(oompnre St. Paul's words in Rom. viii. 33, in darkneaa. Not clearly seeing hie way ot 84, " H is God that juetifleth. Who is he knowing what hie duty is, and so inclined that condcmneth ?"). Goel is the sole Jndge to despond and doubt. Every such person of all men-of the "Servant" in his human is bidden to put aside his doubts, and trust capacity, no Ieee than of others. If he wholly in the Name of the Lord, and stay acquits, it is idle for any accuser to stand upon his God. Hence light will shine in forth and " contend" or "condemn'' (ver. upon him, and his doubts ·will be resolved, 9). God will help the innocent, whom he and sufficient light will be granted him to has acquitted, and will destroy the accuser direct hie paths. by a secret but most sure destruction. The Ver. 11.-All ye that kindle a ftre, tha.t moth shall eat them up (comp. Pa. xxxix. compaas yourselves a.bout with epa.rke; or, 11, aud infra, eh. Ii. 8). with.firebrands. The persons intended seem Vere. 10, 11.-AN ADDBl!:89 OF JEHOVAH to be thorn whose "tongue is a. fire, a. world TO HIS CeunCH. Some suppose that the of iniquity" (Ja.a. iii. 6), and who by means of it are employed in "stirring up et7ife all Church of Hezekiah's reign is addressed: the day long." They are condemned to be others the exiles towards the close of the scorched by the fire which they have them- Captivity period. The first verse is an ex- eel ves kindled, to be made wretched by the hortation, encouraging those who fear God, strife which they have themselves caused but have insufficient light, to trust in him. to spring up. Their end, moreover, will be to lie down in sorrow; or, in torture (Cheyne). The second threatens such ne "kindle fire," God will punish them in the next world for or cause strife, with retribution. the misery which they have brought about Ver. 10.-That obeyeth the voice of his in this, e.nd will thus exercise retributive servant; that is, of" hie servant" for the justice upon the wicked ones, whose main time being, whether Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or object in life has been to embitter the lives "the Servant" 1<11T' i{oxijv. That we.lketh of their fellow-men.
HOMILE'l'ICS. Vers. 2, 3.-God's power 011er nature. Modern pseudo-science, or "un-science," as it be.s been called, seems to bold that nature, having been once for all arranged and ordered by God, was thenceforth left to itself, being an automatic machine, bouuJ. to work in a certain way, needing no superintendence, ancl brooking no interference thenceforward. Hence miracles are regarded as impossible, or at a.ny rate as non- occurrcnt; e.nd we are invited to ascribe to the combined influence of priestcraft and credulity all the statements with respect to supernatural interferences with nature which we find in the history of our ra.ce. The view of the sacred writers is the direct opposite of this. God is not regarded as having ever left nature to itself. On the contrary, he is always represented as working with nature and in nature. He" covereth the heaven with clouds, and pre.pareth rain for the earth, and maketh the grass to grow upon the mountains. He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.... He giveth snow like wool, and scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? He sendeth out his word, and me\teth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow" (Ps. cxlvii. 8- 18). He is, in fact, ever in his laws, executing them continually-making the sun to shine, and the moon to give her light, and the stars to sparkle in the canopy of heaven, and the mountains to stand firm, and the winds to blow, and the rain to fall, and the earth to give her increase. The secret of tbe quasi-unvarying chamcter of nature's laws is his unchangeableness-the fact that "with him is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (Jae. i. 17). But, as he thus holds nature in his baud, and doos not let it go, so he is necessarily at all times omnipotent over nature, and can susp,m,I or change a.ny "law of nature" at his pleasure. In point of fact, he does not do so unless upon emergencies. But, let a fitting occasion come, and it is as easy for him to reverse a law ns to maintain it. He can "dry up the sea." in a moment, "make rivers a desert" (ver. 2), "clothe the heaven with blackness" (ver. 3), cause the stars to fall (Matt. xxiv. 29), create a new heaven and a new earth (Rev. :ui. 1), cast death and hell into the lake of fire (Rev. xx. 14). To regard mira.c\es as impossible is to be an atheist; to say that they are non-occurrent is to fly in the face of history. No doubt many false miracles have been alleged, and an alleged miracle is not to be 250 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [on. L.1-11.
received without a searching scrutiny. But the summary rejection of all miraoles, which modern pseudo-science proclaims, is as little rea.souable as the wholesale accept- ance of all alleged miracles without exception.