Heaven is a eafe place, and its blessed inhabitante dwell there secnrely. Their security, indeed, is sound and enduring; while ours on earth may be but brief and treacherous, like the calm on a mountain lake, which may be broken at any moment by a sudden 114uall. Still, while we enjoy the peace we may be thankful for it, and gratefully accept it as an earnest of that in the eternal home, "where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest." II. THE SECURITY OF Gon's PEOPJ,E IS OBSERVED BY THEIR FOES. Gog and Magog take note of the security of Israel and bestir themselves. Satan watches hie oppor- tunity, and often finds it best when the servants of God are quite confident in the sense of safety. The city gates are left open and the walls unmanned because no enemy is expected. 'l'he doors are unbolted at night because the householder never imagines that any burglar will visit his home. But these very signs of security tempt an attack, and, when it comes, give fatal facility to the enemy's projects. The Eurydice suddenly went down with all on board, when struck by a squrill off the Isle of Wight,just because the fine weather had tempted the crew to leave all the port-holes open. It must have been observed by every one who has watched his own experience that seasons of spiritual peace and joy are co=only followed by times of severe temptation. Immediately after the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus he was led into the wilderness to be tempted. Peter's boast was swiftly followed by his denial of his Master. " Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. x. 12). III. THE SECO'lllTY OF Gon's PEOPLE BEVEALS:THE ATTBAOTIVENESS OF HIS SERVICE. Gog and Magog seem to take note of the security of Israel as beasts of prey observe the unsuspecting confidence of the game they are scenting; but they might also observe it with admiration, as Balaam did that of the tents of Israel (Numb. xxiv. 5), as Milton's Satan observed the peace and joy of the happy pair in Eden. If so, however, the prospect need not inspire despairing regrets as it did in Balaam (Numb. xxiv. 17), nor malignant envy as Milton represents_ it doing in Satan. The peace of God's people may be shared by all, for all may become God's people. Even Gog and Magog may enjoy the same security. RuBBia, the land of the ancien(Scythians, became a Christian nation. We may see the calmness of C4ristian experience, and take it as a witness to the blessed- ness of the Christian privileges. Thus the gospel is preached by the very countenances of God's people. Vere. 19, 20.-.An earthquake. In the day of God's jealousy and wrath there is to· be a great shaking of sea, air, and land, so that the very fishes and birds, as well as the beasts of the eo.rth, will feel its shock. I. AN EARTHQUAKE lllAY oooUB. There were once two opposed schools of geology- one believing that our earth had reached its present condition after succeseive violent catastrophes had wrought great and sudden changes on its surface; the other holding that the most striking results could be produced, and, therefore-on the principle tho.t the minimum cause is the only one that one can affirm-have been produced, by the operation of the very forces which we now witness. This latter, the uniformitarian theory, has been so well established by Sir Charles Lyell, that few would now think of reviving the more dramatic hypothesis. Nevertheless, even this theory admits of many great and violent movements under the operation of present laws and forces. Earth- quakes do now occur. So is it in the world of men. We are governed by orderly Divine laws. Yet we meet with great shocks in political changes, when empires topple to the dust; in social changes, when the old order is \lpset, as in the French Revolution; in domestic changes, when a man's quiet home-life is ruthlessly upset, and sudden poverty, or the death of those he loves most, or fearful family divisions, shake him like an earthquake. There are earthquakes in religion, when the old beliefs are shaken or the old practices disturbed, Such an earthquake occurred at the advent of Christ, at the Reformation, etc. There are also spiritual earthquakes in the breasts of individual men. The crust of self-confidence is widely tom, and great chasms opened in well- settled notions. Some day the easy-going sinner will be astonished at the earthquake shock that will disturb his misplaced confidence. II. MEN SHOULD BE PBEPABED FOB AN EARTHQUAKE. In countries where such nn occurrence is frequent it is necessary to build the walls with especial solidity, and to bind them together with iron bands. Yet even there the lessons.of experience fade t92 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [oH, x.xxvm. 1-23,
a.way in a season of long security. It is strange how villages creep up the sides of elu.mbering volcanoes which may a.t any moment overwhelm them in torrents of lava. We ought to be prepared for the coming of trouble, although all is now quiet and 11miling. This does not mean that we should be "anxious a.bout the morrow," for "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." But the best way to dismiss anxiety is to be well fortified against the possibility of disaster. If we would ~e prepared for the upset of our earthly home comforts, we need to have a deeper foundation on which to rest, so that when the things which are shaken are removed the things which cannot be shaken may remain (Heh. xii. 27). III. AN EARTHQUAKE MAY BE A BLESSING IN DISGUISE. At first it is ruinous, and the destruction, misery, and death that it spreads make it appear as a huge calamity. But in changing the face of the earth it may prepare for a. better future. Political and social earthquakes throw down old abuses and clear the ground for a new and better order. God upsets a man's life that he may lead the man to build afresh on a more sure foundation. Earthquakes in human affairs should make us look above the earth and have our treasure in heaven-" seeking first the kingdom of God and hie righteousness."