His type came to the cave there to be a captain over every one who was in distress, in debt, and discontented with themselves (1 Sam. xxii. 1, 2).

The verse in the second chapter and tenth verse countenances this interpretation: "Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted." We must all come to this frame of mind; to discontentment with our sinful, mortal state; to a sense of its pollution; and seek one that is "incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away.”

In Micah iii. 5, 6, 7, is a prophecy of those four hundred years between the prophets and the Messiah. It had been said many times: "The JEHOVAH hath sent unto you His servants the prophets, rising early and sending; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear." But now it is said: "The sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. There is no answer of God." But the speaking prophet added: "Truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the JEHOVAH, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin."

The fact that the JEHOVAH was the Author of the Bible is plain to every reader of it. And that Author was at once the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

How remarkable is the fifth chapter! The King of Israel might take up arms against Judah, as is recorded in the page of history I have before referred to. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler

in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.'

Who was this whose goings forth had been from of old? JEHOVAH; we have seen no other; the Messiah, the very Christ. "He shall stand and feed in the name of the JEHOVAH, in the majesty of the name of the JEHOVAH his GOD."

Thus did these voices come forth from time to time, proclaiming Him who was to come; but He was then to His people what He would be. "The Word was God." He was the Eternal God. "From everlasting, God."

In His own reference to the sixth chapter (Matt. x. 35; Luke xii. 52, 53), we see the distinction and opposition between His kingdom and the kingdom of this world. The one shall be set up in the heart of a son, a daughter, a father, a mother, and meet with the greatest opposition from those of their own house; while the world may be set up in the hearts of others, and be very difficult to overcome. But we ever see God thus dividing the light from the darkness, and we worship Him in His Almighty work.

NAHUM.

The commission given to the Prophet Nahum was entirely to proclaim judgment against Nineveh. “The burden of Nineveh."

We must remember that Jonah had as expressly been sent to preach repentance, and to proclaim mercy. "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way."

We may suppose this occurred about two hundred

and eighty years before Nahum was sent to proclaim immediate judgment. "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown" (Jonah iii. 4).

Days, throughout Scripture, when spoken of in this way, commonly mean years; and the common way of computing time by the Jews was 40 × 7 = 280. In the book of Tobit there is a remarkable mention of Nineveh, and of its destruction (xiv. 3, 4, 15). But the remains, in the perfect state in which they have lately been found, lead us to suppose that it must rather have been destroyed by some natural cause than by an invading army. The Ninevites had forgotten the preaching of Jonah, turned again to their idolatry and their sins; but the history, like all other history, shows us how God gives space for repentance; and also His intention concerning the Church in the world. We have seen her in Egypt, in Babylon, and now in Nineveh, like a light on a hill that cannot be hid. "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."

But the prominent feature of this book is the prophet's exaltation and laudation of the supremacy of JEHOVAH over all nations and all gods. Assyria had sorely oppressed Israel, the Divine light sent to her, and now she must learn, to her cost, the power and the justice of Israel's God.

"God is jealous, and the JEHOVAH revengeth; the JEHOVAH revengeth, and is furious; the JEHOVAH will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserveth wrath for His enemies.

"The JEHOVAH is slow to anger, and great in

power, and will not at all acquit the guilty: the JEHOVAH hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up the rivers."

This may have been a reference to the passage of the Red Sea and of the Jordan; but in the prophecy of the destruction of Nineveh, there was also one of supernatural help from the Almighty.

"With an over-running flood He will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue His enemies" (Nahum i. 8).

"The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved" (Ib. ii. 6).

And profane history tells us that this was fulfilled. In the third year of the siege the river became swollen from continual rain, overflowed part of the city, and broke down a part of the wall; when it is said the king collected all his riches, concubines, and eunuchs, and, with himself, burnt them all in the palace.

"What do ye imagine against the JEHOVAH? Hẹ will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time." No more time for repentance.

"Who can stand before His indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him.

"The JEHOVAH is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him. "There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the JEHOVAH, a wicked counsellor."

This seems to be a prophecy of Judas, as in

Psalm cix., but are not all traitors, who are not spiritually allied to Christ?

"Thus saith the JEHOVAH; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when He shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.”

This is again repeated, to show us how long time God does strive with all to awaken them, to show them His government, His kingdom, and His grace in the midst of them. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." By how many voices and providential dealings does God knock at the heart of man, of the world? But at last He says: "My Spirit shall not always strive with man," and the flood of destruction

comes.

"The JEHOVAH hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile."

And as in our day we have seen Nineveh disinterred, her gods, her images of creature worship, and her palaces laid open, do we not stand with awe over this word of the JEHOVAH ? Is not that disinterment now, His voice a second time to the great Nineveh of this world? to the great metropolis to which her ruins are brought? Oh, thou busy, mercantile nation, of gods many, and of lords many, of vanities and follies not a few, go and reflect over that opened grave; see if thy progress is in proportion to heaven's bestowment and advance; or if the heart of the human family, of the family of God, is