may 1 I think, fairly represent the Bible, or God's special revelation to man : that is golden, that is lwminous, that is supe;rnatwrally Bupplied with the oil of inspiration. In fact, in the passage, the interpreting angel designates this candlestick, not as the Church, but as the "word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel." I make two remarks con- cerning this revelation. 1. It has in it sufficient to excite the inqu-iry of man as a student. The prophet, on seeing these wonderful objects, exclaimed," What are these, my lord?" He seemed to feel as Moses felt in relation to the burning bush, when he said, "I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not consumed." What wonderful things are in this Bible! It is a museum of wondem; and the greatest of all wonders is God manifest in the flesh. 2. It has an interpreter that can satisfy· man as a student. The angel to whom the prophet directed his inquiry promptly answered. "Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, 'l'his is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." The prophet here displays two of the lea.ding attributes of a genuine student of the Di vine. (1) Inquisitiveness. He inquires; and because he inquires, he receives an answer. Had he not inquired, the object would have remained an unmeaning symbol. The Bible is an unmeaning book to the great masses of mankind, because they do not inquire into its significance. Truth is only got by genuine inquiry. (2) Ingenuous- ness. The first reply of the interpreting angel to the prophet was, "Knowest thou not what these things mean? and he said, "No, my lord." At once he confesses his ignorance. "Let us," says Dr. Wardlaw, "imitate the twofold example-both that of inquisitiveness and that of ingenuousness. Let us be on the alert in our inquiries after knowledge; and in order to our acquiring it, never foolishly, and to save our pride and vanity, affect to have whe.t we have not." 'l'he man who develops these two attributes in relation to God's Word, has a Divine Interpreter at his side, namely, the Spirit of God, who will lead him into all knowledge. II. As A DOER OF THE DIVINE WILL. Man has not only to study, but to work; not only to get Divine ideas, but to work them out. " Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, 0 great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it ! Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also :finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts bath sent me unto you." The work of the prophet was to convey a message from God .o Zerubbabel, and the message he conveyed was a message to work. Man is to be a. "worker together" with God. I offer two remarks concerning man as a worker out of the Divine will. 1. That though his difficulties may appear great, his resources are infinite. Zerubbabel, in rebuilding the temple, had enormous difficulties. Those difficulties hovered before him as mountains. But great as they were, he was assured that he had resources more than equal to the task. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." By this is meant, not that human might and power are uot required, or are utterly useless, but Divine might would give aid to all honest effort and endeavour. The difficulties in a good man's path of duty rise often- times like mountains before him; but let him not be disheartened; those mountains are nothing compared with the might that is guaranteed. "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove," etc. 2. That though his efforts may seem fe~ble, his s1tccess will be inevitable. (1) The feebleness of human efforts is hers implied. "Who bath despised the day of small things?" (a) It is common to despise small things. Proud man will only honour what seem to hiru great things-conventionally great. A small house, a small business, a small book,-these are despised. (b) It is foolish to despise small things. A.11 great things were small in their beginni:ags. London was once a little ho.mlet; the oaken forest once an acorn. We do 11ot know what really are small things; what we consider small may be the greatest things in the universe. (c) It is con- temptible to despiso small things, Truly great souls ucvcr do so. (2) 'l'bc success of feeblo efforts is hero guaranteed. "He shall briog forth the hea.dstoue thereof with 48 THE BOOK OF ZECBARIAH. [OH, IV, 1-14..
~houtings, crying, Graoe, gre.oe unto it." Literally, the promise is that Zerubbabel, notwith8tanding all the difficulties he had to contend with in rebuilding the temple, Rhould ~ee it completed, should see the crowning stone laid on the building, amid the hosannah~ of the people: "Grace, graoe unto it I" So it will be with every genuine work to whioh a true man puts his hand in the name of God. It will be finished; there will be no failure, sucoess is inevitable. "As I live, saith the Lord, the whole cuth shall be filled with my glory" (Numb. xiv. 21).-D, T.