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yea, "shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." While we live upon God's promises now, and rejoice in the present portion of strength and comfort which they bring to believers in Jesus, let us look forward and rejoice in hope of the salvation of Israel,-"our gathering together into Jesus," the glory-the kingdom-the renewal of creation—and “God all in all." 66 Then," says one, our position will be found not so much in the promises, as wrapt up in the Promiser." To inherit all things will be great indeed; but "I will be his God, and he shall be my son," is greatest of all. "Rejoice we then in God's Word as those that find great spoil; " but most of all let us "rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

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Oh, for fellowship with the adoring Psalmist, as he surveyed the wondrous works of God, and exclaimed, "Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, thou art become very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty." His whole subject was before him; the heavens in their grandeur, the earth in its beauty, and all brought from nothingness by God's word of power. Providence supplying all, governing all, was contemplated. And then, the end, the glorious end,-a renovated world, a redeemed creation blooming in eternal beauty; and amidst all these wonders and prospects;-himself, a speck, an atom, a worthless sinner, not overlooked, but cared for, called by grace, pardoned, blessed, comforted, consecrated to God now, and destined to his highest glory. With all this before him, what language so fitting to his lips, or to ours who share his blessings and his hopes, as " BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL!" May the time soon come when, creation's groanings for ever over, all God's works shall praise Him, and His saints, in whom His word has been fulfilled, eternally bless Him. For this they are redeemed-a company "like the stars for multitude"-even to be the leaders of that song the chorus of which shall be furnished by all the creation of God, "Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." (Rev. v. 13.)

"Now from the glories of His throne,
He bends to view this earthly ball;

Sees all, as if that all were one,

Loves one, as if that one were all ;
Rolls the swift planets in their spheres,
And counts the sinner's lonely tears."

Notes on Scripture.

ISAIAH XXXIV. and xxxv.

WHY does the word of prophecy so often introduce the terrible scenes of judgment? The answer may be manifold. It is to teach us the holiness and justice of the Lord's name; it is to teach us the truth of all his most awful denunciations against sin; it is to assure us that he is not slack concerning his threatenings, any more than his promises; for the day of fulfilment hastens on. But it is also, by these views, to

urge men to escape the death to come. words of Montgomery

We may safely apply the

"'Tis mercy writes the lines of judgment there.

None who from earth can read them need despair."

At the same time, the scenes of judgment and of mercy themselves are kept quite distinct. It is thus in chaps. xxxiv. and xxxv. now before us. The 34th chapter exhibits from v. 1-10 the scenes of the day of the Lord; and from 11-17 a scene which will for ages be a witness to earth that that day is assuredly coming. But chap. xxxv. carries into the millennial blessedness, after these terrible scenes of judgment are past and gone. The judgments of the day of the Lord usher in the mercy of the millennial age. Let us go into details.

I. The Day of the Lord.-Chap. xxxiv. 1-10.

We have (v. 1) all earth, all creation, "the things that come out of earth," summoned; for Rom. viii. 19-21 testifies to the interest which all creation has in that day of God; and Ps. xcvi. 11, 12, and xcviii. 7, 8, represent the very fields and trees sharing in that day's results. Then we have (v. 2) “the indignation of the Lord" (comp. xxvi. 20) 66 upon all the nations" and upon "all their armies." Is not this the gathering of the kings of the earth to Armageddon? Is not this the time when "the nations are angry?" Is not this the confederacy of the beast and the false prophet? In v. 3 the slaughter and the bloodshed are predicted, quite as in Rev. xiv. 20, and xix. 17, 18, as well as other places of the prophets; while v. 4 tells of the signs in sun, moon, and stars-the shaking not of earth only, but also heaven. How like to Rev. vi. 13 is the image of the “falling fig from the figtree," when the stars seem to the eye of man to fall from their places. Surely this is no other than the day of the Lord!

But vers. 5, 6, 7 conduct us to one special corner of this great battle-field-they lead us to Edom and to Bozrah. Speaking characteristically, the Jewish prophet is led to point particularly to a region which already was known to have provoked the wrath of God, namely,

Edom, and its strong fortress, Bozrah. There, he says, yes there, the sword of the Lord shall descend on that day. On the day of the Lord, the land of Edom shall be a contrast to Israel's land in its final doom, even as it all along rejected the covenant of Jehovah, though so near to his temple. On that day, the old controversy of the Lord for Zion shall come to remembrance (v. 8) at the time when he is pleading the controversy of Zion against the gathered nations of that time. In other words, the Lord will "remember Edom's children" and Edom's land, on the day when He is remembering the wickedness of Antichrist and his hosts. (Ps. cxxxvii. 7.)

But let us explain yet more the appropriateness of introducing Edom and Bozrah. The hosts of Antichrist that day shall stretch from Megiddo, or Armageddon, southward as far as Bozrah in Edom. The centre of the great army rests on Jerusalem, in the valley of Jehoshaphat; but the northern wing is in the valley of Megiddo, and the southern wing extends to Edom and its fortress Bozrah. Hence, when the Lord descends to destroy these hosts, He is described at one time (Rev. xvi. 16) as closing the work of judgment in Armageddon, at another time as closing it in the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel iii.), and at another as coming up from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah

(Isa. Ixiii. 1).
and the land is made fat with their blood.

He scatters the combined hosts, wings and centre;

II. The Memorial of that Day to be left in Edom.

But this is not all. At vers. 9, 10 we are told that the land of Edom shall remain a monument of vengeance to the whole earth. It shall in that day occupy somewhat of the place which the sea of Sodom now occupies. That Dead Sea is to be healed when Israel is restored (Ezek. xlvii.); but earth is still to have an example of eternal fire-a more plain and unmistakeable evidence of a hell that never is quenched. For now the part of Edom where its fortress stood shall become a real burning lake no more waters, but,

"The streams thereof shall be turned into pitch,

And the dust thereof into brimstone,

And the land thereof shall become burning pitch."

Here is predicted a catastrophe more permanent to the observation than that of Sodom and Gomorrha; and the prophet adds,

"It shall not be quenched night nor day;

The smoke thereof shall go up for ever:

From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
None shall go through it for ever and ever."

It would seem that when Israel's land is again flowing with milk and honey, because they have received and welcomed their Lord and Saviour, and when earth at large is enjoying its jubilee, this one portion of earth shall remind men of the past scenes of the day of the Lord's vengeance-of an eternal hell! While at Jerusalem, the throne

of glory gives men a glimpse of the blessedness of being in the kingdom-this smoke and fire give men a warning of the doom of the despisers of the Saviour. A visible heaven, and a visible hell!

III. An Assurance to the World that that Day is Coming.-V. 11–17.

Some have been much puzzled here how to reconcile the preceding verses, which tell of fire and burning pitch, with the living animals that are now brought into view; and some have argued that this latter part of the chapter being irreconcilable with the former, we ought not to press the literal sense at all in any portion of it. But the difficulty is not so great as might appear at first sight.

The prophet now defines the spot where this fiery judgment is to be exhibited. It is to be that region where "the cormorant and bittern"— the kaath and the kangfud—the owl and the raven, make their abode; where nobles once resided, though none are there now; where thorns, and nettles, and brambles cover ancient palaces, while serpents (dragons), and owls, wild beasts of the desert, and howling creatures, and shaggyhaired goats (satyrs), and screech owls, and vultures are all found together, making the courts and rooms and dwellings of princes their abode and their nestling-place. Every one knows how this applies to Petra and that part of Edom; Dr Keith and other travellers have most fully illustrated the fulfilment of this prediction. And here it is that the prophet says judgment is to remain for ever after in that burning, and brimstone, and smoke. Where now these animals lodge, every one with his mate," there shall hereafter be found burning, and smoke, and endless fire. Just as in Jer. xlix. 13-18, "Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse;" and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes."

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But the prophet here does more than define the spot. His words (v. 16, 17) are very emphatic, "Seek ye out of the book of the Lord and read: none of these shall fail, not one of these creatures shall want its mate" (to hatch there). Why speak thus ? Why tell so specially that the Lord's spirit gathered them to that spot, as he gathered the animals into Noah's ark? Why tell us that this is so? All in order to fix attention on this desolation. But why fix special attention on these desolations? Because, when the world witnesses them, it may thereby learn that as sure as this part of the prediction has come to pass, so shall the former part. As in chap. xxxiii. 5, 6, he described the Lord reigning in Zion, and the felicity of those times when the Lord so reigns, yet suddenly, at vers. 7, 8, 9, reverted to what was to precede that time of felicity; so he does here. Without any note of warning, having described the scenes of that terrible day of the Lord, he here, at v. 11 and onwards, reverts to what is to precede that day. like chap. xxxii., where from 1-8 the events of the king's reign in righteousness are spoken of; then suddenly at v. 9 the judgments that ere then would rest on Israel. It is like vii. 17, where, after uttering in full the prophecy of Immanuel yet to come, he suddenly returns to predict

It is

that ere ever that day come there shall be judgments on Ahaz and his house. This, it would seem, is the prophet's manner.

We might further say, that this chapter in special, in its structure, reminds us of 1 Kings xiii. In that passage is foretold an awful judgment on Jeroboam's altar and kingdom, four hundred years thereafter; and meanwhile there is a present rending of the altar as a sign, and pledge, and assurance that that greater judgment would surely come. The present state of Edom, and of Petra its capital,* is to the world a sign and pledge of the coming of the day of God with all its accompanying scenes. It is but of late years that the true state of Edom and Petra has been known; and its becoming known in our day may be reckoned among the signs of the times. The world has before its view that desolation of Edom, which is a sure pledge of what remains to be fulfilled. The destruction of Jerusalem is not a more sure token of the fulfilment of all spoken by our Lord in Matt. xxiv. about his coming, than is desolate Edom of the arrival of the great day.

IV. The Blessedness of Earth and of Israel, after these Judgments have come to pass.-Chap. xxxv.

" Wil

"Wilderness and waste shall be glad!" is the abrupt note of the prophet, after describing the scenes of calamity and judgment. derness and waste shall be glad!"+ Not confining it to Israel's land, he nevertheless has his eye on the desolate places of Judea, now to be the very contrast of the cursed land of Edom! Wilderness and waste blossom abundantly. Wilderness and waste are full of joy and singing. Lebanon's glorious richness has been given to the "waste and the desert," the and the ; the excellency and the beauty of Carmel and Sharon have been given to this long desolation (fem.). But why all this change? The prophet explains when he adds the words,

"Men (2) see the glory of Jehovah,
The excellency of our God."

The curse on earth is removed, because the curse on men's souls is gone. The blight that rested on Israel's land is gone, because Israel now see in Immanuel the Lord their God. Now may the sinking hands and tottering knees take courage; now may the impatient (James v. 8), the, who thought that he would never come, cease their fears, for

"Behold your God!”

* We think there is strong evidence from Jer. xlix. 7, 22, and other places, that Bozrah may be Petra. It is 7, "fortress"-and that term might be applied to many towns; like Magdala, "tower." Hence, probably, one of the names of Petra was Bozrah, q.d., strong city.

+ The in D

is probably as if we said, "They shall be glad among themselves;" but others, " on account of these events;" others, more special still, 66 on account of these nations" (xxxiv. 2), that is, on account of what happens to them.

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