would be an utter collapse of all kingly dignity and pl'etension. It is not the mero con- quest of territory and the desolation of it that can turn the supreme master into a complete slave. Complete subjection is only achieved when body and mind are aliko in bonda~e. Many a captive has shown himself nobler than his captor· his heart being swelled out with even an increase of vitality, courage, and resource in the very hour when the ungodly seem to have triumphed. Discrowned kings have sometime8 been more regal than on the coronation-day itself. The thing to be marked here is that these leaders being cast down outwardly were equally cast down inwardly. Tho whole nature crashes down in ruins, The dispossessed leader becomes as dejected in soul as he is in station. What a warning/or us, then, is this melancholy prediction I It is very certain that to us the outward casting down, at all events, must come. 2\"atural reso_urces, lim_ited and temporary at the best, a.re always showing weak points, always needmg patching up, and the most that can be done is to postpone the evil day. And then what is the end to be? Are our hearts also to perish? Is there to come on us utter despair and brokenness of spirit? It need not be so. Look on the courage of genuine Christians in captivity, in martyrdom, in poverty; amid the attacks of slander, in the midst of spiritual non-success. If the heart perish, it will be for want of believing resort to the succours which come down from the heavenly places. God can so unite, inspire, instruct, a.nd gladden the heart of every believer1 as eITectually to deliver it from perishing. .And remember, we are every one called to be if not kings, at all ev~nts ~cero;y-s in our own life. _There must be no yielding to pre: sumptuous and audacious dictation of men. He who Jeans upon the mere assertions of c,thers, because he is himself indisposed to make the necessary effort for finding out truth, must be prepared at last to get into that state which is described as one in which the heart perishes.-Y.
Ver& 11-13.-The use, of the wind. Not all the uses of the wind &re set forth here, but enough is mentioned to remind us how God can turn a beneficial agenb into a destructive one very rapidly and decisively. The force of the unquenchable fire has already been spoken of (ver. 4); and it is a sufficiently dreadful thought that fire, so genial, so useful, with such a place in the house, and-so far as Israel was concerned- such a place in the service of God, should thus have become, in the thoughts to be associated with it, dreadful as sword, famine, or pestilence. '!'ho man who has hacl !1is house burned down, to the utter loss of all his goods, will henceforth be apt to make grim comments in his own heart when he hears men extolling the benefactor fire. And now God comes to another great force in the material world, and shows how it can be the symbol of the workings out of his holy wrath. 1. Observe how he calls atten- tion to the beneficial working of the wind. Frequently the force of the wind is of such a rooderated, yet effectual kind, that it is used to fan and to clean~e. Theso invading Losts, it was to be remembered, were not essentially destructive. They were made up of human individuals, each of whom had measureless capabilities of benefiting his fellow-men. Possibly from these very northern lands there bad come buyers and sellers, bringing commercial prosperity to Israel. Is it not plain that we should always consider, when one approaches us in a hostile and threatening way, tbnt it may be possible by a certain course of conduct to have him come in a very different way? Many enemies have been friends, and after their enmity has come to a head and done much damage, it is possible for them to become friends again. This destroying wind, fierce and dreadful as it was for a. time, would yet subside, and fanning and cleansing work be done again. 2. It is worth noticing that the Spirit of God which has mch large power to bless has also power to destroy. 'l'he Spirit of God is, on the highest authority, compared to the wind. Indeed, that is what the name signifies-the breath or wind from God. Working through Peter in the glorious apostolic days, we see that Spirit healing the lame man; we hear him speaking mighty, convincing, renewing words to thousands hitherto indifferent; bringing men into correct and firm apprehen- sions of truth that had been misunderstood or not understood at all; and filling their minds with such a light of promise as gave reality and indescribable charm to tho future. But that same Spirit struck down Ananias and Sapphira with an appalling and fatal blow, and made Elymas the sorcerer suddenly blind. Only a turn is ueede<l, autl tl,c 01,en hand which God extends, the hollow of it filled with the gifts of his en. rv. 1-31.] 'l'llE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEllEMIAll. 10\J
,::rnco, can be closed so as to smite in wrath. God does not need to go far afield for the instruments of his chastisement. The energy of his Holy Spirit can destroy as well as mako alive; and Jesus, who is Saviour, is also appointed to judge and conclemn.-Y.