THE TRIUMPHING OF THE WICKED 18 SHORT, AND (G. 5.) The residue of the history of the public ministry of John the Baptist, according to St. Luke. Luke iii. 18-20. 18 19 And μev ovv Kau many other-things in-his-exhortation preached-he-unto the people. But Herod the tetrarch, being-reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's 20 wife, and for Tep all the-evils Townрw which Herod had-done, added yet this above all, that he-shut-up John in prison. SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS. 19. Herod the tetrarch-surnamed Antipas-see Lu. iii. 1, p. 49-killed John the Baptist-see § 40-mocked Jesus, &c., Lu. xxiii. 8-11, § 90. NOTES. Garner. A repository where thrashed corn is laid up or preserved. In the East, the garner is generally subterraneous, or partly so, but covered down, and thatched over. Spiritually, it is the store-house into which Jesus Christ, as the true husbandman, collects his precious harvest. Lu. iii. 17. But he will burn up the chaff. These words evidently allude to the Jewish practice of burning the chaff, or coarse and broken straw. The Jews themselves describe it thus; Then comes the threshing: the straw they throw into the fire, the chaff into the wind; the wheat they keep on the floor. So the nations shall be burnt; but Israel alone shall be preserved.' Isa. i. 28, 31. 28, And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed. 31, And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.'-Comp. Mt. xiii. 40—.2, § 33, p. 260. Wicked men, particularly hypocrites, are likened to chaff; Ps. 1. 4, The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.' The following is extracted from a recent publication: A large threshing-floor was near, (see p. 54, His floor,) and we put many questions to the peasants in regard to their farming operations. A flat board, which is drawn over the corn to bruise it, is called loah. It is made of two or three boards firmly united, and the bottom is spiked with stones, arranged at regular distances, not unlike the nails in a ploughman's shoe. It is drawn by two horses or oxen, a boy sitting upon it, and driving them round and round. This instrument is universally used. The wooden fork, used for throwing the corn up in the air, is called midra; and the flat, hollow, wooden shovel next used for a similar purpose, is called raha. The latter is evidently the fan of the New Testament. When this implement is used, the wheat falls down in a heap on the threshing-floor, while the chaff is carried away by the wind, and forms another large heap at a little distance. The peasants do not burn it, but give it to their cattle, see is. xxx. 24; and it is so perfectly dry, that were it set on fire, it would be impossible to quench it. These simple customs strikingly illustrate the words of David.'-See also the last Note, p. 54, Chaff-Narrative of a Mission of Inquiry to the Jews, pp. 64, 116. 18. Preached he, &c. He evangelized the people;' proclaimed to them the gospel.-See Ac. viii. 25. 19. Herod the tetrarch.-See above, & Note,' p. 49. PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS. 15, .6 ver. Let us take example from John, not to put our own performances in place of Christ, nor to put the sign in the place of the thing signified. cleansing power of the truth, as in the light of Him 'whose eyes are as a flame of fire.'] 19, 20 ver. It is dangerous to be in a position of worldly authority. Whilst the people could bear to be reproved, and whilst the publicans and soldiers even asked to be directed by John, Herod could not allow his sin to be pointed out. [16 ver. John acknowledged that it was only with water he baptized, and that the baptism of the Holy Ghost was yet to be ministered by Jesus: this was the principal thing to be desired. We are to be washed from all our filthiness as with pure water; and to this purifying, let every trial, however painful, conduce. Let us willingly submit ourselves to the GEOGRAPHICAL JUDEA. See Historical Sketch,' p. ix. - See ADDENDA, Pontius Pilate. GALILEE.-See Historical Sketch,' p. ix. ITUREA-So called from Jetur, one of the sons of Ishmael, Ge. xxv. 15; 1 Ch. i. 31. It was situated on the east side of Jordan; and was taken from the descendants of Jetur by the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. TRACHONITIS.-Has Damascus on the north, Iturea 20 ver. It is better to be a sufferer in the cause of truth and righteousness, as was John, than to have, like Herod, the power of adding to our guilt. NOTICES. on the south, Arabia Deserta on the east, and Batanea on the west. It derived its name from the Trachones mountains Khiara. Philip obtained these regions from the Romans, on condition that he would extirpate the robbers. ABILENR. It was to the south of Baalbec; formed part of Colo-Syria, between Libanus and Anti-Libanus, and north-west of Damascus. THE RIVER JORDAN.-See Sect. 8, p. 60. ADDEND A. 'PONTIUS PILATE,' p. 49. Pontius Pilate. Herod the Great left his kingdom to three sons.-See § 5, p. 35. He left Judea to Archelaus, who reigned nine years; when, on account of his crimes, he was deposed by Augustus, and banished into Vienne, and Judea was made a Roman province, and placed entirely under Roman governors, or procurators, and became completely tributary to Rome. Pontius Pilate was the fifth governor that had been sent. He was probably an Italian, & was the successor of Gratus, in the government of Judea, A. D. 26 or 27. He was a most obstinate, passionate, covetous, cruel, and bloody wretch, tormenting even the innocent, and putting people to death without so much as a form of trial. Taking offence at some Galileans, he murdered them in the court of the temple as they offered their sacrifices, when they assembled to eat the passover, Lu. xiii. 1, 2. This, as our Saviour hint ed, was a prelude of the Jews being shut up in their city, and murdered. Wicked as he was, his conviction of our Saviour's innocence caused him to try several methods to preserve his life. His wife too sent him word to have nothing to do in condemning Jesus, as she had a terrible dream about him. When the Jews accused our Saviour of calling himself the Son of God, Pilate was the more afraid, as he suspected he might be so. They then cried out, he would be a traitor to Cæsar if he dismissed Jesus. Dreading a charge of this nature, he washed his hands, and protested that he was innocent of Jesus' death, and then condemned him to be crucified. Guided by Providence, he, instead of an abstract of the causes of condemnation, caused to be written on our Saviour's cross, This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, which at once declared his innocence, royalty, and THE FOOLISH SHALL NOT STAND IN THY SIGHT.-Psalm v. 5. [55 THE JOY OF THE HYPOCRITE BUT FOR A MOMENT.-Job xx. 5. EVIL PRINCIPLES LEAD TO EVIL PRACTICES, AND MANY PASS THE ROCKS OF The Pharisees were the most numerous and wealthy sect of the Jews, supposed to have originated about 150 years B.C. They derived their name from the Hebrew word Pharash, which signifies to set apart, or to separate, because they separated themselves from the rest of their countrymen, to peculiar strictness in religion. Their leading tenets were the following: that the world was governed by fate, or by a fixed decree of God; that the souls of men were immortal, and were either eternally happy or miserable beyond the grave; that the dead would be raised; that there were angels, good and bad; that God was under obligation to bestow peculiar favour on the Jews; and that they were justified by the merits of Abraham. They were proud, haughty, self-righteous, and held the common people in great disrespect, Jno. vii. 49, But this people who know not the law are cursed.' They sought the offices of the state, and affected great dignity. They were superstitiously exact in paying tithe of the most trifling articles, while in general they neglected the weightier matters of the law. They were of opinion that good works might claim reward from God, and ascribed an extraordinary degree of merit to the observance of rules, which they had themselves established as works of supererogation. Of this sort were their frequent washings and fastings, their nice avoidance sect. of reputed sinners, their rigorous observance of the sabbath, and the long prayers which they ostentatiously made in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets. Trusting in themselves that they were righteous, they not only despised the rest of mankind, but were entirely destitute of humility toward God; yet their hypocritical display of zeal for religion gave them great influence over the common people, and consequently great authority in the Jewish state. Some of the laws of Moses they maintained very strictly. In addition to the written laws, they held to a multitude which they maintained had come down from Moses by tradition. These they felt themselves as much bound to observe as the written law. Under the influence of these laws, they washed themselves before meals with great scrupulousness; they fasted twice a week-on Thursday, when they supposed Moses ascended mount Sinai, and on Monday, when he descended; they wore broad phylacteries, see Mt. xxiii. 5, § 85, and enlarged the fringe or borders of their garments; and loved the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues. They were in general a corrupt, hypocritical, office-seeking, haughty class of men. There are, however, some honourable exceptions recorded, Ac. v. 34. 'SADDUCEES,' p. 52. The Sadducees are supposed to have taken their name from. Sadok, who flourished about 260 years before the Christian era. He was a pupil of Antigonus Sochæus, president of the sanhedrim, or great council of the nation. He had taught the duty of serving God disinterestedly, without the hope of reward, or the fear of punishment. Sadok, not properly understanding the doctrine of his master, drew the inference that there was no future state of rewards or punishments; and on this belief he founded the The other tenets they held were: 1st. That there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit, Mt. xxii. 23, § 55; Ac. xxiii. 8; and that the soul of man perishes with the body. 2d. They rejected the doctrine of fate. 3d. They rejected all traditions. They carried their ideas of human freedom so far as to assert, that men were absolutely masters of their own actions, and at full liberty to do either good or evil. Some of these tenets led, as might be expected, to great profligacy of life; hence we find the licentious wickedness of the Sadducees frequently condemned in the New Testament. It is commonly alleged, that the Sadducees denied the authority of all the sacred writings, except the Pentateuch. They considered Messias as a great temporal prince, who was to erect a vast monarchy, wherein all nations were to be subjected to the Jews. This appears from their flocking to John's baptism along with the Pharisees, desiring to be prepared for his coming. Confining all their hopes to this world, enjoying its riches, and devoting themselves to its pleasures, they might well be anxious that their lot of life should be cast in the splendid reign of this expected temporal king, with the hope of sharing in his conquest and glory; but this expectation was so contrary to the lowly appearance of our Saviour, that they joined their inveterate enemies, the Pharisees, in persecuting him and his religion." In point of numbers, Josephus says, the Sadducees were an inconsiderable sect; but their numerical deficiency was amply compensated by the dignity and eminence of those who embraced their tenets, and who were persons of the first distinction; and several of them were advanced to the high-priesthood. The great and the rich are apt to prefer the pleasure and grandeur of this life, to any expectancy in a future state. 'ON THE MINISTRY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST,' p. 49. 'John began his ministry probably Oct. 5, U. C. 779, the assumed date of his nativity when he completed his thirtieth year, about the feast of Tabernacles, which began this year on Sept. 15, and expired Sept. 22. We may conjecture that it would begin after, not before the 10th of Tisri, and the expiration of the feast itself. If it began at this time, it might last until the day of his imprisonment, as nearly as possible, seven months; but until April 5th, the day of the commencement of our Saviour's ministry, at the Passover,-Jno. ii. 13, U.C. 780; exactly six months.' -Greswell, Vol. II. Diss. xix. p. 183. Those who maintain the longer duration of the ministry of John are too apt to regard him as a simple Levite; than which there cannot be a more gross mistake. The son of Zacharias was a priest, and the son of a priest; by each of his parents lineally descended from the founder of the priesthood; and capable to have represented the Levitical high priest himself. It can hardly be necessary to observe, that the sacerdotal order, among the Jews, was entirely distinct from the Levitical: their origin was different; their duties and privileges were altogether of a su perior rank; and, what is more, were incommunica 56] ble to others: so that to degrade a priest to the level of a Levite, would be as great a presumption as to raise a Levite to the degree of a priest. The priests were the lineal progeny of Aaron: the twenty-four courses, which embodied them all, were entirely derived from Eleazar and from Ithamar, the only two sons of Aaron who survived after the death of Nadab and Abihu. The Levites were descended from the rest of the family of Levi; Merari, Gershon, and (excepting only the particular family of Aaron) Kohath. The strictness of the law for the preservation of the line of the priesthood is well described by Josephus. Contr. Ap. i. 7, ii. 8; vide also 2 Ch. xxxi. 16-9; Ezr. ii. 62.'-Ibid., Vol. I. Diss. xi. p. 374. The scene of this ministry is laid by St. Matthew, and by St. Mark, at its commencement, in the wilderness of Judæa; which does not mean an absolute desert, but a plain and champaign country, devoted to pasturage, and, though comparatively remote from the more populous parts, yet not unoccupied by vil lages. Thus Josephus mentions Baλayav...kwun otoav iv Tỷ phu a village in the desert.-Ant. Jud. xiii. i. 5. The principal scene of his ministry, we learn from St. Luke, was the Perichorus of Jordan: SHALL ANY TEACH GOD KNOWLEDGE?-Job xxi. 22. GROSS SINS WHO ARE SHIPWRECKED ON THE SANDS OF SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS. ISAIAH XXXIII. Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they 2 shall deal treacherously with thee. O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of 3 trouble. At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered. 4 And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts 5 shall he run upon them. The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judg6 ment and righteousness. And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength_of 7 salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure. hold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the am8 bassadors of peace shall weep bitterly. The highways. lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth 9 no man. The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their 10 fruits. Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I 11 be exalted; now will I lift up myself. Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, 12 as fire, shall devour you. And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire. Be 13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye 14 that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlast15 ing burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, 16 and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shalí dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters 17 shall be sure. Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far 18 off. Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that 19 counted the towers? Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not 20 understand. Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, nei21 ther shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. 22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, 23 the LORD is our king; he will save us. Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a 24 great spoil divided; the lame take the prey. And the inhabitants shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. ISAIAH LXIII. Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty 2 to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? 3I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will 4 stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. 5 And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it 6 upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth. 7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to 8 the multitude of his lovingkindnesses. For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: 9 so be was their Saviour. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. | 10 But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: there (56) fore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought 11 against them. Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within 12 him? that led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to 13 make himself an everlasting name? that led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that 14 they should not stumble? As a beast goeth down into. the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glori 15 ous name. Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained? 16 Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting. 17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance. 18 The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy 19 sanctuary. We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name. NUMBERS IX. And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of 2 Egypt, saying, Let the children of Israel also keep the 3 passover at his appointed season. In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it. 4 And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they 5 should keep the passover. And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel. 6 9 And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and 7 before Aaron on that day: and those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the LORD in his appointed season among the children 8 of Israel? And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 10, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep 11 the passover unto the LORD. The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat 12 it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it according to all the ordinances of the passover 13 they shall keep it. But the man that is clean, & is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the LORD in his 14 appointed season, that man shall bear his sin. And it a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the LORD; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land. And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the 16 morning. So it was alway: the cloud covered it by 17 day, and the appearance of fire by night. And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel 18 pitched their tents. At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents. 19 And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge 20 of the LORD, and journeyed not. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the LORD they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the 15 Lord they journeyed. And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was 22 taken up, they journeyed. Or whether it were two [Continned-see next page.] days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried 12 upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but 23 when it was taken up, they journeyed. At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses. JOEL I. The word of the LORD that came to Joel 2 the son of Pethuel. Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in 3 your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their 4 children, and their children another generation. That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath 5 left hath the caterpillar eaten. Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, 7 and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. 8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the 9 husband of her youth. The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; 10 the priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn. The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: 11 the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the 12 harvest of the field is perished. The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered 13 away from the sons of men. Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, fie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. 14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD, 15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. 16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and 17 gladness from the house of our God? The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. 18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks 19 of sheep are made desolate. O LORD, to thee will I ery: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of 20 the field. The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness. JOEL II. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, 2 for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of 3 many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape 4 them. The appearance of them is as the appearance 5 of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: 7 all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and 8 they shall not break their ranks: neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be 9 wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a 10 thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be 11 dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: and the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with 13 weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God? 15 16 solemn assembly: gather the people, sanctify the conBlow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a gregation, assemble the elders, gather the children. and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her 17 closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? 18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity 19 his people. Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no 20 more make you a reproach among the heathen: but I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up. and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things. 21 22 will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the 28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream 29 dreams, your young men shall see visions. and also 30 days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonupon the servants and upon the handmaids in those ders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, 31 and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great 32 and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. ZECHARIAH VIII. Again the word of the LORD of 2 hosts came to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and 3 I was jealous for her with great fury. Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts 4 the holy mountain. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in 5 his hand for very age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets 6 thereof. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? 7 saith the LORD of hosts. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will save my people from the east 8 country, and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness. 9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, 10 that the temple might be built. For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or [Continued-see next page.] AS TREES WITHOUT FRUITS ARE UNPROFITABLE; SO KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT WORKS IS ABOMINABLE. ADDENDA-(continued). the proper name of which was the Aulon,-Hieron. Oper. ii. 393, ad calcem, De Situ et Nominibus; described by Josephus.-B. iv. viii. 2; Ant. xvi. v. 2,-as two hundred and thirty stades in length, one hundred and twenty in breadth-intersected by the Jordan, enclosed on either side by mountains; desert and barren, and reaching from the southern extremity of the lake of Tiberias, to the northern extremity of the lake Asphaltites. The locality of this Perichorus appears to have been chosen as the fittest scene for the ministerial labours of John, because when overflowed by the Jordan, and laid under water, without being too deep, it would afford the greatest facilities for baptism, or immersion. The scene, thus chosen, seems to have been ever after the same; Bethabara or Bethany, Enon or Salem; all contiguous places, or not very remote. from each other: the former in Peræa, on the eastern side of the Jordan, the latter in Galilee, on the western. The locality of Bethabara continued to be still pointed out by tradition, even in the time of Origen-Oper. iv. 140. A-142. A. in Joan. tom. vi. 24; but whether correctly or not, may be doubted. The preponderance of critical reasons makes rather in favour of Bethany beyond Jordan, than of Bethabara. Such a country was well adapted for the supply of John's peculiar food, àpides Kai ypior, locusts and wild honey, as the desert had been previously for the materials of his dress. Clothes made of hair, in general, are alluded to by Josephus as characteristic of poverty, or a mean state of life, B. i. xxiv. 3, Ant. xvi. vii. 3. The Perichorus of Jordan, for a great part of its extent, bordered upon Judæa; hence, among those who resorted to the baptism of John, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and of Judæa are specified among the first. It is, however, a circumstance of resemblance between John's ministry and our Saviour's also, that both appear to have been almost confined to Galilee, or to the dominions of Herod Antipas, beyond the jurisdiction of the Jewish sanhedrim.'-Greswell, Vol. II. Diss. xix. pp. 183-..5. The first character in which John is represented, upon the public assumption of his ministerial office, is that of an herald, or proclaimer, of the tidings of the kingdom, accompanied by the conditions of faith -that is, belief in the tidings, and of repentance, or reformation of life, as a consequence of the belief, Mt. iii. 1, 2, § 7, p. 50. His next character is the character of a baptiser, Mt. iii. 5, 6. Another, and a third character, is that of a teacher of morals, as well as of a preacher of the kingdom, Lu. iii. 10-.4, § 7, p. 53. A fourth, and the last character, is that of an harbinger of the Messiah, or of one commissioned to bear express testimony to the approaching advent of the Christ, Mk. i. 7, 8, § 7, p. 54. Besides these characters, we meet with no more: and of these the first and the last alone are really distinct; the intermediate two are not so much dif ferent from, as natural consequences of the first. The character of a preacher of repentance could not fail to include the character of a moral teacher; and the doctrine of the kingdom, as preached by John, being accompanied by the requisition of repentance, grounded upon faith in the approach of the kingdom, baptism was administered as the sign and seal of both. The administration of baptism, without any regard to the use of that rite among the Jews in the admission of proselytes, was a necessary part of the office of John; whether as a prophet of the kingdom, or as a teacher of morality: in which might be supposed to be comprehended the sum and effect of his ministry as both. The reception of baptism at his hands was the last and most decisive step, to declare the faith of the recipient in both the message and the authority of John. Hence it is that the final end of his mission, so far as these objects are contemplated by it, may be fitly described as simply and solely to baptize; that his ministry, regarded in the complex, might be called his baptism; that his personal denomination, both in the Gospels and out of them, is John & Barriors-John the baptizer; that St. Mark and St. Luke do each concisely express both his first and his second office in this one description, that John came preaching or proclaiming the baptism of repentance, unto remission of sins; and that St. Paul, in the synagogue of Pisidian Antioch, employs the same language: John having proclaimed, before the face of his entrance, baptism of repentance to all the people. - See Ac. xiii. 24.'-Ibid., pp. 150-..2. The Baptist wrought no miracles; but in other respects, whether as a preacher of the kingdom, or as a teacher of moral duties, he was absolutely the counterpart, and merely the forerunner of Christ.'Ibid., p. 155. The mission and ministry of John, as far as they were subservient to the future gospel dispensation, were the same in kind with the mission and ministry of our Lord himself, of the twelve and of the seventy, respectively, during the lifetime of Christ.'- Ibid., p. 157. The personal ministry of John is not to be regarded as distinct from the personal ministry of our Saviour, except in the order of succession: both were continuous, though individual parts of the same scheme or dispensation in general, which may be called indifferently either the ministration of the kingdom, or the ministration of the Messiah, as dis. criminated from the propagation of formal Christianity, or the ministration of the apostles. It may be said, however, that prophecy, both ancient and recent, had represented the ministry of John in a different light, viz., as the ministry of an herald, harbinger, or precursor specially in reference to the coming of Christ; and therefore as distinct from the ministry of Christ. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make Behold I do send straight his paths, Is. xl. 3-5. my messenger before thy face, who shall get ready thy way before thee, Mal. iii. 1. He shall be mighty be fore the Lord,... and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he himself shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous; to prepare for the Lord a duly provided people, Lu. i. 15-.7. And thou, child, shall be called the Prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; for the sake of giving knowledge of salvation to his people, by the remission of their sins through the tender mercies of our God; wherewith the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to shine unto those who were sitting in the darkness and shadow of death, whereby to direct our feet safely into the way of peace, 76-.9.-Ibid., pp. 170, ..1. If such had not been the original design of the ministry of John, would the prophet Isaiah have specified this, as the final result of that preparation which he attributes to the spiritual harbinger, that all flesh should see the salvation of God? For what is the salvation of God, but God the Saviour? and what is God the Saviour, but a crucified Saviour? and when was a crucified Saviour revealed, or seen, before the day of Pentecost, when the first Christian have said that John should get ready for the Lord, sermon was preached? Would the angel Gabriel λαόν κατεσκευασμένον? For what is this duly prepared or befitting people, but the members of his future church, his peculium among the Jews, the λoy, in short, of Israel? Would his father Zacharias have said, that he should go before the face of the Lord to give knowledge of salvation to his people? For when was the knowledge of salvation, that is, the knowledge of a Saviour, communicated in the lifetime of John? Or when were the tender mercies of God fully developed in the remission of sins, before the great forfeit had been paid in the sacrifice for sins, and human redemption was complete? Or when could the dayspring from on high be said to have shone forth on the darkness of the Gentile world, before the gospel was preached to that world? Or when were the feet of sinners, whether Jews or Gentiles, safely guided into the way of peace, before Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Captain of salvation, and the Prince of peace, had been distinctly proposed in all these capacities, to the Jew first, and afterwards to the Gentile ?'-Ibid., pp. 170, ..1, 181, ..2. HEAR INSTRUCTION, AND BE WISE, AND REFUSE IT NOT.-Prov. viii. 33. [57 OUR WHOLE LIFE SHOULD BE A LIFE OF REPENTANCE, AND SUCH AS NEEDS NOT TO BE REPENTED OF. |