01-IRcnr!', thnt hi~tnry ta'kea ACllrcel~· ,my notice of him. Such e. fe.ct 11.11 thie auggesta: 1. The distinguishing faoolty of man. Of 11.ll the creatures on oorth 1 man alone ce.n ri,ceivc cnmmuniCllt1on11 from heaven. Man &lone can t,ako in 11. "word" from tho Lord. We know not how the word e&mo unto him. 'l'he grea.t Father of epirite he.a many waye of striking hie thoughts into the eoule of hie children. Somotlmee by awakening a train of suggeatione, aometimOB by a.rticule.te uttera.ncea, eometimee by dreams e.t night and visions in the day. He has divore waye. Soule e.re ever accce- sihlc to him. 2. The manifeBt sovereignty of God. Why did he select Joel more than any other man ? There is no proof that he wae greater or holier the.n many others in his country. No reason can be assigned for the eeleotion but the grand reaaon that explains the creation of the universe. It was e.fter the counsel of hie own will- according to his good pleasure. n. THAT THIS CALAMITY WAB UNPRECEDENTED IN HlBTOBY. "Hea.r ye this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath thie been in your de.ye, or even in the days of your fathers?" He means to sa.y that such a dieaetrous event the oldest man amongst them had never seen, nor had they learnt from the hietoriee of the past of anything equa.l to its terrific character. Terrible judgments had fallen on Judah before; but this, according to Joel, was the greatest of all. Observe: 1. That no flivine judgments have been so great as to preclude the poBBi"bility of greater. The penal resources of the righteous Judge a.re unbounded. The most tremendous thunderbolts that he has thrown upon the world a.re only ae atoms compared with the massive mountains he might hurl. Great as your afflictions have been, they can be greater. 2. That the grea,i,er the Bins of a peop'le, the greater the fudgments to be expected. It is proba.ble that Judah's sins were greater at this time than they had ever been before, e.nd that, consequently, severer penalties were to come. Eternal justice requires that the sufferings of individua!B and communities should be in proportion to the number and aggravation of their sins. Take ea.re, sinner; in every sin you commit you are treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath. IIL TluT TJIIS CALAMITY WAS SO TBElll.ENDOUS AS TO COMMAND TBE ATTENTION OF ALL GE~""ERATIONS. " Tell ye your children of it, e.nd let your children tell their children, and their children another generation." The terrible events of God's judi- cial providence have a bearing beyond the men in whose history they occur. Those that occur in one age and land demand the etudy of men in a.11 ages and lands. They a.re not confined to individualB, they have a bearing on the race ; not confined to men, they embrace humanity even to remotest times. Hence the importance of history. Truthful history is the Bible written by Providence to the world. But why should such an event as this be transmitted to posterity ? 1. Beca'Ulle it shows that God rules the world. It is not controlled by chance or necessity; it ie under the control of One who is not only All-mighty and All-wise, but All-jUBt, who will not at all clear the guilty. 2. Beca'Ulle it show, that God take, cognizance of the world's Bin, and abhors it. These facts will be of interest and importance to the generations that are unborn, even to the end of time. IV. THAT THIB C.ALAlUTY WAS INFLICTED BY THE MOST INSIGNIFI0ANT OF Goo's CREATURES. "Th.at which the palmer-worm bath left bath the locUBt eaten; and that which the locust hath left bath the canker-worm eaten; and that which the canker- worm bath left h.ath the caterpillar eaten." There is no authority for the opinion that the creatures here mentioned were symbols of hostile armies who were about to invade Jnd&.h.1 'fhe locust belongs to the genus of insects known amongst entomologists as gryllii, which include the different species, from the comi:non g~asshopper to the devouring locusts of the East. The creatures, therefore, mentioned m the verse seem to be from different species of locusts rather than from different kinds of insects. And the words may be pa.rephrased. "That which one swarm of locusts hath left, e. second swarm h.ath ea.ten; and that which the eecond swarm hath left, a third swarm bath eaten• and that which the third left, a fourth swarm bath eaten." To punish sinners, God does not require to hurl thunderbolts from his throne, or flash lightnings, or despatch Gabriela from his heavens. No; he can make insects do it. He can kill 1 For e. description of these locusta, etc., see the Biblical Dictionaries, either Bmi,h's,
Fuir1e.im's, or Kitlo's. OR, I, 1-20,] THI~ BOOK OF JOEL. 11