HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. VerB. 1-9.-Message of grare to Zion. L THE ANOINTING OF THE MEBBENGEB. -Onder the Law, the priests were anointed (Exod. xxix. 7; Lev. vii. 36), and also the kings (1 Sam. ix. 16 ; L 1 ; xvi. 13). It was the sign of appointment to a high office or commission from God. Hence, by a figure, it is applied to the appointment of Elisha to the prophetic office (1 Kings xi.x. 16), and to the designation of Cyrus as the instru- ment of the purpose of Jehovah. Similarly, in 1 John ii. 20, the use is figurative. The idea is that of consecrated dedication (cf. Ps. xlv. 7; Heb. i. 9). IL THE PURPOSE OF THE ANOINTING. 1. That he may e'llangelize, or preach the gospel. To whom? To those who need good tidings-the afflicted, the distressed and needy, the poor (Luke iv. 18), or those borne down by long captivity or other calamity (cf. Matt. xi. 5). 2. To bind t1,p the 'broken-hearted. In temporal or spiritual reference, " He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds" (Ps. cxlvii. 3). And this by the proclamation of liberty. '£he sound of the words would remind of the great "year of jubilee" (Lev. xxv. 10; of. Ezek. xlvi. 17 ; Jer. xxxiv. 8). If nothing is said in the law of jubilee about the release of prisoners or the remission of debts, all the associations of the time led to its being spoken of as a symbol of manumission, emanci- pation, and so of un.iversal joy. 3. 'l'o proclaim a time of grare and of retribution. A "year " of mercy, a "day" only of vengeance. Punishment descends to the third and fourth generation, but mercy to the thousandth (Exod. xx. 6, 6; cf. Deut. vii. 9). But the coming or deliverance must ever mean also the coming in destruction (of. Matt. xxv. 31-46; 2 These. i. 7-10). 4. To comfort mowrners. Especie.lly those of Zion. But an application of evangelical promises must be equally large with human need, human receptivity, human willingness, human power to receive, i.e. faith. Upon such the "coronet" is to be placed instead of ashes; the aesociations of the wedding (ver. 10) are to replace those of the funeral (2 Sam. xiii. 19), the nuptial song the former lamenta- tion. Instead of the" failinjt spirit," described under the image of a wick burning out, or of dimness, or faintness (eh. xiii 3; 1 Sam. iii. 2; Lev. xiii. 39), there will be the "mantle of renown." In the Orient, especially, the apparel expresses the mood of the mind. See an illustration in Jud. x. 3, 4: she "put on her garments of gladness, wherewith she was clad during the life of Manasses her husband." 6. To produce a 11igorou,s and beautiful life. Men shall call them" oaks of righteousness, the plantation of Jehovah for showing himself glorious" (cf. on the simile, Ps. xcii. 12-14, "The righteous shall :flourish like the palm tree," etc.; i. 3; Jer. xvii. 8). A mystic plantation under the care of the Divine Gardener (of. Me.tt. xv. 13). The exiles will return, will "build up the ruins of antiquity, and raise up the desolations of the fore- fathers, and renew the ruined cities. As ruins suggest all the pathos of the decay of families and nations, so does the act of rebuilding remind of that ever-recreative energy which lies in the religious heart of mankind, and which breaks forth afresh after every epoch of calamity. Strangers are to feed their flocks, aliens are to be their ploughmen c,u, Ln. 1-11.J 'l'HE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 421
and vinedressers, and all classes are to partake in the Messianic blessings. The people of Israel themselves will be called the" priests of Jehovah." For the priests, as a class only, represented the idea of Israel, as a nation consecrated to the service of the Eternal, destined to perform e. holy ministry to the rest of mankind. Men will take hold of the skirts of the Jew (Zech. viii. 23). There will be compensation, double compensation, in the possession of the land in increased fertility and with enlar<>ed 0 boundaries. III. 'fRE CONFIRMATION OF JEHOVAH. 1. The principle of ;"ustice and compensation. He "hates things torn a.way unjustly," and will compensate his people for their p:ist sufferings. How grand and all-consoling that truth of compensation I "All things are mora.l Tha.t soul which within us is a sentiment, outside of us is a law. We feel its inspiration; yonder in history we can see its fatal strength." "It is in the world, and the world was made by it. Justice is not postponed. A perfect equity adjusts its balance in all pa.rts of life. The dice of God are always loaded. Every secret is told, every crime is punished, every virtue rewarded, every wrong redressed, in silence and certainty. What we call retribution is the universal necessity by which the whole appears wherever a part appears" (Emerson). 2. The everlasting covenant. (Ch. Iv. 3.) Part of the condition of that covenant is the securing of an illustrious position for Israel stmong the nations; to be " known" is to be honoured, as in Ps. lxvii. 2 ; lxxvi. 1; lxxix. 10. 'l'he time shall come in a larger sense, when the friends of the lowly and despised Nazarene shall be regarded as the favoured of the Lord; instead of being persecuted and despised, the wbole earth shall regard them with confidence and esteem. Providence throws a veil of obscurity over its deepest designs, and the seed of glorious futures lies slumbering iu the rough husk until the appointed time for its germination and growth.-J. Vers. 10, 11.-Spiritual;"oy in the Eternal. We may regard the city as the speaker, and the city may typify the Church. • I. HER CLOTHING. As garments are for protection and ornament, so it may stand as a figure of a community arrayed in the strength and righteOU$Ilell8 of Jehovah. And BO the Church still singe-
" Jesus, thy robe of righteousness My beauty is, my glorious dress."
There is an allusion to the dress of the bridegroom and of the priest ; for at one time the bridegroom wore a crown, and the priest wore a mitre, with the plate or crown of gold in front of it (Exod. xxix. 6). Such portions of the dress mark out the wearer in his sacred character and in his solemn functions. They are not for mere ornament. The Church, the saints in general, are designated as a" royal priesthood," to offer praise and prayer continually. II. N ATURE's PARABLE OF SPIRITUAL JOY. (Cf. eh. xiii. 9; xliii. 19; xlv. 8; Iv. 10, 11; lviii. 11.) The joy with which we see the earth becoming all "one emerald" with the new verdure of spring; the burgeoning of the trees, the disclosure of the rudi- ments of future leaves and flowers, is in a sense prophetic of some analogous process in the spiritual world. For self-fulfilling is the power of the Divine Word. And even when the aspect of Church and state is most dark and depressing, life is stirring, seeds of better development are germinating, and events are being set in motion which shall stir men up to praise Israel and the God of lsrael.-J.