LXXXV.]

THE EVANGELICAL PROPHET.

115

The only one of these predictions that had not an outward and literal fulfilment, was that of the "streams in the desert," and that is perfectly fulfilled-spiritually by the fulness of the Water of Life, the grace of the Holy Spirit. Again, the gentleness and tenderness of His teaching was foretold in these words (Isaiah chap. xlii.) :

Behold my servant, whom I uphold :

Mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth;
I have put my spirit upon him :

He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
He shall not cry, nor lift up,

Nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

A bruised reed shall he not break,

And the smoking flax shall he not quench:

He shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

St. Matthew applies and draws out this prophecy, when in his twelfth chapter he has been describing the healing of the man with the withered hand. Christ was not to be publicly made known, neither would He break the frail spirit, bending like a reed already broken, nor quench the smouldering flame of feeble faith, like a spark in a wick almost gone out. He deals gently and forbearingly till the time of judgment and victory (Matt. xii.):

And charged them that they should not make him known:

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.

He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the

streets.

A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

Another passage is very memorable, because He chose it Himself when in the synagogue at Nazareth, He made proclamation of Himself and His work on earth (Isaiah lxi.) :

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me;

Because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek;

He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives,

And the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,

And the day of vengeance of our God;

To comfort all that mourn;

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,

To give unto them beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

That they might be called trees of righteousness,

The planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

That jubilee year of rest to the land and rejoicing at the deliverance from the Assyrians, was fresh in the minds of Judah, when Isaiah spoke the prophecy; but what must it not have been when our Lord (Luke iv.)—

Came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to

read.

And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

To preach the acceptable year of the LORD.

And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in

your ears.

Perhaps there never was a greater announcement made upon this earth. The real jubilee-the great Sabbath, the deliverance of Satan's prisoners, the time of clear sight and hope-was come at last. But, alas! "Who hath believed our report?"

Yet, in spite of disbelief, the Church was founded, and, as Isaiah taught again and again, it was no longer merely confined to the Jews, but spread through all the world. So he cries, seeing the coming of the Gentiles afar off (Isaiah lx.)—

Arise, shine; for thy light is come,

And the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And gross darkness the people :

But the LORD shall arise upon thee,
And his glory shall be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light,
And kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Lift up thine eyes round about, and see:
All they gather themselves together,
They come to thee:

Thy sons shall come from far,

And thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

Then thou shalt see, and flow together,

And thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged;

Because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee,

The forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

The gross darkness is the sin and ignorance in which all the world lay,

ere the shining of the Gospel light, when sons and daughters should be gathered to the Church, and after all her persecutions (Isaiah lx.)——

LXXXVI.]

THE REIGN OF MANASSEH.

117

The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee;

And all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the
soles of thy feet:

And they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the
Holy One of Israel.

And again, though the Jews should not believe, and must be cast off, yet still to the Church was promised (Isaiah xlix.) :

:

The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other,
Shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me:

Give place to me that I may dwell.

Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these,
Seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate,

A captive, and removing to and fro ?

And who hath brought up these?

Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

Thus saith the Lord GOD,

Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles,

And set up my standard to the people :

And they shall bring thy sons in their arms,

And thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

And kings shall be thy nursing fathers,

And their queens thy nursing mothers :

They shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth,
And lick up the dust of thy feet;

And thou shalt know that I am the LORD;

For they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

LESSON LXXXVI.

THE REIGN OF MANASSEH.

B.C. 698.-2 CHRON. xxxiii. 1-10; 2 KINGS XXì. 10-IU.

And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem.

But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

* He must have been proclaimed king at his birth, for these fifty-five years are the years of his life.

For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.

And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.

So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.

And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying,

Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols :

Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.

And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.

And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies.

Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.

Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.

And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria and dwelt in the cities thereof.

And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew some of them.

Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.

Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry hither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.

Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.

Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.

And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima.

And the Ávites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.

They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.

Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;

With whom the LORD had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:

But the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.

And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the command