and decidedly in ferior to those of more northern climes. The cause scanty pastures many foes, whose springs of water have been drying up; but there are dis tricts in which the cattle are finer, and in a far better condition. There are prob. as fine bulls of Bashan' now grazing on the David's time."- 6. c McCosh. a "They were not carried away by their enemies bec. I wanted God for them. (18) rams, etc., prob. here figures of the various classes of people in the slain armies. fatlings of Bashan, De. xxxii. 14. (19) drunken, or satiated. (20) my table, poetical carrying out of the figure of the sacrificial feasts. chariots, better, charioteers. (21) set.. heathen, ch. Xxxviii. 16, 23. (22) know, or fully apprehend and realise. God is thus known in His mercies and judgments. God reflected.-The beautiful rays coming from the face of God, and shining in such loveliness around us, are reflected and refracted when they come in contact with the human heart. Each heart is apt to receive only such as please it, and to reject the others. Hence the many-coloured aspects, some of them hideous in the extreme, in which God is presented to different nations and individuals. Hence the room for each man fashioning a god after his own heart. An evil conscience, reflecting only the red rays, calls up a god who delights in blood. The man of fine sentiment, reflecting only the softer rays, paints from the hues of his own feelings a god of mere sensibility, tender as that of the hero of a modern romance. The man of glowing imagi nation will array in gorgeous but delusive colouring, and in the flowing drapery of majesty and grandeur, beneath which, however, there is little or no reality. The observer of laws will represent Him as the embodiment of order, as blank and as black as the sun looks when we have gazed upon him, till we are no longer sensible of his brightness. 23-26. (23) hid I my face," the character of Israel's captivity, as Divine chastisement for sin will be made plain when God has restored and sanctified them. (24) uncleanness, by reason power to rescue of their idolatry. (25) bring again, ch. xxxiv. 13, etc. whole them, but as a house, the entire covenant people. (26) borne their shame, of their sins.".e. the shame which is the due of their iniquities." just punishment Lowth. "After they have become sensible of their guilt, and ashamed of it."-Fausset. "We have em ployments as alone, we have a "The pouring out of His Spirit is a pledge that He will hide His Evidence of God.-A man that should meet with a palace beset with pleasant gardens, adorned with stately avenues, furnished with well-contrived aqueducts, cascades, and all other appendages conducing to convenience or pleasure, would easily imagine that proportionable architecture and magnificence were within; but we should conclude the man was out of his wits that should assert and plead that all was the work of chance, or other than of some wise and skilful hand. And so, when we survey the bare outworks of this our globe, when we see so vast a body accoutred with so noble a furniture of air, light, and gravity, with everything, in short, that is necessary to the preservation and security of the globe itself, or that conduceth to the life, health, and happiness, to the propagation and increase of all the prodigious variety of creatures the globe is stocked with; when we see nothing wanting, nothing redundant or frivolous, nothing botching or ill-made, but that everything, even in the very appendages alone, exactly answereth all its ends and occa. sions,-what else can be concluded but that all was made with manifest design, and that all the whole structure is the work of some intelligent Being, some Artist of power and skill equivalent to such a work?" caused, Heb. 27-29. (27) am sanctified, ch. xxxvi. 23. (28) which by My causing them." (29) poured.. spirit,a Joel ii. 28. There is immediate reference to the grace given to the returned captives; but further and fuller reference | face no more."to the gift of the Holy Ghost to the early Church." Influences of the Holy Spirit.-The same shower blesses various lands in different degrees, according to their respective susceptibilities. It makes the grass to spring up in the mead, the grain to vegetate in the field, the shrub to grow on the plain, and the flowers to blossom in the garden; and these are garnished with every hue of loveliness, the lily and the violet, the rose and the daisy; all these worketh the same spirit that renews the face of the earth. The influences of the Holy Spirit, descending on the moral soil, produce "blessing in variety," convictions in the guilty, illumination in the ignorant, holiness in the defiled, strength in the feeble, and comfort in the distressed. As the Spirit of Holiness, He imparts a pure taste; as the Spirit of Glory, He throws a radiance over the character; as the Spirit of Life, He revives religion; as the Spirit of Truth, He gives transparency to the conduct; as the Spirit of Prayer, He melts the soul into devotion; and as the Spirit of Grace, He embues with benevolence, and covers the face of the earth with the works of faith and labours of love." CHAPTER THE FORTIETH. the Fausset. "St. Peter distinctly appropriates these outpouring of the prophecies to the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and the inauguration of the Church of Christ by that miraculous event." Spk. Com. v. 29. J. Howe, v. 209. c Dr. Jenkyn. In this and the remaining chapters of Ezekiel, is given an ideal picture of the 1-5. (1) in.. captivity, "this was the fiftieth year from a 2 Ki. xxiii. 22. the eighteenth of Josiah, the year of his memorable passover."" hand.. me, ch. i. 3. (2) visions of God, or Divinely-sent visions. high mountain, fr. which a broad and general view could be obtained. Reference may be to Mount Zion, from wh. a good view of Mt. Moriah could be obtained. frame, or fabric. The Heb. seems to intimate that this was upon Mount. (3) brass, i.e. brightly shining. line of flax, for measuring the ground. measuring reed, for the walls. (4) declare, etc., so that it may be to them a model in rebuilding the temple. (5) wall, i.e. boundary wall. and an handbreadth, or the cubit used by the man in measuring was one handbreadth over the cubit used in Chaldæa. Reverence for the house of God. "When once thy foot enters the church, beware! God is more there than thou; for thou art there And make thyself all reverence and fear. "Let vain or busy thought have there no part; Bring not thy plots, thy plough, thy pleasure thither; Christ purged His temple-so must thou thy heart. All worldly thoughts are but thieves met together To cozen thee: look to thy actions well, For churches either are our heaven or hell." e 6-10. (6) gate.. east, the east-gate building is described as a model for all the buildings at the other gates. stairs, for their number see v. 22. threshold, or lintel, the upper part of the door-case. The threshold proper is the lower part of the doorcase: and he would not need to go upstairs to measure this. (7) little chamber, prepared for the Levitical guard, who attended restored Jewish temple. "The words describe the situation of the the temple on south side of Mount Zion, wh., with all its courts, buildings, and walls encompassing the courts and the whole area, or holy mountain, resembled a city for bigness." -Lowth. c Zec. ii. 1. d Re. xxi. 15. e G. Herbert. " "Guard-rooms." to and kept the gate.a between, i.e. the passage running between. (8) porch, or portico. (9) inward, i.e. towards the These chambers court of the temple. (10) posts, or bases. -Kiel. were about 10ft. 6in. square. "Be always em ployed about some rational thing, that the devil find thee not idle."-Jerome. b St. Cyprian. a "This hall or colonnade ex breadth of the building to the pavement; v. 18. tended the whole Outside the building, on the pavement, was a series of pillars." -Spk. Com. "To be employed is to be happy." The temple of God.-Be diligent. Sometimes speak to God, at other times hear Him speak to you. Let Him regulate your soul. Whom He hath made rich, none shall make poor. There can be no penury with him whose heart has once been enriched with celestial bounty. Roofs arched with gold, and palaces adorned with marble, are vile in comparison with that house which the Lord has chosen to be His temple, in the which the Holy Ghost dwells. Illuminate this house with the light of righteousness. Its ornaments shall never fade, and it shall dwell hereafter in spotless beauty and eternal majesty. 11-15. (11) length of the gate, or gateway. The extent of the gate. (12) space, a limit, or barrier, to protect the guard-rooms. (13) from the roof, etc., i.e. across the gatebuilding from north to south. From the roof of one chamber to the roof of the corresponding opposite one. (14) posts, or columns." (15) face, or front. The gate Beautiful.-This was the highest gate of the temple, being fifty cubits high, or ten cubits higher than the other gates, the cubit being the length of a man's arm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Nine gates were completely covered with gold and silver, but this with Corinthian brass, which was of greater value. Its doors were forty cubits high. The ascent b Ingram Cobbin, to it was by fifteen steps. The whole of the workmanship was of the very best kind, and it was an addition made to the temple by Herod the Great. -Gray. M.A. a "Closed win dows, with shut lattices, the bars let into the wall, could not be opened or shut at pleasure."- Gesenius. "Taste is, in general, of which, being human con mind by which we perceive and enjoy whatever is beau tiful or sublime in the works of na 16-19. (16) narrow, Heb. closed: fitted with network, or lattices." arches, prob. projections, or bays in the wall. (17) outward court, answering to the Court of the Women in Herod's temple. The first on passing the gate. pavement, of mosaic work. thirty chambers, over the cloisters, and supported by them. (18) lower pavement, on the outer court, wh. was lower than the inner court. (19) without, marg. “from without." Three distinct schools of European architecture.-Now there sidered as that have as yet been three distinct schools of European architecture. faculty of the say European, because Asiatic and African architectures belong so entirely to other races and climates, that there is no questioning of them here; only, in passing, I will simply assure you that whatever is good or great in Egypt, and Syria, and Judæa, is just good or great for the same reasons as the buildings on our side of the Bosphorus. We Europeans, then, have had three great religions: the Greek, which was the worship of the God of Wisdom and Power; the Medieval, which was the worship of the God of Judgment and Consolation; the Renaissance, which was the worship of the God of Pride and Beauty: these three we have had-they are past-and now, at last, we English have got a fourth religion, and a God of our own. ture or art." —Archibald Alli son. b Ruskin. There are men with eyes in 20-23. (20) that looked, Heb. "whose face was." (21) their heads, arches, v. 16. (22) seven steps, v. 6. "There was the same shrewd and self-number of steps, no doubt, to each of the gates from the precincts willing withal, who to the outer court." (23) over against, better, proportionable are yet blind to half the with. National architecture the exponent of a national religion.Every great national architecture has been the result and exponent of a great national religion. You can't have bits of it here, bits there; you must have it everywhere, or nowhere. It is not the exponent of a theological dogma,-it is not the monopoly of a clerical company, it is not the hieroglyphic writing of an initiated priesthood; it is the manly language of a people inspired by resolute and common purpose, and rendering resolute and common fidelity to the legible laws of an undoubted God." 24-27. (24) according.. measures, i.e. to those previously given. (25) windows, v. 16. (26) seven steps, v. 22. (27) gate to gate, or the distance between the gates. Grandeur of an abbey.— How reverend is the face of this tall pile, By its own weight made steadfast and immovable, or outward. A carved pillar (v. 31).—A fanciful text for a fanciful hearer. The rudest people find pleasure in contemplating sculpture and carving. Here is a carved pillar; a palm tree is an emblem of the righteous; a reminder to him who treads the courts of the temple that he should be planted there, then he will flourish as a palm, become fruitful, and himself, like the carved emblem, become a pillar in the house of God. Old cathedrals.-When we enter one of those antique piles in southern Germany, or in Spain-for there only can a Catholic Gothic cathedral be seen in all its glory,-I know not that it is possible for the heart of man to desire any addition to the magnetic solemnity of the whole scene. The tall, narrow windows, quite dark with the long purple garments of pictured martyrs, apostles, and kings, tinge every ray that passes through them with the colours and the memory of a thousand years of devotion." 32-34. (32) into, before, they were looking at the inner court, now they actually entered it. (33, 34) eight steps, comp. the seven steps of the other gates: vv. 22, 26. Wonders of the Bible.-If you ever tried it, you must have been struck with the few solid thoughts, the few suggestive ideas, which survive the perusal of the most brilliant of human books. Few of them can stand three readings; and of the memoriabilia which you have marked in your first reading, on reverting to them, you find many of those were not so striking or weighty or original as you thought. But the Word of God is solid: it will stand a thousand readings; and the man who has gone over it the most frequently and carefully is the surest of finding new wonders there.a 35-38. (35) north gate, similar in all respects to the "A thing of others. (36,37) chambers, etc., see rr. 7, 16. (38) washed.. beauty is a joy offering, Le. i. 11-13. for ever. Its loveliness in creases; it will Historical value of architecture.-Architecture is the printingof all ages, and gives a history of the state of the society in press which it was erected, from the cromlech of the Druids to those toyshops of royal bad taste-Carlton House and the Brighton Pavia Lady Morgan. lion. The Tower and Westminster Abbey are glorious pages in never pass into nothingness." Keats. a "The priests who keep watch as guards of the temple." gate. - the history of time, and tell the story of an iron despotism, and the cowardice of unlimited power." 39-43. (39) porch, "not under the covered portico, wh. was only ten cubits broad, but in the angles formed by the porch and gate-front. These tables were blocks for killing and preparing the sacrifices." (40) without, on either side the entrance of the north gate, from the inner court. (41) eight tables, these were prob. of wood. (42) four tables, i.e. four others. (43) hooks, to wh. the beasts might be fastened: or perhaps on which the carcases might be hung. the tables, prob. the stone tables. Situation for building.— Meantime the moist malignity to shun Of burthen'd skies, mark where the dry champaign And thyme, the love of bees, perfume the air; O! when the growling winds contend, and all a 44-49. (44) singers, 1 Chr. vi. 31, 32. (45) prospect, or outlook. charge of the house, Nu. iii. 25, etc. (46) charge Vul- of the altar, Le. vi. 12, 13. Zadok, 1 Ki. ii. 27, 35. (47) court, i.e. the inner court. (48) porch.. house, ie. of the sanctuary, or temple itself. Comp. Sol.'s porch, 1 Ki. vi. 3. (49) steps, LXX. has "ten steps." pillars.. posts, " meaning that upon the bases (posts) stood shafts (pillars). These shafts were prob. in the form of palm trees." The breadth does not agree Sol.'s porch, the with that of length does. c Comp. 1 Ki. vii. 21; 2 Chr. iii. 17. "Beauty was lent to nature as the type of heaven's unspeakable and holy joy, where all perfection makes the sum of bliss."-Mrs. Hale. Music. Amid the golden gifts which Heaven |