even the tiny chrLnnels, never &g&in reduced to dry rlver-beda, shall gu■h perennially, or overflow their banks. Thus there 11h&ll be &bnndsnce of wine fur refreahment of milk for nourishment, and of water for allaying thirst or tertillzing what would oth;rwlae be a dry, pBrcbed l,md. The lsst clanae can only be referred to eplritual bleBBlngs, both because_ of Hs Pource--the house of the Lord-and ite course, extending to the v&lloy of ac0c1Bs, Aeven and & h&lf miles to the east of the Dead Sea. This la the stre&m "1hr Siloah," wh08e streA.mlets, i.e. the arti6cial fertilizing dlvieiona, which m&do glad tl,c city of God, she.11 ma.ke the wildest, driest spots of our mortality like the garden of the Lore!. II. ~HERE re Tm: PROMISE oF MtBl'ETUITY. While the enemies or God, like Egypt, the 1rnc1ent oppressor of his people, &nd E<lom, their constant enemy, a.re devoted to destrnction, Judah the country and Jerusslem tho city-all tho members of tho Church of Christ shall enjoy a perpetuity of blessing in time, and an eternity of bliss when time shall be no more. "Egypt &nd Edom and all the enemies of God shall come to an end; but his people shall never come to an end." The Judah that truly praise God, the Israel that without cc-asing pray to God, shall outlive all the machina- tions of the wicked ; the gates of hell ahall not prevail against the Ohurch. "'l'he enemy shall not destroy her; time shall not consume her; she shall never decay. 'rhe people of God shall abide before him and through him here, and shall dwell with him for ever.~• III. TnERE Is THE PBOMlllE OF PURITY. This blessing contains the reason of all the rest. It is the cauAe of the plenty and perpetuity e.nd all other privileges. If we accept the Authorized Version of the last verse, we conclude from it that all the guilt of sin, especially their blood:!lliltiness, llhall be purged away. • The people of God, both Jew and Gentile, shall in the day of God's gracious visitation be cleansed from sin and throughly washed from all iniquity; otherwise they'could not be fit for full com- munion with God. As long as we are defiled by sin, we are odious to the holiness and obnoxious to the justice of God. It is only when washed in the opened fountain, and purified by that blood which cleanseth from all sin, that we are made meet for the holy companionship of heaven. Here in the Church below the lessons of the Divine Wordj the ordinance~ of re1igion, the providences of God, sometimes pleasant, oftener painrul,• bui ahove all and itlving efficacy to all. the blood of atonement, purge away our sins. Bnt whatever is amiss in the Church or the Christian on earth shall be ·amended, whatever is wrong shall be rectified ; and the Church, as the individual soul, shall be without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. L-Bestoratwnfrom captivity. Jt is believed that Joel wlEB the earliest of the prophets who prophesied in Judah and Jerusalem. If ao, it is remarkable how boldly he Jed the way in the general tone of his declarations and predictions, and especially with what poetic insight, with what re14gious fervour, he connected political events with lessons of eternal morality. In this chapter it would perhaps be posaible to find r,c,thing but history; yet the grandeur and solemnity of the language point rather to truths of Divine import and power as the real significance of the prophecy. The very captivity here foretold bas its spiritual analogy, and the restoration of Judah is a type of the ransom of mankind. ' • J. '!'HE WORST CA.Pl'IVITY 18 THAT OF HUMANITY TO SIN. 1. This implies that sin is not the true and proper lord of our race, but that God has a claim ·to the loyalty and obedience of men. 2. And that sin is a tyrant, arbitrary, unjust, ancl baeelyoppreasive. 8. And further that in such bond.age, no peace; no Ii berty, no tiatisfaction, are to be found. ll. '!'HE md,Y DELIVEBEB OF BUJUJIITY IS Goo mDELl"; 1. His interposition ie prompted by Divine compassion. 2. And is effected by e~pernatural means. In rescu- ing Judah from the captivity in the East, Jehovah was pamting, as it were, beforehand a picture of what was yet to be. In Christ God laid help upon One who was mighty ; his designation is emphatically the Redeemer. 3. 'l'he interposition is completed by tbe restoration of the ransomed to greater happiness than by their disloyalty thoy forfeited aud lost. OIi, JIJ, 1-21.] THE BOOK OF JOEL. 50