than in euch conflicts; yet by these military conflicts God's purposes have at times been accomplished. Nehuchadnezzar and his forces, invading Egypt and destroying the Egyptians o.nd their allies the Ethiopians, were instruments God employed to work his will. God through his holy prophet declared, "Ye Ethiopians alao, ye shall be slain by my sword" (ver. 12). Vera. 13-15.-The doom of .Assyria. It was very natural that the prophet, in unfolding the Divine judgmente upon heathen nations, should turn his thoughts to the north and to the Assyrian empire. That power was, in his day, at the very zenith of its prosperity, and his own nation was peculiarly exposed to its tyranny and oppression. The Hebrew seers frequently referred to this empire and to the ruin which should eventually overtake it; and whilst Zephaniah's allusion is very brief, limited indeed to three verses, it is nevertheless remarkably graphic and vivid. Observe- L Tim STERN SENTENCE. (Vere. 13, 14.) 1. It foretold that the prevailing power which was seeking the overthrow of the kingdom of God in Judah should itself be completely destroyed. In a few descriptive touches he set forth the utter ruin which should befall the haughty Assyrian nation. She should be destroyed, and her capital become a dry, desolate waste in the midst of which the beasts of the desert should make their home. Her temples and palaces should lie broken, pelicans and hedgehogs lodging in the fallen capitals, whilst instead of the strains of the men-singers and women-singers, no more to be heard in her palaces, the notes of some solitary bird sitting in the window of some outer wall should alone sound forth. "Desolation n too " should be on the thresholds," and heaps of sand blown from the desert should mingle with the wreck of the city, until at length every trace of the former magnificence should have disappeared. And the acknowledgment should be made that this rtlin was merited; the passer-by should hiss with very scorn, and move his hand in token of supreme contempt (vers. 13-15). 2. It declared this ruin to be the result of the Divine working. "And he will stretch out his hand," etc. (ver. 13). 3. This stern doom thus pronounced has literally come to pass. Modern research has been amply rewarded in the evidence which has thus been supplied of the fulfilment to the very letter of God's declarations uttered through his holy prophets. " The Word of the Lord endureth for ever." II. THE SOLEMN REFLECTION. (Ver. 15.) 1. In reading these words we are led to feel that the prophet had a vivid realization of the future, and of the changes which were to take place. He saw "the rejoicing city" full of worldly prosperity, and hd saw it likewise in its desolation, and his heart was moved as he reflected upon the instability of mere earthly greatness and might. 2. He traced the coming overthrow of the Assyrian power to its true causes. (1) Pride. "That said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me" (ver. 15). (2) Selfishness. "There is n(J'Tl,e beside me." Her interests centred in herself. There was no regard for the rights of others. She sought only her own ends, and sought by oppression and cruelty to make all surround- ing nations tributary to her own worldly splendour and prosperity. And fostering this unholy spirit, she "dwelt carelessly," crying," Peace and safety," wrapt in carnal security, until at length "sudden destruction" came upon her, and she was left in her desolation, silently yet emphatically to proclaim to all after-ages that true prosperity for nations, as for individuals, lies not in material greatness and worldly aggrandizement, but in the cultivation of the fear of God nnd in rectitude and righteousness of life.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vera. 1, 2.-.A call to repentance, addressed to the nation of Judah. I. THE CON- DITION OF THE NATION DESCRIBED. Not its physical or material, but its moral or religious, condition. The former prosperous nnd fitted to inspire vain thoughts of stability and permanence. Its upper classes devoted to money-making and pleasure- seeking (eh. i. 8, 12 ; cf. Jer, iv. 30); its lower orders, here not the victims of oppression (eh. i. 9; iii. 1; cf. Jer. v. 27, 28; vi. 6), well-fed and comfortable (Jar, v. 7, 17). The latter degenerate aud deservwg of severe reprehension. 1, Irreligioi,s. THE BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH. [<m, n. l-1,o.