LEC. VI.]

ing child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den.

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glory."

The prophet had been speaking of the glorious appearing Messiah, to exercise his beneficent reign; when the poor in spirit shall have the promised kingdom of heaven, and when the meek shall inherit the earth. Preparatory to this, "He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay THE WICKED."-This same Wicked is also spoken of in Psalm l. 16—23; which compare with 1 These, ii. 8. Look also at Daniel vii. 8—12, and compare with what is here said, Isaiah xi. 9. All these passages speak of the same grand consummation of tyranny, that concentration of iniquity, that personification of wickedness, in which the great empires that have lorded it over the land and people of Israel terminate. The bond of wickedness is then broken; and those that had been as wild beasts preying upon the mountains of Israel,—the Roman wolf,—the Grecian leopard,the Median bear,—and the Babylonian lion, are separated from each other; and associated with those whose influence is holiness and peace. The knowledge of the Lord destroys their evil influence. They no longer seek to ravage the holy mountain, but flow up thereunto for lessons of love, and to become more largely possessed of the true riches. This destruction of Antichrist takes place in the northwest, from which the prophetic line of empires stretches back eastward along the north border of the land.

Thus, back and forward along this north-western line, are we constantly led by the prophetic word, down from the very time of the Assyrian captivity, when Isaiah prophesied; and that as pointing forward to the time when

67

Shiloh shall come in his glory; and when unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

In Isaiah ix. 8—21, x. 1—4, there is a very striking series of paragraphs each ending with,

"For all this his anger is not turned away, But his hand is stretched out still."

Upon more minute examination, it will be found that they consist each of about fourteen lines, and may thus be viewed as regular sonnets. They refer to that house of Israel which, at the time the words were spoken, was being taken away captive by the Assyrians. They describe, in a very animated manner, the several degrees of the punishment of Ephraim; and seem to give very clear indications of the place of Israel's sojourn. The first of these sonnets, 8—12, describes the punishment of Israel, immediately before being removed out of the land. The second, 13—17, describes their being cut off entirely from the land, and also to the view of the world, by the Assyrian captivity. The third, 18—21, describes them when out of the land, as being at war, one portion with another; and as being all of them against Judah; which supposes them to be grown into a number of hostile nations, and in the same countries with the Jews. The fourth, ch. x. 1—4, seems to describe a dreadful course of trial, which would precede their great deliverance; and for which they would, probably, be unprepared. The first points the words expressly at Israel or Ephraim (ver. 8—12):—

"The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know—Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, that say, in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. Therefore the Lord shall set up the foes of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together. The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind, and they shall devour Israel with open mouth.

For all this his anger is not turned away, But bis hand is stretched out still."

68

Thus was Ephraim in the land, to be so surrounded with thorns and briers, as that a removal out of the land, would, by many of them, be rather accepted as a boon. Others of them, however, would be loath to leave the land of then- fathers, at the same time that they would not leave their sins; and, for such, a more severe judgment was prepared,—the casting of the whole body of the people forth of the land; the entire extinction of their glory as a nation: and so the second of these sonnets proceeds (ver. 13—17):

"For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of Hosts. Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel, head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.

The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail; for the leaders of the people cause them to err, and they that are led of them are destroyed.

Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows; for every one is an hypocrite and an evil doer, and every mouth speaketh folly;

For all this his anger is not turned away,
But his hand is stretched out still."

The entire removal of Israel having thus taken place; and they having been brought out into the northern wilderness, we are next presented with a view of their condition there, as still undergoing punishment (ver. 1821):

"For wickedness burneth as the fire; it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the mounting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of Hosts is the land darkened; and the people shall be as the fuel of fire; no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry, and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied; and they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm; Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they, together, shall be against Judah.

For all this his anger is not turned away, But his hand is stretched out still."

This strikingly describes the condi tion of the northern nations, at the time of their being driven in upon the

[LEC. VI.

Roman Empire. The slaughter and rapine which resulted were prodigious; during which the different nations of Europe were dreadfully racked by wars with each other. But however opposed among themselves, they all united in persecuting the Jews: their power of doing which is here plainly intimated.

The next, and last sonnet, carries us forward to a more settled state of things, to outward appearance; when wrong would be perpetrated, not so much by open violence, as by force of law, and unjust legislation, to the injury of the rights of the poor and needy; the depriving the poor of bread, or the preventing their free enjoyment of the word of life. Glory, and triumph, are spoken of; but that in language full of warning; and, upon which we have no pleasure in dilating. It may be that this (ch. x. 1—4) synchronizes with the third woe, which cometh quickly,—referred to in Rev. xi. 14.

"Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; to turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? To whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain.

For all this his anger is not turned away, But his hand is stretched out still."

Thus are we, by this very interesting line of prophecy, led directly to our own part of the world, as to the place of Israel's sojourn. Let it be again remarked, that the prophecy cannot apply to Israel, as being in some corner of the earth, shut out entirely from other people; and where they could have no opportunity of manifesting their hatred of their brethren, the Jews. Nor can the words be fulfilled in them as being under some mighty empire; such, for example, as that of China, where they would be without

LEC. VI.]

the power of warring with each other, or of letting Judah feel their power. To no people does this series of songs so apply as to the nations of Europe. Yes, although Israel seemed to be cut off from hearing the word of God, the word, after all, hath lighted upon Israel. And Israel, even Ephraim, shall know the truth of the word which hath been spoken respecting him.

We

Its being prophesied that the word would light upon Israel, or Ephraim, and that they would know that word, is most consistent with God's purpose respecting Israel, as having been designed to become the administrators of that word to the nations. may, therefore, not expect to find them out of the course of that word; but, as it were, in the highway thereof. Let us, then, see if we can discover this, the highway of the word of God, the great outgoing of light to the world. If we glance at Mimpriss's map, displaying the course of our Saviour's ministry, as described in the Gospels, (a map abundantly useful in other respects, and not originally designed to illustrate this particular subject,) we shall see, at once, that these journeys all went out northward. Although the greater part of the tribeship of Judah lay south of Jerusalem, we do not find one journey of his, in that direction, recorded, after the flight into Egypt, in his infancy. It is northward, through Samaria, that we trace the course of his journeys; and it is round about the coasts of the most northern part of the land, Galilee, that he went preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and disease among the people. And it was when in his farthest journey in that direction, on the coasts of Syro-phenicia, that he pronounced the important words, "I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." His mission was, comparatively, not to other people, as it was to the lost house of Israel:—After the sheep, who had wandered into the north country, were, ever and again,

69

drawn the feet of their good Shepherd, who came to seek and to save that which was lost. His mission to the nations, promised to come of Israel in the north country, was mo fully carried out by his Apostles. Look at the great extent of Africa to the south, and of Asia to the east, where anciently existed mighty empires; and where such myriads of human beings have been produced: and then look north-west, at this comparatively small quarter of the globe, Europe:—and look now at Mimpriss's most valuable map, describing the journeys of the Apostles, as recorded in the Acts, and see, again, how they all go out towards our own part of the world. Journeys may, doubtless, have been made to other parts of the world, where scattered portions of Israel were; but the inspired record leaves, as it were the world behind, and closes in our attention towards this part of the globe, in which the word of God was, ultimately, so to take root, and spread abroad, to every land; and this as having reached the nations that we suppose to have come of Jacob. Every successive journey was, as it were, a farther development of the gospel north-westward. It was to Samaria, to Damascus,—to Antioch, -to the cities of Asia Minor: and in this course the Apostle was divinely inspired to proceed still farther; being constrained, as well as invited, to pass over into Europe; and then through the cities of Greece: and, in short, from Jerusalem, round about, unto Illyricum, was it that he could say, "I have fully preached the gospel of Christ." The providence of God led him farther still in the same direction, to Rome itself. But even this was not to end his journeys hitherward; his purpose being to proceed as far west as Spain. Some have hazarded the conjecture that he even preached the gospel in Britain; but the Divine Record does not carry us, at this time, so far. It may, perhaps, be said that Paul was influenced to proceed in this course, because here,

70

in the west, was the capital of the empire, into connection with which the Jews had then come. But this is not correct; for, independent of the supernatural influence in the case, which is plainly avowed, we find, (Rom. xv. 24,) that when Paul expressed his purpose in the matter, it was not so much to make Rome the special object of his journey, as the much farther point, Spain; and he intended calling at Rome, as being on his way to the more western country, anciently called Tarshish. Paul, and his fellow disciples, who ministered the word of God that was to light upon Israel, we thus find, all followed out the course indicated by the great Shepherd of the sheep; and that, (being uniformly north-westward,) directs our attention to our own part of the world, as being that in which the lost sheep of Israel may be found.

Thus far the spoken word: and now, as to the written word. It might be expected that although no apostolic journeys are recorded as being made to the other more extensive and more populous portions of the globe, that, at least, some of the epistles would be sent into those quarters: but no. If we look to Paul's Epistles, we find them all sent out in the same course as were his journeys; all to places lying between us and the land of Israel. All point to this part of the world, in which the grand doctrine of free and full justification through the blood of Jesus by faith,—where the great doctrine advocated by this apostle, has been so clearly brought out, and proclaimed to the world. The Epistle of James is expressly sent to Israel; "To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad." This hath missed its direction, if it hath not come to the places where the twelve tribes are to be found,—if Israel be not among the people on whom hath lighted this word of God. It does not address a people who have not heard the word of God; but a people making a great profession of faith, but more strong in doctrine than in practice; and re

quiring to he aroused out of antinomian sluggishness, into a more full and consistent practice of Christian virtue; and especially into the brighter exhibition of that spirit of love which becomes the Gospel. It recognizes a state of society very like our own; more like, than may be found in any other part of the world. The Epistles of Peter, which are sent to the same royal priesthood—to the holy people now scattered abroad, expressly points northward: being addressed, "To the strangers scattered throughout Pon tus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia," all places in our direction from the land of Israel. The Epistles of John and Jude, although no names are given, are equally applicable as to their contents. It is here that these, with all other parts of Scripture, have been read, translated, and spread abroad. It is true, we as yet know but little of the Bible; but, more than any other people, we have made it our own, and the things which it saith, it saith to them that are under its hearing, whether with regard to the law or the Gospel.

To sum up all, we have our attention turned in the same direction by the Apocalypse, that closes the volume of Inspiration. There we find the good Shepherd, by his voice from heaven, amply confirming the indications of his personal ministry when upon earth; and still expressing a peculiar interest in the north-west; in the north-west, in Asia, over against Greece, where the seven churches to which were first directed the seven epistles in the commencement of this wonderful book.—And, by the most esteemed commentators, the book is supposed to proceed more and more in the same direction, until it closes the detail of judgment in our own part of the world when the grand mystery of God is disclosed; and the great events of which all the prophets witness, speedily ensue. There is then the effect of every vision; and a rending of the veil which hath been spread over all people. The Book of Revelation fills up the gap of prophecy

LEC. VI.]

—Concisely to recapitulate:

If there be proportion between the seed of Abraham, and the other nations of the earth: as is specially avowed, with reference to Israel, (Deut. xxxii. 8)—then are we led to look for the lost children of Jacob, among Japhet's posterity, in the northern portion of our globe. Again: it is assumed that the Restoration of Israel shall be one of the grand consummations of prophecy—of those prophecies whose tenour has reference to a beneficial change of the very face of nature, and which affect universal mankind: the whole creation groaneth and travaileth together, until now," waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God," (Rom. viii. 19, 22;) when, in the place where it was said unto them,

"Ye are Lo-ammi (not my people —Gentiles,)"—it shall be said unto them,—"The sons of the living God!"

—when the children of Israel, and the children of Judah, shall all be gathered together, under one Head; when

great shall be the day of the seed of God," Hos. i. 10, 11). If so, then are we led to look for the lost house of Israel, and especially, for Joseph's posterity here in the north-west: for the plain indications of Old Testament prophecy, and the whole course of its descriptions, all point north-westward; while the indications which New Testament history presents, of the personal ministry of Christ,—the "Good Shepherd" who came to seek and to save "the lost sheep of the house of Israel;" extended, as these indications are, to similar purport, by the full expression of apostolic solicitude, -of the "heart's desire" of those who carried out from Jerusalem the ministration of Christ's Gospel, as expressed, fervently, in the whole course of their recorded preaching, and in their epistolary communications, both of which were under the immediate direction of the Spirit of God: all these corroborate the inferences to be drawn from the language of the Older Record.

71.

If, therefore, the Word of God, as contained in either the Old or the New Testament, be intended to throw light upon this interesting—this momentous subject, which, from its uniformity, we may justly infer it is designed to do, -then are we of necessity led to look for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, in the north-west—in our own part of the world, whither the Word of God hath ever followed them, and where the whole course of his Providence testifies to this truth of the word of Prophecy.

He that scattered Israel, promised to gather them, and keep them as a shepherd doth his flock. And He hath indeed proved a shepherd to Israel; He hath led Joseph like a flock. Upon Him may we now in truth call,—

"Turn us again, О God, And cause thy face to shine, And we shall be saved."

And, when he shines forth in his