BIBLE RIVERS AND L'AKES. unwitnessed by any, and that even Jacob's eye should not too closely behold him; so the Spirit of God, by withholding the particulars which are necessary for a fuller comprehension of the transaction, may mean that a dim, uncertain light should rest upon it, and that the passage should thus serve as an exercise of reverent humility, and a check to an overspeculative curiosity. Whatever difficulties encompass the interpretation of the passage, none obscure its practical intention. We learn from it that prayer has power with God, yea, it has power with the angel, and prevails that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. Here is the light which the poetical and devotional mind of Charles Wesley reflects upon it : "Come, O thou traveller unknown! Whom still I hold, but cannot see And am left alone with thee- Crossing the Jordan, and preserving a north-west direction, we reach the Plain of Esdraelon, in the district of Upper Galilee, through which the KISHON flows. The plain is also known in Scripture as the Valley of Megiddo, the Plain of Jezreel, and emphatically as "the Plain," inasmuch as it is beyond comparison the finest plain in Palestine. The grandeur of this vast vale is celebrated by every traveller. The excellency of Tabor and the beauty of Hermon have been given to it. A feeling of solitude does at times steal over the mind, in journeying through its wide extent, which is rarely gladdened by a village, a cottage, or by the labours of man; yet, where cultivation has been employed, there are presented symptoms of such fertility as might have been expected from a region once celebrated, even in this land of exuberant produce, for its abundance in corn, wine, and oil.-Hos. ii. 22. To the fertilizing influence of the River Kishon may the once abundant crops of this vale be largely ascribed. The Kishon rises at the foot of Mount Tabor, and after winding, with many a graceful sweep, through Esdraelon, falls into the Mediterranean Sea at the Bay of Acre. As it is fed by many small mountain streams, it is subject to many overflowings. "When we reached the banks of the Kishon," writes Carne, in his delightful Letters from the East, "much swollen at this time by the heavy rains, we could not find a ford to cross over; by going much lower down, however, we at last succeeded, and, crossing part of the plain, wound up the hills till the night fell." 429 The remembrances with which this river is associated will be fresh in the recollection of every Bible reader. Here the arm of the mighty was withered in the battle of the Lord-when the stars in their courses fought against Sisera, while the river of Kishon, suddenly swollen by the mighty storm, swept away his hosts-that ancient river, the River Kishon. Here stood the city of Meroz, against which went forth the bitter curse, because, being near the battlefield, and its strength great, its inhabitants, out of faithlessness or fear, remained in a detestable neutrality, and came not forth to the help of the Lord against the mighty. Tabor Mount recalls that scene of glory, when our Saviour, laying aside for a time his humanity, assumed the beating radiance of divinity. The hill of Hermon suggests feelings of softness, grateful as its own refreshing dews; while the hill of Carmel, whose base is washed by the Kishon, reminds us of that day of decision when, by fire from heaven consuming the sacrifice, God vindicated his absolute divinity, and forced from the idolatrous Israelites the loud and united testimony: "The Lord, he is the God! the Lord, he is the God! And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon, and slew them there." If we speak of the Kishon as the waters of Megiddo -a name which Scripture applies to it in Judges v.— we are reminded of other scenes of tenderness and terror. It was at Megiddo, near to the Kishon, that young Josiah fell, and with him the flower of Israel. He had gone forth to oppose the progress of Pharaohnecho, King of Egypt, who was marching through his land to fight against the King of Assyria. Pharaoh-necho was desirous to avoid an engagement with Josiah, and sent ambassadors who should say, that it was with no hostile intention he was passing through Josiah's territories, and who should even plead the authority of God for the expedition on which he was going. In spite of these remonstrances, Josiah persisted in his determination to oppose the King of Egypt. The hostile armies met in the valley of Megiddo. Israel was routed, and Josiah was mortally wounded. Such is the simple account which the sacred historian gives, and the event corresponds with the account. No doubt, the necessarily succinct history of the Bible leaves us in ignorance regarding many particulars connected with Josiah's conduct, which would have thrown a clearer light upon the story, and relieved us from difficulties which are apt to present themselves. Dean Prideaux has endeavoured, in the first volume of his Connections, to defend Josiah from the charge of wilfulness; but the difficulties which attend his view of the subject are as obvious and perplexing as those which he seeks to remove. Wide and deep was the mourning which the death of good Josiah caused. He had risen as a reformer in Judah; and during his reign the hearts of his people were cheered with the hope that God would yet again make his face to shine upon Jerusalem, and revisit the land with its former greatness. Good men bewailed his fall: "Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. The unclean spirit which comes out of the mouth of the dragon, that old serpent the devil, may fitly represent a spirit of hellish enmity, which Infidelity often breathes against evangelical religion. By the unclean spirit which comes out of the mouth of the beast an immoral civil power-we may understand that unprincipled expediency which leads worldly politicians to seek their own selfish and party ends at the expense of truth and righteousness; while the unclean spirit which comes out of the mouth of the false prophet-the Papal hierarchy-may designate the deadly and spreading power of Jesuitism, which numbers even now its forty thousand emissaries. Through the combined influence of these corrupt principles-false religion, worldly policy, and Infidelity-will Antichrist's unholy league be formed. 2d, We have the opposing forces in this great combat distinctly described. On the one hand is seen the rider on the white horse, whose eyes are as a flame of fire, whose head is crowned with many crowns, whose clothing is a vesture dipped in blood, and on whose vesture and thigh is this name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. The Captain is glorious-his company is goodly. The armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. On the other hand are seen the deep and dark lines of Antichrist. The beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies day, and made them an ordinance in Israel." In Hadadrimmon, especially-a town in the vale of Megiddo the wailing was loud and long-continued; and hence, as in Zech. xii. 11, the mourning of Hadadrimmon became proverbial for any extraordinary lamentation. Already has there been "a great mourning in Jerusalem-a spiritual mourning, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon, in the valley of Megiddo" when, on the day of Pentecost, the assembled thousands, directed by the preaching of Peter, looked to Him whom they had pierced, and with wicked hands had crucified and slain; and when they were pricked in their hearts, and, like men astonished, anxiously asked, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" | In almost every instance where a general revival of religion takes place, there is much of tenderness and visible mourning. The place becomes a Hadadrimmon. We have heard the sound of such lamentations in our own times. "The most distinguishing feature of this kind," says Mr Macbride, in his account to the Assembly of the revival at Knapdale, "is mourning; for there has been weeping to a degree I never witnessed in any case before. I honestly confess, that I did not think nature capable of such weeping-that one could weep so long, or shed tears in such abundance. The reason of such mourning, when asked, they readily acknowledged to be sinsin of heart and life." But "the mourning of Hadadrimmon" is yet awaiting its full manifestation. Then shall it be seen, when Israel shall be restored. Then will the Jewish mind be stirred to its lowest-captains, and mighty men, free and bond, small depths; and when, after the woes of their outcast state, they shall be brought again to Jerusalem, the sight of Calvary will recall, with freshened feeling, the Saviour whom their fathers had crucified, and whom themselves had rejected; and looking on Him whom they have pierced, will they lift up their voice as one man, and mourn with a great and grievous lamentation. This plain of Megiddo has been called "the battleground of nations." Dr Clarke has graphically said: "Jews, Gentiles, Saracens, Christian Crusaders and Antichristian Frenchmen, Egyptians, Persians, Druses, Turks, and Arabs-warriors out of every nation under heaven-have pitched their tents on the Plain of Esdraelon, and have beheld the various banners of their nations wet with the dews of Tabor and Hermon." In allusion to its past history, as a place of conflict, revelation points to Armageddon (the hills of Megiddo or the hill of destruction), as the scene of final contest betwixt the mustering hosts of Antichrist and of the Lamb. Fearful will the struggle be. Untold destinies hang upon it. As yet, we can look upon it only through a glass darkly; for Scripture, although it exhibits the particulars of the conflict with more than an ordinary minuteness, exhibits them under those symbolical figures which the event alone can fully explain. Let us glance at the particulars. 1st, We have a representation of the principles by which the forces of Antichrist will be brought and kept together. Three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. And these three unclean spirits are the spirits of devils, which go forth unto the kings and great-all gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. Dreadful will be the shock of battle in that great day of God Almighty; for the conflict is not alone with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers-with the rulers of the darkness of this world with wicked spirits in high places. It is the struggle which shall decide whether righteousness or iniquity shall rule our world-whether this earth shall be a province of hell or the kingdom of God and of his Son. But although the struggle will be severe, we are not left in doubt regarding the issue; for, 3d, We are told of Christ's complete victory. He shall put down all rule, and all authority and power: He must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The beast and the false prophet will be cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. The dragon will be bound for a thousand years, and will be cast into the bottomless pit, and shut up, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled. The dark night will usher in a bright day-the great battle will be followed by a lasting peace, even a millennium of righteousness and rest. The time when we are to look for the fulfilment of these great events is also indicated to us. It is during the pouring out of the sixth vial upon the great River Euphrates, when the waters thereof will be dried up, that the mustering to the battle will take place. Almost all modern commentators agree¦ in thinking, that by the great River Euphrates is meant the Turkish Empire. And may we not, with our own eyes, see a drought upon her waters? Every year is bringing along with it successive decays to this FRAGMENTS. once vast, but now rapidly declining, empire. Her influences and resources are gradually wasting away, as a river whose waters fail in the heat of summer. She looks to the great European powers for protection against the encroachments of her own ambitious pachas. She is dependent, at present, for her very existence as a separate power, on the uncertain policy of European cabinets. Let us not forget that, amid these vast revolutions, an individual duty and responsibility rests upon each one of us. We are apt, in the contemplation of changes so wide, to get bewildered, and to lose sight of the fact that there is a duty suited to the times, which God requireth of every individual. Revelation is careful to correct this mistake. In the very midst of describing the great things which are coming upon the earth, Scripture pauses, and tells to every one of us our duty. It hath told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requireth of you when the sixth angel pours out his vial, when the Euphrates is drying up, and when God gives symptoms of mustering his hosts to the battle. Read, and take heed: "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." The warning seems intended, not so much for those who mingle in the battle, as for those who, like ourselves, live in the times which precede that fearful conflict. It calls us to expectancy-to a waiting and watching-so that we may not be seized with any sudden amazement when the great day of the Lord comes. It calls us to a holy circumspection to a keeping of our garments unspotted with the defilements of Antichrist-so that, being separated from her sins, we may not be partakers of her plagues, and may be prepared to join the armies which follow the Lamb, and which are clothed in fine linen, white and clean. "Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing." INQUIRING SAINTS. I was asked the other day whether I had had any recent meeting for inquirers. I replied that I had I not that there were few inquiring sinners in the congregation; and judged the reason to be, that there were few inquiring saints. "Inquiring saints! that is a new phrase. We always supposed that inquiring belonged exclusively to sinners." But it is not so. Do we not read in Ezek. xxxvi. 37: "Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them? By the house of Israel-that is, by his people-by the Church. You see that God requires and expects his covenanted people to inquire. It is true that saints do not make the same inquiry that sinners do. The latter ask what they must do to be saved, whereas the inquiry of Christians is: "Wilt thou not revive us again?" It is a blessed state of things when the people of God are inquiring. It is good for themselves, and it has a most benign influence on others. When the people of God inquire, presently the impenitent begin to inquire. That question: "Wilt thou not revive us?" is soon followed by the other: "What must I do to be saved?" Yes, when saints become anxious, it is not long ere sinners become anxious. The inquiry of three thousand on the day of Pentecost: "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" was preceded by the inquiry of the one hundred and twenty, who "all continued with one accord 431 in prayer and supplication." Generally, I suppose, that is the order. First saints inquire, and then sinners; and whenever, in any congregation, religion does not flourish, one principal reason of it is, that the saints are not inquiring. They do not attend their inquiry-meeting appointed for them. The saints' inquiry-meeting is the prayer-meeting. In that Christians meet together to inquire of the Lord "to do it for them"-that is, to fulfil the promise about the new heart and the new spirit, of which he had been speaking. Now, when this meeting is crowded and interesting-when the inquiry among Christians is general, and earnest, and importunate-the sinners' inquiry-meeting usually becomes crowded and interesting. O that I could make my voice to be heard by all the dear people of God in the land on this subject! I would say: You wonder and lament that sinners do not inquire; but are you inquiring? You wonder that they do not feel; but do you feel? Can you expect a heart of stone to feel, when a heart of flesh does not ? You are surprised that sinners can sleep. It is because you sleep along-side of them. and cry to God, and you will see how soon they will Do you but awake, and bestir yourselves, and look up begin to be roused, and to look about them, and to ask the meaning of your solicitude. O that the saints would but inquire!-Nevins. OBSCURE PASSAGES IN THE BIBLE. A GENTLEMAN who visits with great regularity the Philadelphia Penitentiary, the inmates of which his piety prompts him to instruct, had given a Bible to a convict, who would ask him, at each visit, with much shrewdness, some difficult question formed from passages of the Sacred Volume; each time declaring he The gentleman was unable to persuade him that it would not go on if this was not first explained to him. would be best for him first to dwell upon those passages which he could easily understand, and which plainly applied to his situation. After many fruitless trials to induce the convict to this course, his friendly teacher said: "What would you think of a very hungry man, who had not eaten a morsel of food for the last twenty-four hours, and was asked by a charitable man to come in and sit down at a richly covered table, on which were large dishes of choice meat, and also covered ones, the contents of which the hungry man did not know. Instead of satisfying his exhausted body with the former, he raises one cover after another, and insists on finding out what these unknown dishes are composed of. In spite of all the advice of the charitable man to partake first of the more substantial dishes, he dwells with obstinate inquiry on nicer compounds, until, overcome with exhaustion, he drops down. What do you think of such a man?" "He is a fool," said the convict, "and I will be one no longer. I understand you well."Dr Leiber. Fragments. REPROOF. None take reproof so well as those who most deserve to be commended. CUNNING is a crooked wisdom. Nothing is more hurtful than when cunning men pass for wise.-Bacon. CATO MAJOR would say, that wise men learned more by fools, than fools by wise men.-Lucon. THE gates of death stand open by night as well as by day. HE who is always his own counsellor, will often have a fool for his client.-Hunter. Baily Bread. FRIDAY. "The Beloved."-EPH. i. 6. Join all the glorious names. That angels ever bore; All are too mean to speak his worth- Alas! what are all the crowns and kingdoms of the world, all the thrones and sceptres of kings, to Christ? I say, what are the treasures of the cast, the gold of the west, the spices of the south, and the pearls of the north, to him? As all waters meet in the sea, and as all the lights meet in the sun; so all the perfections and excellences of all the saints and angels meet in Christ. Nay, Christ hath not only the holiness of angels, the loveliness of saints, and the treasure of heaven, but also the fulness of the Godhead-the riches of the Deity are in him: "For it hath pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell"- fulness of grace, fulness of knowledge, fulness of love, fulness of glory. He is lovely to the Father, lovely to the angels, lovely to the saints, and lovely to the soul.-Dyer. SATURDAY, "Guide thine heart in the way."-PROV. xxiii. 19. The spotless purity! Men keep the heart principally from hurt, because every wound there is mortal. O that men were as wise for their souls! God's eye is mainly on the heart. The heart well guarded and watched, keeps all in security. Alexander was safe while Antipater kept the watch; so all within that little world, man, will be safe while the heart is strongly guarded. The heart is the fountain, the root, the store-house, the primum mobile--the great wheel that sets all a-going; and, therefore, above all keepings keep your heart. It is a foolish thing to watch the outworks, and leave the fort-royal without a guard; so it is a foolish thing to watch the out-works, the eye, the ear, the tongue, the hand, the feet (though these all must be watched) and to leave the heart, which is a Christian's fort-royal, without a guard.-Brooks. SABBATH. "Blessed is the man that keepeth the Sabbath.”—Isa. lvi. 2. Attend the blissful sound. The Sabbath is God's weekly market-day; and a free market it is, wherein we may "buy, without money and without price," the richest commodities that heaven and earth can afford, even the bread and water of life for the lives of our souls, the wine of Christ's blood to cheer us, the milk of his Word to nourish us, the gold of his grace to enrich us, and his precious eye-salve to enlighten us, and his white raiment to clothe and adorn us. Is this day so profitable to us, and will we not regard it? It is God's stated alms-day, or public deal-day, wherein he scatters blessings and crumbs of the bread of life among needy souls. It is the day for ascending Mount Tabor, to see Christ transfigured before our eyes; and for getting to the top of Pisgah, to get a sight of the promised land.― Willison. MONDAY. "The full assurance of hope "-HEB. vi. 11. Rejoicing now in earnest hope, 1 stand, and from the mountain-top See all the land below: Rivers of milk and honey rise, And all the fruits of Paradise In endless plenty grow. say, Until assurance be attained, it is impossible but that men should "all their lives long be kept in bondage through the fear of death" (Heb. ii. 15); but an assured person can wish for death, and with Paul: "I desire to be dissolved." Assurance carries the soul to the top of Pisgah; and from thence a believer, as he hath a general view of the whole Land of Promise, so by the eye of an assuring faith he is able to espy his own lot and portion in heaven and glory; and can he be unwilling to go through Jordan, or the channel of the grave, to take possession thereof ?-Fairclough. TUESDAY. "Let your profiting appear unto all men."-1 TIM. iv. 15. O let our faith and love abound! O let our lives to all around With purest lustre shine! That all around our works may see, Let your "paths be as the shining light," shining forth more and more."-Prov. iv. 18. Not only grow in grace and inward holiness, but abound in the fruits of righteousness. A sensibly-thriving religion cannot be thought to be an imaginary one. They that observe the progress you make, will not be able to question the grounds upon which you go. When they see that, as you grow older and wiser, so you grow better, they cannot reasonably imagine that strength of fancy ever raised you to that height of goodness, but rather suppose that you do more good than you did, because you see more reason for it, and have more lively hopes of being gainers by it.—Veal. WEDNESDAY. "What God hath prepared for them that love him!"1 COR. ii. 9. Give me the wings of faith to rise The saints above, how great their joys, How bright their glories be! Be in the altitudes. Think what God hath "prepared for them that love him." O that our thoughts could ascend! The higher the bird flies, the sweeter it sings. Let us think how blessed they are who are possessed of their heritage. If one could but look a while through the chinks of heaven-door, and see the beauty and bliss of Paradise-if he could but lay his ear to heaven, and hear the ravishing music of those seraphic spirits, and the anthems of praise which they sing how would his soul be exhilarated and transported with joy!-- Watson. THURSDAY. "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."-PHIL. i. 8. All things for Christ account but loss, And give up all your hearts to him: Of nothing think or speak beside"My Lord, my love, is crucified." There is a thousand times more worth, and beauty, and sweetness, and excellency in Jesus Christ, than you can know; as he said: That man that knows Jesus Christ well, although he be ignorant of all other things, he is the right knowing man. If a man had all the learning of both universities concentrated in himself, and yet ignorant of Jesus Christ, he were but a poor simple sot.-Naiton. Edinburgh: Printed by JOHN JOHNSTONE, residing at 12, Windsor Street, and Published by him at 2, Hunter Square. London: R. GROOMBRIDGE & SONS. Glasgow: J. R. M'NAIR & Co.; and to be had of any Bookseller throughout the Kingdom. THE CHRISTIAN TREASURY. 433 "HIS VOICE AS THE SOUND OF MANY WATERS."-(REV. i. 15.) BY W. D. KILLEN, D.D., BELFAST. MANY have supposed that there is here an allu- | may have something like a community of feelsion to the sound of a cataract. And, doubtless, ing with the inhabitants of the most distant we can scarcely fail to be impressed with feel-climes; for the waters of the same great deep ings of the awful and sublime, as we listen to wash the shores of all the continents of the some mighty river, tumbling over the brow of globe, and speak in the same tones of mystery a frightful precipice, and descending, with the and magnificence to all the sons and daughters noise of thunder, into some deep and rocky of Adam. It may be said of the ebbing and gulf below. The same form of expression is, flowing tides, as of the other works of creation however, to be found in the 93d Psalm at the and of providence: "There is no speech nor 4th verse; and it is probable that the allusion language where their voice is not heard. Their in this place is the same as that which is there line is gone out through all the earth, and their more distinctly recognised. The Psalmist says: words to the end of the world."-Ps. xix. 3, 4. "The Lord on high is mightier than the noise And the love of Christ is expansive as the broad of many waters, yea, than the mighty wares of the ocean; for he sends forth his invitations of mercy sea." The reference, then, appears to be, not to every kindred, and people, and nation. The to the roar of a waterfall, but to the motion of inhabitants of the various countries of the globe the tides. And we can easily conceive why, un- cannot understand each others speech, as every der existing circumstances, such a comparison province has its own tongue or dialect; but the was suggested by the Spirit to the mind of the noise of the seas is a universal language, proapostle. He was now an exile in the little isle claiming to all the power and the majesty of of Patmos; and, possibly, the dashing of the the ever-living Jehovah. And how delightful waves against the shores of his lonely residence to anticipate the period when the harmony of supplied him with many a theme for holy medi- the heralds of salvation will be as the sound of tation; and when the Glorious Being who walk- many waters, when the same truths will be ed in the midst of the golden candlesticks con- echoed from shore to shore, and when the descended to address him, it may have been that uniform reverberation of the tides will be ememotions akin to what he had often experi- blematic of the one Gospel preached among all enced as he passed along the beach, were nations! Through the visions of prophecy we awakened in his mind, so that he was led to can look forward to this era; for it is written: say: "His voice is as the sound of many waters." "Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with By the voice of Christ we are to understand the voice together shall they sing: for they shall the word of his testimony. We read, accord-see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again ingly: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: Zion."-Isa. lii. 8. if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."-Rev. iii. 20. The voice of the Son of God speaking in the Gospel may, for various reasons, be compared to the sound of many waters. I. It is never altogether silent. How many are employed, in almost every quarter of the globe, in proclaiming the message of mercy! As the noise of the seas is created by a multitude of separate waves, so the glad tidings of great joy are announced by a multitude of individual heralds. And as wave follows wave in endless succession, so that, as we approach the shore, we always hear the sound of many waters, thus, too, the voice of Christ speaking in his Gospel is sustained from generation to generation. Ministers are but the trumpets of the Lord; and when one passes away, another begins to sound; and in this way, from age to age, the message of grace is preserved and promulgated. II. The voice of Christ is addressed to all the ends of the earth. As we stand upon the beach, we No. 37. The III. The voice of Christ is fitted to inspire us with awe and reverence. There is something in the very aspect of the ocean which expands and elevates the mind. Almost every one is constrained to be serious as he stands solitary on the strand, and looks abroad upon the world of waters before him, and listens to the ceaseless agitation of the far-resounding surge. shoreless sea is the mirror of infinite duration; and as the floods lift up their voice, we feel as if they were repeating their commission from the High and the Holy One who inhabiteth eternity: "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty."-Ps. xxix. 3, 4. It is thus, too, with the Gospel. David could say: "My heart standeth in awe of thy word."-Ps. cxix. 161. The truth as it is in Jesus has a self-evidencing power-it commends itself to the conscienceit carries with it a conviction that it is a communication from heaven. meet it with a host of plausible sophistries, and The Infidel may November 7, 1845. |