to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall" (Isa. xxv. 4). privilege to his poorer neighbours; but the mis- 8. A strength in time of trouble. "The salvaconduct which often arises from a mistaken notion tion of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their on their part, of the right they have in the matter, strength in the time of trouble" (Ps. xxxvii. 39). might almost tempt him to exclude them alto-"Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength gether. Under proper regulations and restrictions, it is to be hoped that this custom, derived from scripture times, and made the subject of express directions to the people of Israel, may ever continue among us. But stealing, under the colour of leasing or gleaning, is one of the worst descriptions of theft; and all temptations to it should be avoided, by clearing the fields of the inviting sheaves before the poor are permitted to enter. But "Be not too narrow, husbandman, but fling From the full sheaf, with charitable stealth PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE ARRANGED STRENGTH. "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life."-JOHN v. 39. "Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning, grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that, by patience and comfort of thy holy word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen."-COLLECT FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT. I. Names of God with reference to strength. God is called 1. My strength. "Behold, God is my salvation: I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song: he also is become my salvation" (Isa. xii. 2). "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Ps. xlvi. 1). Additional-Exod. xv. 2; Ps. xviii. 2, xix. 14, xxii. 19, xxviii. 7, lix. cxviii. 14, cxliv. 1. 17, 2. The strength of my life. "The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life: of whom shall I be afraid?" (Ps. xxvii. 1). 9. A strong tower. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe" (Prov. xviii. 10). II. Signs of God's strength: 1. "By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea; which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with power" (Ps. lxv. 5, 6). Additional-Ps. xcv. 4. 2. "God is my king of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters" (Ps. lxxiv. 12, 13). 3. "Thou art the God that doeth wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people: thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph" (Ps. Íxxvii. 14, 15). 4. He hath showed strength with his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts" (Luke i. 51). III. Praises to God on account of his strength: 1. "Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength" (Ps. xxix. 1). Additional-Ps. xcvi. 6, 7; I Chron. xvi. 28; Rev. v. 12. 2. "Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power" (Ps. xxi. 13). 3. "We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done" (Ps. lxxviii. 4). 4. "Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob" (Ps. lxxxi. 1). 5. "Ó Lord God of hosts, who is a strong God like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?" (Ps. lxxxix. 8). "6. He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered? ... If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong; and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead ?" (Job ix. 4, 19). "Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any he is mighty in strength and wisdom" (Job xxxvi. 5). Additional 3. The rock of my strength. "In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength and my refuge is in God" (Ps. lxxii. 7). 4. My strong refuge. "I am as a wonder-Job xii. 13, 16; Ps. xxiv. 8. unto many; but thou art my strong refuge" (Ps. lxxi. 7). 5. The God of my strength. "Thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?" (Ps. xliii. 2.) 6. The strength of my heart. "My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever" (Ps. lxxiii. 26). 7. The strength of my salvation. "O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle" (Ps. cxl. 7). 7. "The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved" (Ps. xciii. 1). 8. "Trust ye in the Lord for ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength" (Isa. xxvi. 4). IV. Commands and injunctions about strength: 1. "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong" (1 Cor. xvi. 13). "Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work; for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts" (Hag. ii. 4). Additional-Zech. viii. 9. 2. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might" (Ephes. vi. 10). 3. "Seek the Lord and his strength: seek his face evermore" (Ps. cv. 4). 4. "We then that are strong ought to bear with the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves" (Rom. xv. 1). 5. "Turn ye to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope even to-day do I declare that I will render double unto thee" (Zech. ix. 12). V. Complaints: 1. "My life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of my iniquity, and my bones are consumed" (Ps. xxxi. 10). Additional-Ps. xxxviii. 10. 2. "My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death" (Ps. xxii. 15). 3. "And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord" (Lam. iii. 18). 4. "The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall: the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up" (Lam. i. 14). 5. "He weakened my strength in the way: he shortened my days" (Ps. cii. 23). 6. "What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life? Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass?" (Job vi. 11, 12). ví. Prayers: 1. "Bow down thine ear to me: deliver me speedily be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me" (Ps. xxxi. 2). 4. "Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress" (Ps. lxxi. 3). 3. "O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me: give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid" (Ps. lxxxvi. 16). "My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word" (Ps. cxix. 28). 4. "Cast me not off in the time of old age: forsake me not when my strength faileth" (Ps. lxxi. 9). 5. "Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us" (Ps. lxviii. 28). 6. "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.... that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man" (Eph iii. 14, 16)." For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness" (Col. i. 9-11). 7. "Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength" (Ps. liv. 1). 8. "O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more” (Ps. xxxix. 13). "Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come" (Ps. lxxi. 18). VII. Expressions of confidence: 1. "I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake; for; when I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Cor. xii. 10). 2. "Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength" (Is. xlv. 24). 3. "I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only" (Ps. lxxi. 16). VIII. Of the wicked with reference to strength: 1. "Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness" (Ps. lii. 7). 66 2. He stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty" (Job xv. 25). 3. "He saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent" (Isa. x. 13). 4. "Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the Rock of thy strength; therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips: in the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish; but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow" (Isa. xvii. 10, 11). 5. "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" (Isa. i. 31). 6. "The steps of his strength shall be straightened, and his own counsel shall cast him down" (Job xviii. 7). Additional-Job xviii. 12, 13. IX. Of the weakness of man's strength: "He 1. By strength shall no man prevail. will keep the feet of his saints; and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shal. no man prevail" (1 Sam. ii. 9). "The flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shal not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself" (Amos ii. 14). Additional Eccles. ix. 11. "The days 2. Our strength passeth away. of our years are threescore years and ten; and, if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away" (Ps. xc. 10). "Will 3. God does not esteem our strength. he esteem thy riches? No, not gold, nor all the forces of strength" (Job xxxvi. 19). "One 4. It is of no avail in and after death. dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease, and quiet....and another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them" (Job xxi. 23, 25, 26). “There is no man that hath power over the spirit, to re tain the spirit: neither hath he power in the day | thee: in whose heart are the ways of them” (Ps. of death; and there is no discharge in that war : lxxxiv. 5). neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it" (Eccles. viii. 8). X. The angels excel in strength. "Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his words" (Ps. ciii. 20). Ad ditional-Joel ii. 11. XI. General observations: 1. "Wisdom is better than strength" (Eccles. ix. 16). 2. Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men that are in the city" (Eccles. viii. 19). 3. "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength" (Isa. xxx. 15). 4. If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small" (Ps. xxiv. 10). 5. "They go from strength to strength: every one of them in Zion appeareth before God" (Ps. lxxxiv. 7). 6. "The way of the Lord is strength to the upright; but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity" (Prov. x. 29). 11. "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young the Lord shall renew their strength: they shall men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon mount up with wings as eagles: they shall run, and not be weary: they shall walk, and not faint" (Is. xl. 31). 12. "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord" (Ps. xxvii. 14). SUITABLE COLLECTS. First Sunday after the Epiphany. CHAMBERS OF IMAGERY*. L.A. THE name given, in Ezek. viii. 12, to the rooms in which Egyptian idolary was practised in Jerusa7. "Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the lem is "the chambers of his imagery," or, more sweet, and send portions unto them for whom no-literally, "in his chambers with images." thing is prepared; for this day is holy unto the Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehem. viii. 10). XII. Encouragements and promises : 1. "The Lord will give strength unto his people: the Lord will bless his people with peace" (Ps. xxix. 11). "O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God" (Ps. lxviii. 35). 2. Be of good courage; and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord" (Ps. xxxi. 24). 3. "In the day when I cried, thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul" (Ps. cxxxviii. 3). 4. "In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence; and his children shall have a place of refuge" (Prov. xiv. 26). 5. "Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble....The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languish ing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness" (Ps. xli. 1, 3). 6. "Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand" (Ps. xx. 6). "The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed" (Ps. xxviii. 8). 7. "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger" (Ps. viii. 2). 8. "It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect" (Ps. xviii. 32). Additional-1 Sam. ii. 4. 9. "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. xii. 9). xxiii. 6. Additional-Job 10. "Blessed is the man whose strength is in The event here referred to is so striking and so characteristic as to merit some special attention. Ezekiel the prophet, of a distinguished priestly family, had, with other eminent men, been (cir. 599, A.C.) carried away captive into Mesopotamia. There, in the exercise of his prophetic office, he gained great influence with his companions in exile, so that they were wont to apply to him for consultation and advice. On one occasion the elders had met together at the prophet's house, when, mourning over their lot, and wondering late as to the causes of these calamities-Why at the sorrows of Jerusalem, they began to specutheir deportation from home? why was Judah dark? The prophet has information to give. At an oppressed people? why was the future so the very time of the conference a divine form stands before him, carries his mind to the capital of his native land, and there leads him to see those idolatrous abominations for which God had brought, and was bringing, evil on his revolted people. he left Judah, how corrupt it had become. Yet Ezekiel, as a true servant of God, knew, when was he not prepared for the degree of wickedness of which he was now to be informed. In the interval, however, things had grown far worse. Untaught and unwarned by actual punishments, the priests and the people had given loose to their idolatrous and immoral propensities, in which they were encouraged by the regal power (2 Kings xxiv). The aggravated sin of Judah was to be exhibited, so as to justify the continuance of the national vassalage, and the necessity of yet more transported in vision from the banks of the Chebar severe chastisements. Ezekiel is accordingly (Ezek. i. 1) to the house of Jehovah, in Jerusalem. Here he is made to witness a most frightful desecration of the sanctuary. The very place that was set apart for the sole worship of the Creator • From the "People's Dictionary." London: Simpkin and Co. is defiled by the actual presence of the worst idol- | atries: the minister and guardians of the altar are faithless and corrupt. Carried by the Spirit to the part of the outer court which lay to the north, he took a position at the entrance of the door of the inner court, whence he saw idolatrous rites, which were being offered in the outer court, "the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy" (Ezek. viii. 3, comp. Deut. xxxii. 16, 21). Within the precincts of the temple of Jehovah, his degenerate people had erected an idol, and worshipped the work of their own hands. Opinions vary as to what divinity this was, being divided between Baal, Astarte, and Thammuz. As, however, the latter is distinctly mentioned in the third vision, and each of the three was worse than its predecessor, we think it unlikely that Thammuz is intended here. We incline to the opinion that Baal was meant, since the idol seems to be represented as standing in direct opposition to Jehovah ; and the worship of Baal, more than that of any other vanity, divided the hearts of the children of Israel with the only true and living God. (Travels, ii. 212), having with great difficulty, "The wildest images, unheard of, strange, The scenes painted on the walls of tombs, says Wathen ("Arts and Antiquities of Egypt," 260), "relate chiefly to death and the future state; funeral processions, mysterious ceremonies, the mummy laid out on a bier and attended by the deceased ushered into the presence of Osiris and his four attendant genii, hideous mythological beings, hawk-headed, crocodile-headed, snakeheaded. The gods of Egypt were men degraded, not deified; and their natures, if less debased than their form, were wrapped up in a shroud of allegoric mystery, which it was sacrilege to remove. The Egyptians, with a singular perversity, selected the lowest of their animals for their deities-the cat, the crocodile, the ape. Pliny affirms that they worshipped even onions and garlic; and Juvenal ridicules them for it." The next was an insight into the secret mysteries which the Egyptian party, strange to say, had succeeded in getting practised, not only in Jerusalem, but also in the national sanctuary. Idolatry must have been bold as well as powerful. As an indication of the hidden nature of the Egyp-jackal-headed Anubis, the final judgment, the tian abominations, Ezekiel is represented as making his way to survey the orgies through a wall of mud; a not unusual method of construction in Palestine, especially when haste was required. And when at length the prophet had penetrated through the wall, and through a secret door, he beheld what smote his heart with surprise and grief-" Lo, every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about." And, what was more surprising, there, in the midst of clouds of incense, and surrounded by idolatrous paintings, there, in this secret place, stood every man in the chambers of his imagery, and with his censer in his hand; seventy ancients of the house of Israel, at whose head, moreover, was Jaazaniah, illustrious by birth, now also forgetful of his ancestry and his God, and presiding over clandestine rites, which had mystery alone for their recommendation (Ezek. xi. 1). The description given in the sacred record is very characteristic. It is the transcript of a reality. No one, who is familiar with Egyptian antiquities, can fail to see a close correspondence between the description of this exotic worship in Jerusalem, and the native plant on the banks of the Nile. The wonderful progress made of late in the knowledge of Egyptian antiquities has done very much to throw light on the pages of the bible, confirming as well as illustrating its statements; but in no instance are the illustration and confirmation greater than in the case before us. Here, however, no single cut can bring the facts under the reader's eye. He must make himself familiar with the antiquities of Egypt, if he would be fully aware of the correspondence to which we have referred. A general and yet useful impression may be gained by a visit to the Egyptian gallery of the British Museum. We may, however, subjoin one or two facts. Madden Greater abominotions still were disclosed than even these chambers of imagery displayed. Directed to turn himself towards the north, Ezekiel looked, and "behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz." This was a Syrian idolatry; Tammuz, or Thammuz, being the Syrian Adonis, whose death, caused by a wild boar on the mountains near Byblus, the females of the country bewailed; and a neighbouring stream was supposed, at a certain period of the year, to run with blood, in sympathy for his loss. "Something like this," we quote Maundrell, "we actually saw come to pass; for the water was stained to a surprising redness, and, as we observed in travelling, had discoloured the sea a great way into a reddish hue; occasioned, doubtless, by a sort of minium or red earth, washed into the river by the violence of the rain, and not from any stain from Adonis's blood." A yet deeper guilt remained to be witnessed for, in the inner court of the Lord's house,' that of the priests, between the porch and the altar, Ezekiel beheld five-and-twenty men who had turned their backs on the temple, and were looking and praying towards the east, with their supplications directed to the sun. Here was a creature, a senseless and inanimate creature, adored in the inner court of the temple, and by |