low. Let us walk softly, nor boast ourselves if for a time we flourish like a green bay tree. Our own weakness may, like a worm, be gnawing at our root. The" pitted speck" in the" garnered fruit" may be spreading, the "liLtle rift" in the lute be widening. "More the treacherons oalm I dread Th11.n tempests sailing overhead." Let us be content with obscurity, withfaUentis semita vitm, se.eing that station brings out men's weaknesses no less than their streugth, and the loftier the columnar height of the great, the more overwhelming the fall.-J. •