sanctified ones; i.e. not personally holy, but specially consecrated for the work to which they wore appointed. (1) In the case under consideration these were to be the Ohaldean armies, wh_ich in li~tle more than thirty years were to fall upon Jerusalem, and pour out upon 1t the vials of Jehovah 1s wrath (2 Chron. xxxvi. 16, 17). (2) Jn the world generally the events of his providence are the instruments selected for the execution of his victims (Ps. cxi. 7). (3) The last minister of judgment will be his Son, into whose hands he hath committed all judgment (John v. 22), and before whose tribunal all must appear (2 Cor. v. 10). To him belong the epithets "ea.lied" and " sanctified" in their highest sense. III. 'l'RE ENCOMPABSmG SPECTATORS. The faithful remnant of Israel, those who still adhered to Jehovah and mourned as did Josiah, Jeremiah, and Zephania.h, Hulda.h the prophetess, Hilkiah the priest, and others, over the degenerate condition of the nation. 80 in the world still are God's believing people ea.lied to witness, and often actually d.o witness, the execution of God's judgments upon the ungodly. So in the last day, when the vials of Divine indignation will be outpoured upon the finally impenitent, the saints who have been counted worthy to attain Christ's kingdom and glory will behold the appalling scene, as A.bra.ham beheld the burning of the cities of the plain, and will say," Hallelujah I salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God ; for true and righteous are his judgments " (Rev. xix. 1, 2). IV. THE RESULTING IMPRESSIONS. Pointed to in the solemn" Hush I be still" (ver. 7), with which the prophet opened his roll of woe. When he summoned the spectators to be silent before the face of J ehovab, he signified that silence was to be the effect produced upon their spirits by the spectacle they were a.bout to witness. And this silence would be one: 1. Of awe; as they contemplated the overpowering revelation of the majesty of God, of bis holiness and justice, of his power and fidelity, which would be afforded by his judgments upon the wicked. 2. Of submission; as they recognized the equity of those judgments by which sin was punished, the Divine Law vindicated. and God's glory proclaimed. 3. Of amazement; as they marvelled how ever they who had once themselves been sinful, had through grace escaped those calamities which they saw overtaking the wicked. Learn: 1. That God dee.ls with men and nations upon the principle of moral retribu- tion. 2. That neither national nor individual wickedness, if unrepented of, can evade its just recompense of reward. 3. That God's judgments upon both will ultimately be approved by all.-T. W, Ver. 7.-The soul's si1ences before the presence of the Lord. L A. SILENCE OF ADORATION. .As becomes a creature in the presence of his Creator (Zech. ii. 13; Hab. ii. 20), and a sinner in the presence of the Holy One (Job xl. 4). II. A. SILENCE OF CONTEMPLATION. As befits the soul in those moments in which God reveals himself in nature (Job xxxvii.14) or in grace (Gen. xvii. 3; Exod. xiv.13). III. A. SILENCE OF EXPECTATION. A.s a praying soul maintains when looking out for a response to his supplioations (Ps. !xii. 1, 5, margin), or a perplexed spirit when waiting for God to clear up the mystery of his providence (Ps. xx.xvii. 7, margin). IV. A. SILENCE OF SUBMISSION, A.s they preserve who recognize the ills of life to proceed from the hand of God (Ps. mix. 2; Lam. iii. 28, 29). V. A. SILENCE OF APPROBATION. A.s God's judgments will enforce upon all who behold them (Ps. xlvi. 10).-T. W. Ver. 8.-Foreign clothes. I. A BOND OF INTERNATIONAL m.'ION. The interchange of commodities among the different peoples of the earth one of the surest means of promoting peace and causing wars to cease, II. A. SIGN OF ADVANCING CIVILIZATION, When a nation's wants multiply beyond its own power directly to meet them, it naturally draws upon the resources of lands and peoples beyond itself. Thus while the existence of these wants marks the upward progress of the nation itself, the effort needed to supply them acts a.s a stimulus to oth<!r peoples to join in the onward march. III. A. SYM.PTOM OF DEOLINING PATRIOTISM. No truer indication that the national sentiment amongst a people is becoming feeble than the slavish imitation of the manners and customs, speech and dress, of a stronger neighbour. 16 THE BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH. [OH. I. 1-18.
lY. A sYMnoL OF RELI<HOUB DEOLENBION. In this light regarded by the prophet. Egyptian or Chalde1m raiment worn by Judm1m princes and pel\sante meant that their hearts were hankering after Egyptian or Chaldean idolatry. So when Christiane con• form to the world's ways, adopting its maxims and principles, manners and customs, thonghts and feelings, sentiments and practices-all of which should be to them what foreign clothes were to Israel-there is reason to suspect that a back,vard movement iu religion has begun.-T. W.
Ver. 12.-Settld 0'/1, one's lees. I. A PICTURE OF PROSPEROUS EAEIE. The image- that of wine which has been allowed to settle in its cask, without havmg ever been drawn off or emptied from vessel to vessel-naturally suggests the condition of one who has become prosperous and affluent, who has never been visited by misfortune, agitated by calamity, or disturbed by affliction, but who through long years has been left to feast and fatten, like an ox in his stall, or (adhering to the metaphor) to fill and settle like a cask of wine. II. A SYMBOL OF RELIGIOUS ( OR, RATHER, IRRELIGIOUS) DEGENERATION. As wine, left upon its lees, retains its flavour-good or bad, as the case may be-so does the soul acquire a moral flavour from the things in which it delights, and on which, as it were, it rests. Nay, as good wine becomes better and bad wine worse from being allowed to settle on its lees, so do pious souls become stronger and more fixed in goodness, but ungodly souls more confirmed and rooted in wickedness, by being suffered to rest, the one on the holy inclinations and the other on the sinful lusts which form the lowest strata respectively of their beings. • III. A PRECURSOR OF APPROACHING DOOM. As bad wine allowed to settle on its lees rapidly deteriorates and reaches such a state of badness as to be unfit for use, so wicked men that settle on their lees, gratifying their sensual desires and venting their atheistical opinions, ultimately sink to such a point of moral degeneration as not to admit of recovery, and as allows nothing to be anticipated for them but swift and sudden destruction. LESSONS. I. The danger of prosperity. 2. The value of adversity.-T. W.