tife. The sufferings of the inbabit&nts of J crusalem during the siege were no doubt in llOme measure, punishments. 1. For·the national sin of unfaithfulness, 2. For 'the particular sins of the sufferers. But this is not a full account of the matter, Jerusalem suffered 111s0- II. BECAUSE SHE NEEDED CDASTISEMENT .A~TJ> WOULD BE THE BETTEn ll'Oa IT. J,erusalem ~as still 1;1-ndergoi~g her P:obation. There were hopes of her turning to God, Nay, she did from time to time partially turn, and her actual destruction was deferred for above a century after that of her sister, Samaria. The sufferinas of the sieae were in the main intended to bring the sufferers to repentance-to humble proud h:arts to bend stubbom wills, to show the vanity of earthly supports and stays, and ind~ce entire dependence and trust in God. "Ariel" was punished far more in love thnn in wrath. She was still to God " as Ariel." Her "woe" was not the final woe pronounced on the hopelessly impenitent, but the woe which, while it is grievous at the time of ite infliction, "nevertheless afterward yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousuess unto them which arc exercised thereby" (Heb. xii. 11). Vers. 5-S.-The disappointment that awaits Go~s enemies. All the enemies of God have, some day or other, an awaking. The designs which they cherish, the selfish hopes in \;·hich they indulge, are mere dreams. Even when the dreams are realized the result is disappointing. No man ever yet found the. pleasure of success equal to his expectation. If there is a little satisfaction at first, fruition soon begets satiety. "Yanity of vanities," says the preacher," all is vanity." But, for the most pa.rt, the dreams are not realized. God arises, and bis enemies are scattered; those that bate him have to flee before him (Ps. lxviii. 1). The schemer finds himself baffled just when he thinks success most certain. Dishonesty is detected; the bubble of speculation bursts; unexpected obstacles arise; a sudden death or a sudden outbreak of war deranges tbe best-laid plans: the fortune just about to be made vanishes into the air, the dreamer "awakes, and his sonl is empty"-all his hopes have passed away" at an instant suddenly." There is but one security against constant disappointment, which is to trust all to God, to have no will bnt bis, no desire but that expressed iu the prayer, "Thy will be done, as in heaven, so ou earth." Vers. 9, 10.-Two kinds of spiritual, blindness. Spiritual blindness is not the natural condition of man. God has given to all men a certain power of spiritual discernment. He is" the Light which lighteth every 'ITULn that cometh into the world" (John i. 9). Children are· invariably '.found to be teachable at an early age-to have a power of receiving and appreciating spiritual verities. The spiritually blind have become such, and in their condition we may trace two stages. L THE Th'ITIAL STAGE. The commencement of spiritual blindness Is a wilful shutting of the eyes. Instead of seeking to see, striving to see, looking out for the spiritual in life and action, men tum away from it, " wink with their eyes," put veil11 over them, refnse to let the light of truth shine in upon their understandings. They "love darkness rather than light" (John iii. 19). The whole of life should be a continual exercise of the spiritual discerning power. Men give thto power as little exercise as possible. 'l'hey weaken it by disuse. After a while they deprave it, eo that its judgments become uncertain--even false. II. THE FINAL STAGE. In Scripture the final stage is called "a reprobate mind," literally," an undistinguishing mind (ltao,u,.is 11oiis)." By the law of God's providence, the wilrul shutting of the eyes leads on to an inability to see. The moral vision becomes actnally distorted. The "light that is within a man" becomes "darkness;" and then " how great is that darkness I " "Bitter is put for sweet, aud sweet for bitter" (~h. v. 20), "good for evil, and evil for good." The state is hopeless, irremedi• able. It results naturally from the repeated sins against light of the first stage; but it is none the less God's judgment upon the sinner. Hence it has beeu called "judicial blindness "-an expreasive name,
Vere. 13, 14.-God's hatred of mtre lip-,e1'1JU.& Lip-service is offensive to God on two accounts. L 1T u DTBRONOVBll!G TU BlllBELlr, It implles, either that he has not the powet cnr. XXIX, 1-24.] THE BOOK O.B' THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 477