20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:

he gave them all into his hand. 18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. 21 To fulfil the word of the LORD 19 And they burnt the house of by the mouth of Jeremiah, until God, and brake down the wall of the land had enjoyed her sabJerusalem, and burntall the pala- baths; for as long as she lay ces thereof with fire, and destroy- desolate she kept sabbath, to ed all the goodly vessels thereof. fulfil threescore and ten years. LECTURE 717.

The end which may be expected by the sabbath breaker.

How has God now given up his people to dishonour; when a king of Egypt deposes one of their sovereigns, and a king of Babylon takes captive two more, and at last lays waste their city, burns their temple, and carries off into captivity all whom he had not first slain with the sword! So soon after the death of Josiah was the cup of the iniquity of this people full! So greedily had they run after their old abominations, and so obstinately persisted in rejecting the warnings given them by God's prophets, "till there was no remedy!" Oh fearful words! Oh time most sorely to be dreaded! "Till there was no remedy!" Can we hear that this was once the case with this highly favoured people; and not tremble to think, that if we persevere in any sin we know of, it may soon be the case with us? Never may we wilfully close our ears to any admonition of God's word or ministers! Never may we return to the sins we have once left, or fall away from the grace we have once attained to!

Jeremiah was one of the chief among many prophets whom it pleased God to raise up amongst his people, at this season of their extreme degeneracy, to testify faithfully to the truth. In his prophecies which have come down to us, we find it written, "these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years." Jer. 25. 11. Here a reason is assigned for the time thus fixt upon: " until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths." This shews us, that amongst other of God's laws transgressed, was the law of the sabbatic year. See Ex. 23. 10, 11. And indeed in the Law itself this very case was contemplated: "Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land." Lev. 26. 34. A fearful warning for the faithless, who think to gain by disobeying God, and by working, as of old on sabbath years, so now on sabbath days! The land had rest, but the people had labour in captivity. The sabbath breaker, who now resolves to work, when God would have him rest, may expect, that when God's people enter into the rest of heaven, his lot will be tribulation for evermore.

PART IV. 0. T.

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23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among

The proclamation of Cyrus. 22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

The

you of all his people?
LORD his God be with him, and
let him go up.

LECTURE 718.

Glory due to God for redeeming us.

These words, which form the beginning of the book of Ezra, are also set down at the end of the books of Chronicles; by a kind provision for the reader's consolation, that he may not close this dreadful history of the sin and the punishment of Judah and Jerusalem, without being reminded, that God put a period to the troubles of his people, and restored them in due season to the promised land. In the proclamation of Cyrus, it is remarkable, that he refers to the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem, as if this was the chief purpose for which he had it in charge from God, to restore God's people to their country. This was a way of stating the matter, well calculated both to humble the people thus restored, and to glorify God, by whose undeserved mercy they were enabled to return. It was evidently not for their own sakes that He gave them this deliverance. It was evidently for no merit of theirs that He shewed them this favour. But it was for his own name's sake, in order that his temple might be built in Jerusalem, and that there the services ordained in the Law might be performed, and the great mystery of man's redemption through Christ might be foreshewn, by lively types and figures, until the time of its actual accomplishment; these were the objects for which God was now pleased to fulfil the prophetic words of Jeremiah, "I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the Lord." Jer. 33. 11. Whatsoever then we ourselves experience of God's most undeserved mercy, let us constantly bear in mind, that we owe it altogether to his fatherly goodness. And instead of taking credit to ourselves, or being elated by the tokens of his love, let us take care to give Him all the praise.

Glory be to Thee, O God, for remembering mercy in the midst of judgment. For our signal deliverance from the bondage of sin, for our undeserved establishment in the glorious liberty of the children of God, glory be to Thee, O heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord!

EZRA 1. 1—11.

The proclamation of Cyrus. He restoreth the vessels of the temple.

LECTURE 719.

We can neither will nor do good without God's help.

Besides the prophecy of Jeremiah, there was a very remarkable prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled on this occasion, which thus speaks of almighty God: "That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusa

lem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: that saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers: that saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid." Is. 44. 26-28. These words, as well as those of Jeremiah, were probably pointed out to Cyrus, when he became master of the empire of Babylon. But whatever influence they might have on him, we find it here set down, that the Lord stirred up his spirit, moved him by a special influence, to make this remarkable proclamation, and to give this great assistance to God's chosen people in returning to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. It would be well if we were more careful to remember that we also have been marked out by prophecy, and stirred up by the Spirit of the Lord, to do Him honour in the building of his spiritual temple! Oh how ought it to quicken our endeavours in working out our own salvation, when we consider that we have been called and foreordained thereto, and that it is God Himself who helps us both to will and do, of his good pleasure!

Cyrus, in his proclamation, ascribes to the true God his own eminent success, and declares that he is charged by the Lord God of heaven and earth" to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah." And he bids all God's people then in his dominions to go up to Jerusalem on this holy errand. And he exhorts his other subjects to help those who went up, by contributions of gold, and silver, and of goods, and cattle. And by way of setting them an eminent example, he "brought forth the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods: even those did Cyrus the king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah." A wonderful dispensation of God's overruling providence, that these holy vessels should have been kept so long and safely in the hands of those who took them in spoil, and should now be delivered back to their proper owners, to be restored to their proper use! A striking proof that the Spirit of God had indeed stirred up the heart of Cyrus, when he not only allowed the Lord's people to depart out of captivity, but also surrendered to the uses of the temple of the Lord above five thousand vessels of gold and silver! How can we help here remembering with shame, that the spoils of gold, and silver, and other valuable possessions, which God allowed to be once rudely stripped from the church established in this land, in part of a just chastisement for the abominations of idolatry, have as yet found no Cyrus willing to restore them; but in many cases have been wasted and altogether lost; and in others are knowingly retained, and withheld from their sacred uses, though the church has been

long since reestablished in purity, and though those who now retain its spoils oftentimes are its members, and profess to be its friends!

"Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem." If it needed that God should stir up Cyrus to let them go, it no less needed that God should raise their spirit to depart. They and their families had now been for the most part no less than seventy years settled in the land of their captivity. There they had established themselves as though it were their home. And thence it was not likely that they would willingly go forth, to build God's temple at Jerusalem, unless He Himself vouchsafed to move them. But He did both move many of them to go, and move those who stayed behind to assist them liberally in their going. Oh that He may in like manner raise our spirit in us, to set forth in earnest, at all risk of present loss, unto the heavenly temple, in the heavenly Jerusalem, to which He has been pleased to summon us! Without his aid, in vain we should endeavour to travel thitherward. Without his Spirit prompting ours we shall not so much as think of trying. May He both move us to try, and enable us to succeed, by the power of the Holy Ghost, through Jesus Christ our Lord!