22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, 23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. 24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of

well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. 26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground. LECTURE 1100.

Sin the cause of the decay of nations.

In the visitation with which Jerusalem is here threatened, it is foreshewn, that the Jews would be a plague unto themselves, by their unruliness and unkindness to each other. So low should they fall through misrule, so thoroughly should Jerusalem be ruined, that men, ambitious of rule as they are, would shrink from the ruler's office; and the state would be given up to that lawless violence and mutual oppression, which follow on the overthrow of established government. By these general threatenings God seems plainly to signify, that calamity must overtake all without distinction. But still, He tells them, that He is at hand to judge. Still He would have the righteous assured, "that it shall be well with him," and the wicked that "it shall be ill with him." If the people are to be consumed, it is because "their doings are against the Lord." If the princes and mighty men are to be levelled to the dust, it is because "the spoil of the poor" is in their houses, and they beat the Lord's people to pieces, and they "grind the faces of the poor." And if the daughters of Zion are especially to suffer, it is because they "are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes;" therefore it is that their beauty must be disfigured with disease, and stamped with the brand of captivity, and all the finery in which they take delight exchanged for rags and nakedness. And it is because so many of each sex, and of every rank, are guilty, therefore must all suffer, therefore must Jerusalem be left desolate even to the ground. Ye who would know the causes of decay of nations, note these fearful dealings of the Lord. And remembering that He rules throughout the earth, and deals with all men on the same righteous principles, learn, that oppressiveness in those who govern, and insubordination in those who are governed, and that pride and luxuriousness in women, no less than the like sins prevailing amongst men, are sure to provoke his displeasure. And ye who in the midst of a sinful generation walk by faith with God, but tremble for the judgments provoked by man, be assured it shall notwithstanding be well with you. The state may perish, the world may be destroyed. But He whom you are serving still will reign supreme. And the kingdom which He has prepared for your inheritance will never fail.

The glory of the Branch of the Lord.

1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

2 In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.

3 And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:

4 When the LORD shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

5 And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.

6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.

LECTURE 1101.

The future holiness and happiness of the Church.

As far as prophecy consists of predictions, it must be our principal care to ascertain what it is that is foretold; and if this be an event that has already taken place, then to compare it with the prophecy, that we may be edified by observing the fulfilment. But herein lies one of the chief difficulties of interpreting the word of God. For whereas in general the interpreter ought to be acquainted with the original language of Scripture, with the date and subject of each book, with the life and circumstances of each writer, and with the history and customs of the time at which he wrote; so here he need further have before his mind's eye the whole history of the church and of the world, of the world as far as it is connected with the history of the church; that so he may be able to discern which prophecies relate to which events, and which, fitting no event yet past, must be referred to things that are to come. And in determining these questions, besides this extensive knowledge, the interpreter of prophecy must have sobriety of mind, soundness and impartiality of judgment, and a devoted love of truth, for truth's sake, or rather for the sake of God, whose truth he would fain interpret. Well may we ask humbly of a work so difficult, "Who is sufficient for these things?" 2 Cor. 2. 16. Well may we praise God thankfully for the many learned, wise, and holy men, who have wrought in this field of labour, and of whose various qualifications for the work we are privileged to reap the fruits.

As to the three chapters, of which this is the last, and which

are generally considered to form one whole distinct vision, we may collect from the best interpreters, that the destruction here denounced against God's chosen people under the Law, was fulfilled first in the Babylonish captivity, and next in the siege and thorough demolition of the city by the Romans; and that further it has a reference to judgments yet to come upon God's chosen people under the Gospel, who for their pride, worldliness, and idolatry, fully equal to those of the Jews, under circumstances of greater aggravation, have to undergo, ere the end of the world, disaster and disgrace, proportionably more signal and severe. On the other hand, the good things here promised refer in part to the return from the Babylonish captivity, and in part to the coming of Christ, to the preaching of his Gospel unto all nations beginning at Jerusalem, to God's sanctifying unto Himself the Christian church, and endowing it with inestimable privileges, such as it has been endowed with from the first; and further that they point also to a state of blessedness not yet realized, to a degree of holiness and happiness which has never yet prevailed to any great extent on earth, but which every Christian ought constantly to aim at in himself, and constantly to pray for, and to labour to promote, in behalf of all mankind.

This repeated fulfilment of the same prophecy in a succession of events, each of which is a kind of type of those which follow, adds greatly to the marvel of prophecy fulfilled, and to the proof thereby afforded, that God foreknows all things in his wisdom, and orders all things by his rule. It adds also to our conviction of the certainty of things which are promised as yet for to come. The past is a pledge and an earnest of the future. Much as we have already profited by the preaching of the Gospel, we feel no doubt that the glorious things here said of it have a further and future fulfilment. And that which we enjoy already in part, assures us of that which we shall enjoy hereafter wholly. If the horrors of warfare have been in any wise mitigated by the power of Christianity, so much the more may we be sure, that a period is coming, when they shall not "learn war any more." Ch. 2. 4. If the branch of the Lord,"

that Saviour whom Zechariah calls "the man whose name is The Branch," Zech. 6. 12, be now "beautiful and glorious," in the eyes of some, by faith, He will be hereafter more largely glorified, more generally loved, honoured, and obeyed, by those whom He died to save. They who profess his faith will no longer disgrace his name. The fountain opened in Him for all uncleanness will be thankfully resorted to by many more of sinful men. And "the spirit of judgment," and "the spirit of burning" having once again been applied to things that offend, the church will be all glorious without and within; a sanctuary of safety unto man, a temple meet for the indwelling of God.

The parable of the vineyard. Woes denounced.

1 Now will I sing to my well- they may be placed alone in the beloved a song of my beloved midst of the earth! touching his vineyand. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill :

LECTURE 1102.

The woe of sinning in the midst of privileges.

It would seem to be to God himself that the prophet sings this

song of God's own inspiring, and relating to God's own vineyard. Plain as is the application of this parable to the case of the Jews, it is no less plain and no less profitable to ours. Yes, for more has been done by God for us, more has been done by God in us. We have knowledge more full, privileges more excellent; life and immortality brought to light, Christ crucified for us, the Holy Spirit sent to be our Comforter, and the way of serving and pleasing God finally revealed to us, in the example of God's own Son, and in the words of Christ and of his apostles. How much then must God most reasonably expect of us! And we, alas, how far do we commonly fall short of that which He justly requires !

In the commonwealth of Israel the land was so divided, and its perpetual subdivision so provided for, that no one without violating the revealed Law could "join house to house," and "lay field to field," as here described. Shall we think that Christians have a larger licence to be covetous? Or can we doubt, that if we violate the spirit of this law, we shall be exposed to the visitation of the judgments here denounced? Though the Gospel lays down no rule for the partition either of land or of any other property, it is most opposed to a grasping disposition; and it is most plainly transgressed by every man, who selfishly amasses for his own pleasure, to the detriment of his brethren. With wealth like this there usually comes also luxurious excess; though this is a sin which is by no means confined to the wealthy. To follow strong drink, and to be addicted to revelling and feasting, to waste both time and means in festivity, without regard to God in the use of his good gifts, without consideration of the uses to which He would have us put them, these are habits prevailing in all ranks of society. And they are habits, of which under the Law and under the Gospel the end alike is woe. And in any case if God's people thus transgress, it must be "because they have no knowledge." They consider not that they are God's people. They have not the sense to reflect how high and holy is their calling, how inconsistent is the inheritance of heaven with a carnal and worldly life. Most fearful is the consequence, "Therefore hell hath enlarged herself." Most terrible is the thought, that these words are true, not only of the grave, not only of the region of departed spirits, but also of the place of torment! The justice of the Lord was magnified of old, by the captivity and the slaughter of the ungodly, and by the desolation of their country, in the hands of strangers. The same righteousness must be hereafter glorified on a larger scale, and by a more abiding judgment. And whilst many a gentle spirit, once alien unto God, will be found to have fed and thrived on the green pastures of the Gospel, there will be multitudes both of high and low, who from the eminence of their privileges possessed long, and largely, but in vain, must be thrust down, by the sentence of the Judge, to the depths of endless death.