employ a nation for its own ends and purposes. It may use it as a means of vindicating the law of Righteousness in the world. But if the conquering nation is itself working against the Law of Righteousness, its triumph shall be of but short duration. Assyria, for example, is employed for the chastisement of God's own people, Israel.

"O Asshur, the rod of Mine anger,

In whose hand as a staff is Mine indignation!

I do send him against an ungodly nation,

And against the people of My wrath do I give him a charge,

To take the spoil, and to take the prey,

And to tread them down like the mire of the streets."

But the Assyrian misconstrues his mission.

"Howbeit he meaneth not so,

Neither doth his heart think so;
But it is in his heart to destroy,
And to cut off nations not a few."

He is puffed-up with success.

"For he saith:

'Are not my princes all of them kings?

Is not Calno as Carchemish?

Is not Hamath as Arpad?

Is not Samaria as Damascus ?

As my hand hath reached the kingdoms of the idols, Whose graven images did exceed them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;

Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, So do to Jerusalem and her idols?'"

He boasts of his achievements and the havoc he has wrought among the nations.

"By the strength of my hand I have done it,
And by my wisdom, for I am prudent;

In that I have removed the bounds of the peoples,
And have robbed their treasures,

And have brought down as one mighty the inhabitants;

And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the peoples;

And as one gathereth eggs that are forsaken,

Have I gathered all the earth;

And there was none that moved the wing,

Or that opened the mouth, or chirped.”

He does not realize that he is merely an instrument.

"Should the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?

Should the saw magnify itself against him that moveth it?

As if a rod should move them that lift it up,

Or as if a staff should lift up him that is not wood."

His punishment is sure to come.

"Therefore will the Lord, the Lord of hosts, Send among his fat ones leanness;

And under His glory there shall be kindled

A burning like the burning of fire.

And his Holy One for a flame;

And it shall burn and devour his thorns

And his briers in one day.

And the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field,

He will consume both soul and body;

And it shall be as when a sick man wasteth away.

And the remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, That a child may write them down."

Egypt, Tyre, Assyria, Babylon, Israel - each in turn falls because of egoism, arrogance, and iniquity. The sword is dashed from the hand of each because of its defilement the very sword once used as a

-

weapon in the hand of God.

"O sword, O sword keen-edged,
Furbished for the slaughter,

To the uttermost, because of the gliterings;
While they see falsehood unto thee,

While they divine lies unto thee,

To lay thee upon the necks of the wicked that are to be slain,

Whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity of the

end!

In the place where thou wast created, in the land of thine origin,

Will I judge thee.

And I will pour out Mine indignation upon thee,

I will blow upon thee with the fire of My wrath; And I will deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, Skillful to destroy.

Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire;

Thy blood shall be in the midst of the land,

Thou shalt be no more remembered;

For I the Lord have spoken it."

Here, again, we have a most significant parallel to present conditions. For what purpose Providence is using the sword of the Germans, we cannot tell. But this is certain, that no matter how many its victories, it will be thrust back into its sheath, and shattered, because it has served to fill its owners

with conceit, a.rogance, and cruelty to make them drunk with power. The day of reckoning must come for the furious military power of to-day, as it never failed to come to its predecessors, and when it has come, it will mean a step forward for the cause of Righteousness in the world.

"I will break Asshur in My land,

And upon My mountains tread him under foot;
Then shall his yoke depart from off them,

And his burden depart from off their shoulder.

This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth;

And this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the

nations.

For the Lord of hosts hath purposed,

And who shall disannul it

And his hand is stretched out,

And who shall turn it back?"

THE PEACE IDEAL OF THE BIBLE

THE invariable sequel of war has been a longing for durable peace. It is part of the rhythm of life. In the wake of great wars have followed projects for the abolition or prevention of war. The classical proposals of permanent peace, as those of William Penn and Immanuel Kant, originated in periods of terrible wars. To-day we witness a similar scene. The very unexampled magnitude of the war, with its horrors and sacrifices, has served once more to reveal the horror of war, and to revive the ideal of perpetual peace. The noblest leaders of the age are hoping that the termination of the War will be such as to advance the cause of durable peace, and that that may be one of the ends for which America and the Allies are shedding their blood. We hope for durable peace not because we are afraid to fight, nor because we fear or grudge the sacrifices of war, but because we realize that if human life were rightly organized and conducted, war would cease of itself, as an unnecessary evil.

This realization we find expressed very distinctly in the Bible. The loftiest ideal of universal peace is set forth in its pages, and this is so much the more remarkable, seeing that most of the Bible is con

103