we ask, how the foe can insinuate his poison; how he can swell pride, or inflame passion; how he can touch the springs and movements of thought; or how he can allure, engross, and corrupt the imagination, when we are called to repel his approaches? The temptations of Satan are infinitely various, and suited to the different tastes, temperaments, stations, and circumstances of men. One is endangered on the side of ambition; another, like Judas, is caught and irretrievably entangled by the bribe and twisted bonds of mammon; prosperity and adversity respectively sink some in voluptuousness and self-indulgence, and others in terror and despondency. And how are we to vanquish the enemy of our souls? How are we to escape his snares, and defeat all his efforts and his agents? We have proof-armour provided; wisdom and strength are promised by the Great Captain of our salvation; the example of conquerors, and the glory of victory are set before us. The divine command is, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour; whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." We are cautioned to beware, lest as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so our minds should be beguiled from the simplicity that is in Christ. But neither precepts nor precautions, will suffice to preserve us, without the discipline and defence essential to the soldier of Christ. We must take the whole armour of God, and daily learn the use of it. The heaventempered and two-edged sword of the Spirit, and the impenetrable shield of faith, are absolutely necessary. The latter, as both apostolic authority and experience testify, is able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one; and the former has often put the whole vaunting host of hell to flight. He But there is another consideration of still higher moment. who furnishes our weapons for the war, supplies our reinforcements of vigour, promptitude, courage, and patience, without which we are apt to faint in the heat of battle. On this account, the Apostle urgently exhorts us "To be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." In vain do we bear the designation of Christian soldiers; in vain assume the armour of the Gospel, or learn the watchwords and discipline of the camp; unless we look to Jesus the leader and commander, the life, hope, and final happiness of his people. Nor must it be forgotten, that bright examples and glorious triumphs are held up to our view. Let not the Christian, in any perplexity or unusual pressure of difficulties, regard his case as altogether singular. "There hath no temptation taken us, but such as is common to men; but God is faithful, who will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able, but will with the temptation make a way to escape, that we may be able to bear it." Time was, when those who now wear on their heads crowns of glory, and bear in their hands palms of victory, often uttered amidst sighs and groans the sad complaint, "We are troubled on every side; without are fightings, within are fears." Let the Christian then be a steady and valiant follower of those who now inherit the promises. The enemy himself is under the limitation and controul of a higher power; and while for a season he is permitted to tempt, or to terrify, he cannot force the will, or dismantle the citadel of the soul, guarded by vigilance, and garrisoned by new succours and energies from above. A few more conflicts, MISCELLANEA BIBLICA. The Fall of Babylon predicted. Isaiah xxi, 1-10. -- 1. The doom of the plain of the sea; onward, So from the plain he cometh,--from the terrible land: 2. (A grievous vision is presented unto The perfidious continues his perfidy; INVADE, O PERSIA! BESIEGE, O MEDIA! I WILL PUT AN END TO ALL THIS 3. Wherefore, my loins are filled with agony, Pangs seize me like the pangs of a The Superscription. and the war will be ended, and we shall join in the rapturous shout of joy and triumph: expresses the emphatic sense of "Thanks be to God who hath this word, so frequently occurring given us the victory through our in the titles of predictions: it sigLord Jesus Christ." nifies a denouncement of heavy AMICUS B. calamities. "Massa nunquam præfertur in titulo, nisi cum grave et ponderis laborisque plenum est quod videtur." (Jerome Prol. ad Habac.)-27 plain :" the primitive idea of its root, is, to lead forth, as cattle to pasture; hence, by analogy, the noun in this form indicates a place, where cattle are led forth to pasture. In the same point of view, that tract of country in which Jericho was situated, extending both to the Dead Sea and the Jordan, is thus denominated. It is, however, allowed, that the word often points out a barren and uncultivated place. Such the country around Babylon most assuredly was not; but a plain, eminently fertile and rich in pasturage. Plain of the sea." The contents of the prediction clearly mark its application; but why Babylon should be thus designated, when it was remote from even the Persian gulph, has given occasion to many conjectures. Babylon stood in a plain of large extent, intersected in many directions by the tortuous courses of the Tigris and the Euphrates, a branch of the latter river dividing the city into two equal parts. During the summer months, these rivers, greatly swollen by the melting of the snow on the mountains of Armenia, inundated the country to a considerable extent. The testimony of Herodotus on this point is remarkably applicable. (Lib. I. cap. 184.) Speaking of the Euphrates, before its embankment by Semiramis, about the time this prediction was uttered, he observes, ротeроν de ewdes ο ποταμος ανα το πεδίον παν πελαγι Lev;" but before, the river was accustomed to render the whole I am convulsed, so that I cannot hear. 4. My heart flutters. Terror scares me. 5. horror. SPREAD THe table! set the 6. Therefore, Thus said the Lord unto me: men attendant; A chariot drawn by asses a chariot And he continued listening with eager 8. At length he called out: "A stable! are broken down to the ground." plain a sea." Hence, in Jeremiah, (Chap. li. 36.) " I will dry up her sea.' The Prediction. This consists of two parts, or scenes. In the former part, Isaiah, personating those who were groaning under Babylonian tyranny, describes the general misery which prevailed through its continued domination. His pathetic complaints are repeatedly interrupted by divine oracles, which are above printed in a different type, that they may be more clearly distinguished, and that the course of the prophet's complainings may appear disembarrassed and natural. בנגב ," of the south," literally, "in the south," i. e. which arise in that quarter. Southward of Judea lie the vast, arid plains of Arabia, whence proceed overwhelming storms. Hence, the phrase before us became classical, (Zech. ix. 14.; Job xxxvii. 9.) By this impressive figure are described the impetuous and overwhelming assaults of the Babylonian power, especially under Nebuchadnezzar.-,“ rush onward:" an infinitive, governed by a verb, signifying custom, understood, according to a well known idiom in the Hebrew; the whole of the phrase is adequately expressed by our present tense.-"He cometh," namely, the Babylonian, afterwards characterised as the perfidious, the plunderer.—Ver. 2. The change of construction and interruption of the sense indicate this parenthesis. The disagree ment of gender between the substantive and verb occasions little difficulty: all is clear by supplying 727," is the matter which is revealed." This, however, is not necessary; for in subjects destitute of sex, constructions of a similar kind frequently occur. "The plunderer continues," &c.; the participles here are understood, according to their strict import, as denoting continued action. It aggravated the humiliation and distress of conquered states, that the career of the dominant power appeared unchecked, and even more established with every campaign.-" Invade," literally," go up," which in a military sense, requires the above rendering., "Elam," is well known to be the Scripture designation for Persia proper, whence, associated with the Medians, the army of Cyrus proceeded under his command against Babylon.-nawn, "I will put an end:" the verb preterite denotes a fixed determination to produce the effect announced, and would be fully rendered: "I have determined to put an end."—nnnis, "this groaning," is by some considered as a noun with an affix irregularly pointed, and is noted as such in the Masora. It is here considered rather as the noun alone, in a form denoting emphasis. These two lines, printed in a different character, are obviously an interruption of the prophet's course of lamentation. The mode of expression is authoritative and abrupt. I consider them as a divine oracle, indicating the purpose of God to overthrow the empire of the Babylonians, and effect deliverance, especially to his own people, by the successes of the Persians and Medes under Cyrus. Thus, about 200 years before the event, and while those nations were small and obscure, are they expressly named as the instruments of accomplishing his purposes.Ver. 3. "So that I cannot." The privative force of the prefix, is exhibited in the Targum on this passage, and has been adopted by most translators: indeed, it is too well established to admit a doubt. -Ver. 4. "The evening," the season of domestic and social enjoyment, or of calm and profitable retirement, to those who possess liberty and prosperity, becomes to persons under oppression, embittered with most pungent reflections." Is made," O, or, "one hath made," an idiom better rendered in English by the passive. Ver. 5. The two lines of this verse I look upon as the second divine oracle. The verbs are all correctly formed as imperatives, and are properly thus rendered in the common version, Of these two lines, the former is addressed to the Babylonians, and strikingly predicts their security and dissipation when the city was taken, as is evident from the Prophet Daniel, chapter v., whose notice of them is confirmed and wonderfully illustrated by the histories of Herodotus and Xenophon. The latter of these lines is addressed to the assailants; intimating the facility with which they should gain possession of the city, and the repose from warlike toils, which they should in future enjoy. "Anoint the shield," nwn: most modern philologists, unable it seems to discern the allusion, have conjectured, that this is a corruption of the text for wo, to which they attribute the meaning of, "to seize." (Dathe, Notæ criticæ in loc.) Others, retaining the reading, suppose it alludes to the preparing of arms for battle. I consider it rather as pointing out, that here they should lay up their arms, when to prevent rust, they usually spread on them some unctuous substance. Hence, Virgil describing an army in ation for battle, represents them as busy in removing from their shields the covering of fat. prepar "Pars leves clypeos et spicula lucida tergunt, Arvina pingui."--Æn. vii. 626. The history of the event justifies this interpretation. On the taking of Babylon, the army of Cyrus, after twenty-one years of warfare, rested from their toils; most of the troops were dispersed into garriN. S. No. 29. sons, and a small number accompanied their commander, to show themselves in the western states, and secure their allegiance. Under the form of an answer to the prophet's complaints, the second part of this prophecy de. scribes the rapidity with which the tidings of the capture of Babylon would be conveyed, and the surprize with which they would be received. This is done in a manner highly scenic; its very difficulties necessarily arise from its beauties. Ver. 6, is sufficiently clear. But Ver. 7, has very much perplexed translators. The sentinel on his watch, after some delay, perceives in the distance a rapid motion towards the city, which he concludes to be that of a chariot. After a space he perceives that this chariot is attended by two persons on horseback, who ride in a manner usual with attendants on some distinguished personage. This peculiar manner is expressed by py, "a couple, a pair," a term never, I believe, used in application to men, but in such a case (2 Kings ix. 25.) The vision of the watch is yet so indistinct, that he cannot perceive by what animals the chariot is drawn; but to indicate either the rapidity of the motion, or a long and wearisome journey, intimates that it was by asses, literally, an chariot, or by camels, a camelchariot. That among eastern nations, these animals were employed on such occasions as required great swiftness, or great capacity of enduring fatigue, see Bochart Hierozoicon, Lib. ii. cap. 2, and cap. 13. Excited to yet greater vigilance, the sentinel continued closely attending to this approaching vehicle, until (Ver. 8.) discovering nothing more, and vexed that his fatiguing watch, day and night, should have been employed for so paltry a result, he exclaimed, "A stable! nothing, that I can perceive, is wanting, but accom 2 K ass modation for a few animals." them, that the message which he -, rendered in our common had delivered was divine, and version, "a lion," has truly that faithfully reported; well worthy, signification, according to the present points. Some interpreters, by supplying a prefix, have rendered it like a lion." But the majority, either from mere conjecture, or by misunderstanding the Syriac version, have adopted another reading. The Septuagint therefore, of their confidence, both that season of calamity would arrive, and that the author of the calamity would be punished, as had been so significantly predicted. H*. LIST OF CONGREGATIONAL (To the Editors.) evidently retains the original He- REPLY TO LIBERTAS ON THE brew term with different points, ovplay, which is used in the plural, 2 Chron. ix. 25, and xxxii. 29; as also 1 Kings iv. 26, with the obvious meaning of stalls or stables. The term occurs also, in a Chaldee form, in the Targum. (vid. Isa. i. 3.) By this slight variation of the points, the difficulty is removed, and we obtain an exclamation clearly appropriate, and accordant with the sentinel's complaints, which appear in the following lines. Ver. 9. But he spoke again," literally, "and," or, "but he answered and said," an idiomatic phraseology, equivalent to the rendering above given. Having finished his murmuring report, he turned and looked, and listened again; when from what he saw and heard, as the chariot approached nearer, he discovered that Babylon was taken. His joyful surprize is very forcibly expressed in what follows.- literally, "one one hath broken," an idiom noticed above, verse 4. The verb, in this place, is what. grammarians have called pregnant, or implying another verb, thus, "are broken and cast to the ground," which is expressed above, by the compound verb, "broken down." The Attestation. Ver. 10.-The prophet, having thus related his vision, addresses the Israelites under the image of corn yet lying on the floor, to whose benefit his labours were immediately directed, assuring GENTLEMEN,-Your correspondent Libertas will accept, in the spirit of Christian charity, a few strictures upon the complaints and reasonings which he has submitted to the Congregational Denomination through your medium. His letter relates to two very different subjects. The first is, your avowed omission of those Dissenting Societies which use the Liturgy of the Church of England, when you presented us with a list of Congregational Churches. The second is, the general fact of the non-acknowledgment of such societies by the general body of Congregational Nonconformists. The first part of his complaint appears to me sufficiently answered by the ground assumed in the second. If such congregations are not at present acknowledged by the London Board and the Congregational School, nor generally by our County Associations, how could you venture to insert them in your list, which professed to conform itself to the usage and general understanding of the great body of Independents? To vindicate your list, it is not necessary to prove that the body have acted justly in excluding the partial conformists. It was not for you, Gentlemen, to take upon yourselves, either to extend or contract the use of the term Congregational. Its conventional application has |