pene.ltiee (Ps. lxxix. 12; J er. xxxii. 18; Luke vi. 38; Exod. iv, 6, 7; Prov. vi. 27). Tho firm scriptural doctrine the.t the consequences of ancestral sin pass over to posterity here appears (Exod. xx. 5; xxxiv. 7; Job xxi. 19; Numb. xiv, 18; Luke xi. 50, 51). There seems to have been a founding e.nd an e.ccumulation of crime which now threatens to sweep down every barrier before it. IV. THE BEAM OF HOPE. In this extreme of denunciation and despair a transition, as ever, occurs. His mercy is not "clean gone for ever." The majority of Israel may be evil, for all that there is ever e. "remnant" according to the election of grace. The vintagers, finding but e. few good grapes on a cluster, say to each other-perhaps it is the snatch of a vintage-song-" Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it." We are too ready to deal with men in the lump and in the mass-they are a " bad lot," in familiar language we say. But the Divine eye marks the element of worth amidst the most corrupt and worthless mass (cf. eh. i. 9; vii. 3; x. 21; xi. 11-16). That which has the germinal principle, the seed-life in it, he cherishes; he will, in spite of all that is of another quality in the midst of which it may be imbedded, preserve. So here, the mountains and the whole land from east to west shall be preserved by the people (eh. xxxiii. 9; Josh. vii. 24-26). Tillage is the very symbol of peace, plenty, prosperity (eh. xxx. 23, 24). A traveller may see in the valley of Sharon, when the sun gilds the mountain-top, and the flocks are returning to their fold, a visible expression of the future Paradise of God. "What e. Paradise was here when Solomon reigned in Jeru- salem, and sang of the roses of Sharon I What a heaven upon earth will be here again, when he that is greater than Solomon shall sit on the throne of David; for in his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth I "-J. Vers. 11-16.-The doom of the idolaters. L THE BINS. On the one hand it is the forsaking of J ehovab, the forgetting of his holy moantain. It is the keeping aloof from the true worship celebrated on Mount Moriah. But the heart of roan knows no deeper need than that of worship; and the setting of the tables before the images of heathen deities (lectisternia) witnesses, even as an aberration and a caricature, to that yearning for communion with the Divine which true religion and revelation recognize and offer to satisfy. Here Gad, a Canaanitish god, is named; and M'ni, a Syrian deity. Similar rites prevailesl among the Greeks and Romans, and other peoples of antiquity. In the first' Ilie.d,' at the sacrificial feast, the god is supposed to be present, himself a partaker, and a listener to the people's song of pre.ise. Between such worship and that of the Eternal, the sole and incomparable Holy One of Israel, there coultl be no compromise. II. THE 0AUBE. The sword. There may be an extreme of human obstinacy and perversity for which there is no cure but the sword. And thus we may even see in war a Divine purgative, and allow some truth in the stem saying of one of our poets, "Yea I carnnge is thy daughter." So the invasion of the Cbaldeans was recognized as a scourge sent to chastise the abominations of the priests and the people (2 Chron. xxxvi. 14, 16, 17). Want and poverty, and all the associated sufferings. And here ngain it must be admitted the "curse does not causeless come." There is a general connection at least between poverty, famine, and some neglect of Divine commands; and it may be seen in the lore of ancient nations in general. The time of drought was ever recognized as a time for special prayers and se.crifices. The name of the unfaithful ones shall become as a byword in formule.s of imprece.tion. III. 'l°HE FAITHFUL AND TRUE Goo. Ever, e.gainst the background of human infidelity and fickleness, he shines out in the splendour of self-consistency, the" God of the Amen," the" Faithful and True Witness." The "Amen" seems to refer to the solemn associations of the oath and the covenant (Deut. xxvii. 15). He stands in a sacramental mutual relation to his people. "They my people, I their God." If they be true to him, he will be certain to bless them. Religion bas a deep mystical root- a conscience toward God, which in purity is the fount of all blessing, the defilement of which is the origin of all curse.-J,
Vera. 17-25.-The new creation. It seems that the leading thought of the prophet 111 the transformation of 11ature io harmony with the changed nature of mll,ll. It11 4i8 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [OH, LXV, 1-26,