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THE Lord engages to be ever with Israel, and that for salvation. seems to be here intimated that Israel would be scattered among various nations, that would come to nought; whilst Israel would gradually get stronger and more numerous. Thus would they come to inherit the Gentiles, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations. It is Israel who is here more particularly spoken of, the desolate woman, who was to have many more children than Judah, than she which hath an husband. Israel was to break forth on the right hand and on the left; her Maker was to be her Husband, the God of the whole earth shall He be called. God, in the words before us, promises to limit the judgment, so as that Israel shall be preserved. They shall be corrected in measure, with fatherly chastisement, for their good. This we believe to have been eminently the case with regard to these our nations.

It may be farther remarked that, as when the Return was more particularly spoken of, v. 10, the first and two last lines, of the six, referred to Judah, and the other three lines, speaking of Salvation, pointed more to Israel; so here, when Salvation is more the theme, the first and two last lines seem particularly to refer to Israel, and the central three to Judah. Of Israel it is said,

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"For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee." He said he would follow outcast Israel, and be to them as a little Sanctuary in the countries into which they should come. Still would he be claiming to be King in Israel, whose four leading standards, of Judah, Ephraim, Reuben, and Dan, are supposed to have been the same in figure with the description given of the four living creatures. He would be in the midst of the camp of Israel, to save them, to procure their free justification, through faith in the great Propitiation, with the blood of which the mercy-seat, the throne of the King of Israel, is sprinkled. He would be near to cleanse them, and write upon the table of their hearts the law of his kingdom;—as formerly his law was written upon tables of stone, and deposited in the ark upon which the mercy-seat was placed. He was so to be with them, as that, when they came to recognize him as the God of their fathers, He might be able to say, "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee."

To Judah the words seem more particularly addressed—" Though I make a full end of all nations, whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee." The Jews have been scattered among many na

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tions; and those among whom they were first dispersed, have perished. Those among whom they are now scattered, here, in the north-west, have not perished; but rather have increased, and are rapidly spreading themselves over the globe. But wherefore this difference? Is it because these have not together been against Judah? No, but because they are their own flesh and blood,—the lost house of Joseph, unto whom, as in Egypt, these his brethren have come down to buy corn, as when the famine was sore in the land. To obtain the means of preserving their souls alive have they come: and they have fed at Joseph's table, and yet they knew him not, and he hath also dealt with them as they were not true men. He hath indeed spoken roughly to them -yet hath he been prosperous, and been given power, where he first appeared as an outcast stranger: for this is he to whom the words are addressed, "But I will correct thee in measure; and will not leave thee altogether unpunished." God had purposed to save the house of Joseph; but unalloyed salvation would have been more than he could bear; and so not altogether, although almost, would he be left unpunished. "In measure when it shooteth forth thou wilt debate with it; He stayeth his rough wind in the day of his east wind." He would be corrected as he was able to bear; and punished, not for destruction, but in mercy and for healing.

This careful preservation, on the part of the Keeper of Israel in their midst, is described at the opening of the third seal, Rev. ch. vi. ver. 5, 6. There is seen going forth a black horse, the sign of condemnation: "And he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand." There is a weighing out of just judgment upon the enemy. But what is the voice of Him who saith, "I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee?" What saith He who is in the midst of the four living creatures? It is a voice commanding an amelioration of the threatened evil, so that Israel may be preserved alive

[SEAL III.

in the famine, that he may be corrected, but in measure; and that the means may be left for his comfort and healing. Thus may we rest perfectly assured that Israel cannot have perished, amid the convulsions of empires, or the wasting of other judgments. These might indeed wear out the nations among whom they had come, but Israel would assuredly abide, and be bettered by even his severer changes. So have the original inhabitants of Europe melted away, or been pushed into corners, or become merged in the race we identify with Israel: who have ever continued to grow; and, in general to be improved by all that has befallen them. So has it in general been in all the countries into which they have come. As surely as the Jews have been kept alive among them; so surely have these nations, that have sprung of the other house of Israel, multiplied, and been lifted into power, and given cause of rejoicing, and the means of spreading the joy of the Lord among all people, as was promised would be the case with the heirs of the promises made unto the fathers; and which promises Ephraim was to inherit.

The expansion of this third seal we have Ezek. xxxvi. 16—38. Israel is there recognised, v. 19, as scattered among the heathen, and dispersed through the countries; and as having profaned the Lord's holy name whither they went: and yet for the sake of that Name he promises to save them. The people here spoken of seem more particularly to be of the house of Judah; who are generally by Ezekiel called Israel, as by way of distinction he calls those of the ten tribes "All Israel." He whose name they had profaned in the midst of the heathen, has been still in the midst of them. And he will save them temporally, taking them from among the heathen, and gathering them out of all countries, and bringing them into their own land. And he will save them spiritually, giving them to be born of water, v. 25, and of the Spirit, v. 26. And so having cleansed them from evil, and put his

SEAL III.]

own Spirit within them, he will give them to see the kingdom of God.

It seems to he to this portion of Scripture that our Lord more particularly refers in his conversation with Nicodemus. A ruler of the Jews, a master in Israel, ought to have known these things, which regard the preparation of that people for the kingdom of God. Ere the Jews can enjoy the promised blessing of rest in the land, that promise which is here given must be fulfilled, ver. 25. "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall he clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you." And not only must they repent of their former wickedness, hut be filled with the fruits of righteousness, as in v. 26. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." And the great cause of this cleansing and filling is here pointed out; and the effect is stated with equal plainness, when it is said, v. 27. "And I will put my Spirit within you; and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my statutes, and do them." Then it is that they shall dwell in the land that he gave to their fathers, and they shall be his people, and he will be their God—so shall he save them unto glory; and then shall the judgment of famine, threatened in this seal, be removed. "I will call for the corn, and lay no famine upon you; and I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen." "And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden. Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities

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be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord." They shall know that He is the Jehovah, the ever-living, life-giving, life-preserving God.

Thus have we seen, from this third security, Jer. xxx. 11, that the utter extinction of other nations is no good ground for believing that Israel also may have perished. The Ever-living Jehovah gives himself to be in the midst of his people for their preservation; so that, although the nations among whom they have been scattered should perish, they shall remain. They shall not be lost among other nations, although other nations may be supplanted by them. What may be for the destruction of others, will he for their correction and consequent improvement. The Jews have been preserved among the Fulness of the Nations that have been thus dealt with; and who, by every other evidence, vindicate their being descended of the lost brother of Judah: even of Joseph, whose offspring, bred up in ignorance of their fathers' toil and origin, have indeed been made fruitful, so as, like their father, to have the power of distributing bread unto the nations.

We have seen that, whilst the rider on the black horse betokened famine, He who is with Israel had appointed a sufficiency to be reserved for his people, which can only be had for Judah in the camp of Israel.

We have seen from the expansion of this seal, Ezek. xxxvi. 16—38, that Israel, scattered among all nations, would be preserved of the Lord, not because of their own merit. This goodness of God towards Israel is not to lead them to self-complacency, but repentance: let them prize Him whose name hath been put upon them, and search into the riches of that Name. They have been sustained in the midst of famine; and shall be restored to a land which shall no more devour its inhabitants, and in which they shall not know the reproach of famine any more. As sure as that land hath devoured its inhabitants, shall it yet bear its fruit for Israel restored.

Thy wound is grievous.

These words most strikingly express the utterly lost condition of Israel in themselves; and as plainly intimate that their recovery can only come from God. And that this recovery shall come, is as clearly expressed, by the fact that this description of the con-dition into which they brought themselves, is inserted in the very centre of the fullest assurances of the Lord's purposes, with regard to their preservation, restoration, and full salvation: as by Himself accomplished, through their beloved King, who was to be raised up, v.9; their Governor, that was to proceed from the midst of them, v. 21.

The words appear to point to both Israel and Judah, but first and last to the former, whose outward destruction was more complete. Thus, "Thy bruise is incurable," did indeed characterize Israel's case as being bruised by the Assyrian, even to the being trodden down like the mire of the street: from

which fallen and trampled-upon condition, there was no restoration to the land. Of Judah it might be said, "Thy wound is grievous;" for, although they were allowed to return from the Babylonish captivity, yet the wound still remained painful and open: the kingdom was never restored to the house of David; they were never entirely able to defend themselves from sur

rounding foes. To Israel it might truly be said, "Thou hast none to plead thy cause that thou mayest be bound up:" be cured of her bruise, and given the form of a body politic in the sight of the nations. And although this pleading took place in behalf of Judah, so that their restoration wss confirmed to Nehemiah, and their preservation in other countries granted at the suit of Esther, still they had no "healing medicines," that could effectually cure the wound that had been inflicted upon them. And at length all the

Again, of Judah it might be said, when the wound was so made to bleed afresh, upon the irreconcileable enmity arising between them and the Romans; and when they were utterly expelled from their land, and not even allowed to look back to Jerusalem, "I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy." And by the same power that brake in pieces the whole land, and trampled the residue under the feet thereof, were Israel attacked in the north country, and even "with the chastisement of a" still more" cruel one." The punishment of the Jews, the known descendants of Abraham, was doubtless for the multitude of their iniquity, as filled up in their hatred and crucifixion of their promised Messiah; saying, "We have no king but Cæsar;""not this man but Barabbas." And true it was of the unknown children of Joseph, that the increase of their sins brought upon them the chastisement they received. To weeping Judah it now seemed to be said, "Why criest thou for thine affliction? Thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity." Having rejected the only Physician by whom they can be cured, and their restoration effected, they have been left with their grievous wound till this day. And surely to these nations, that have come of Joseph, it may be said, notwithstanding their nominal submission to Christ, "Thy sins were increased." And how is our guilt indeed increased by the consideration of what the Lord hath wrought? Contemplating this pleasant land, and the goodly heritage of the hosts of nations over which we

have been placed in power; with all the blessings of the heavenly glory in view, and all the riches of the earth poured at our feet; our minds presented with all the stores of science, and our hands filled with all the instrumentalities of art, we are not to say, "Mine own wisdom hath gotten me all this;" or "mine own idol hath executed it:" but we should hear the most gentle reproof of our Father, while He is saying, "I have done these things unto thee." It is He that hath raised up Israel as from the dead; and, so far as we could bear, fulfilled unto us the promises made unto the fathers: He has been giving us the birthright blessing, the double portion, for all our sins. And, having been given this knowledge, may we know, that the goodness of God leadeth us to repentance. Well may we say, "What hath the Lord wrought!" Soon may the words of the parable be fulfilled in the whole case of Ephraim, " This my sou which was dead is alive again; he was lost, and is found."

Desperate indeed, as that described in the text, was the case of Israel when brought into the wilderness in the north country, and when the Lord more especially interposed in her behalf, and spoke words of peace unto her: presented himself unto her as her good physician; and offered to cover her nakedness with his own most perfect righteousness. This is the very time in which from the beginning he said he would relent over lost Israel; see Dent, xxxii. 36—39.

"For the Lord shall judge his people,
And repent himself for his servants,
When he seeth that—power is gone,
And—none shut up or left.

And he shall say, Where—their gods?
The rock in whom they trusted;
Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices,
—Drank the wine of their drink offerings?
Let them rise up and help you,
Be your protection.

See now that I,—I,—He,
And—no god with me;
I kill, and I make alive:
I wound, and I heal:
Neither—that can deliver out of my hand."

It is not so much Judah which is here referred to: she hath long for