them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us." "The Portion of Jacob" is He whose "name is the Lord of hosts," "the King of nations," of whom it is said, that "at His wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide His indignation," and that "at the time of their visitation they shall perish." But Israel is "the rod of His inheritance," and as such shall be exempt from "the portion of their cup of vengeance." And not the least melodious note in that song of praise, which, from the lips of restored Israel, is, as we have seen, to meet with a world-wide echo, shall be the acknowledgment that they have not been smitten as were they that smote them, nor slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by them. "IN MEASURE" shall they be debated with, and, as regards them, the Lord's "rough wind" stayed in the day of His "east wind." "The iniquity of Jacob" has been "judged," and the "fruit" yielded to the pruning hand of the "Husbandman" of this His "vineyard of red wine," is the taking away of their sin." "A people of no understanding" they had been; and, concerning the great body of their nation, the word had been spoken, "He that made them will not have mercy on them, and He that formed them will shew them no favour." But "in that day," the day of Jehovah's discriminating judgment, in which the rem

4 Isa. xvii. 4-13, 14.

5 Jer. x. 16.

6 Verse 9.

nant is severed to be the object of His mercy,-the day that burneth like an oven, on which the refiner sits to purify, discerning "between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him. that serveth Him not," in that day shall the closing prophecy of this chapter of Isaiah be fulfilled. "Ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.... and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem."

Their prayer had been (see Jer. x., just quoted)— "O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. Pour out thy fury upon the heathen.... for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate"-a prayer which meets its abundant answer in the gracious promises of chapter xxx. of the same prophet-"I AM WITH THEE TO SAVE THEE: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished. For thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous. There is none to plead thy cause.... thou hast no healing medicines." Well may it be said, as in the seventh verse-"Alas! 7 Mal. iii. 3, 18, iv. 1.

for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble." But another word is heard "He shall be SAVED out of it.... They that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey; for I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after. . . . Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling-places; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof." Then closes this magnificent opening out of Israel's future destiny, with the covenant engagement by Jehovah (already noticed), that His remnant shall be a praising people-“Out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them. And (to quote a second time words so remarkable) their Noble shall be of themselves, and their Governor shall proceed from the midst of them.... and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God." Let the two closing verses which follow in this chapter be noted (as the wonted challenging word demands)—"Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth

K

forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until He have done it, and until He have peformed the intents of His heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it." How striking and solemn (may it not be added, intentional?) the contrast here! bringing out, as it does, in bold relief, not only the consecutive series of wondrous promises which go before, but the glowing setting forth of the attractive "lovingkindness" of the "everlasting love" of "the God of all the families of Israel," which meets us on the threshold of the next chapter, as the primal source and spring of all that concatenation of predicted blessing which follows.

In order to intensify the solemnity of spirit which ought to pervade our contemplation of this twofold aspect of Jehovah, in working out the phase of salvation under review, it may be profitable, as it will be interesting, to consider, in somewhat of detail, how the gladsome song of Israel's final redemption, like the first in Exodus, shall be to the Lord as a "man of war,” and shall be sung by the redeemed with the double action of the pillar fully before their view-light toward them, darkness toward their enemies —“The song of Moses" in Exodus is now become "the song of Moses and of the Lamb" in Revelation. A comparison of these will evolve such 8 Chap. xv.

a remarkable similarity, such striking parallels, and at the same time contrasts of thought and language, as to impress the mind, I think legitimately, that in the burden of the first song of redemption ever sung were lodged, in embryo, all the elements of the last loud Hallelujah anthem, which is to celebrate those acts of mercy and of judgment which are to bring to a close the present dispensation. "Glorious in power, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders," is the ascription to God in the former song. In the latter, "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy." "The King of Saints" in this is He who in that is said to reign for ever and ever over the people He had purchased.

We have the commencement of God's acts of redeeming mercy to His people, and of avenging judgment on their enemies, in the one song; while, as regards the present dispensation, the continuous series of those acts, through our world's subsequent history, is brought to their final issue in the other, celebrating the Lord respectively as the “Alpha and Omega," "the beginning and the ending," "the first and the last," as in judgment so in mercy. In the first song, we find ourselves with Moses on the shores of the Red Sea; in the second, beside another sea, "a sea of glass mingled with fire," on which stand those who, like Israel of old, had "triumphed gloriously," but had "gotten the victory over a mightier