14 habitation of dragons, [and] a court for owls. The wild beafts of the defert fhall alfo meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the fatyr fhall cry to his fellow; the fcreech owl also shall reft there, and find for herself 15 a place of reft. There fhall the great owl make her neft, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there fhall the vultures alfo be gathered, every one with her mate; creatures that love defolate places, whether Sandy or marshy, fhall meet together, and breed there; intimating that the defolation fhall be long continued.

16

Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read; let the prophecy be compared with the event, to show that not one of thefe difmal creatures shall be wanting; no one of thefe fhall fail, none fhall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his fpirit it hath gathered them; God hath fo ordered it, and brought them to17 gether by the inftinets he hath given them. And he hath caft the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line; thefe creatures fhall have the land divided among them as if it was done by lot: they fhall poffefs it for ever, from generation to generation fhall they dwell therein.

1.

WE

REFLECTION S.

E may reflect with pleasure on the righteousness of God, when his judgments are abroad in the earth. This dreadful hyperbolical defcription is answered by the defolations that war often makes in cities and countries; but let us rejoice that infinite wisdom and righteoufnefs prefide over thefe affairs, God's fword is the fword of justice, and cometh for judgment, v. 5. Defolation doth not proceed at random, but in ftrict equity; by line and plummet ; it works as regularly as cities are built, and countries planted: even the wild beafts and birds have their share, as if divided by lot. Let this comfort our minds amidst the confufions of the earth; and lead us to adore the righteoufnefs of the Lord, who is holy in all his ways.

2. How beautiful is it to obferve the correfpondence between hiftory and prophecy, v. 16, The book of the prophets

prophets is the book of the Lord, infpired by the Holy Ghost. It is our duty to read it, to feek and fearch it out. Where we have light from antient hiftory, we fhall fee the prophecies exactly fulfilled; and where we have not history, we have reafon to conclude that they were fulfilled, or will be fo. The defolations which have been made, particularly by the Turks, upon the countries furrounding the holy land, the ruins of Babylon, Nineveh, and other great and populous cities in those parts, fhow that God's counsel shall stand, and that his words fhall not fall to the ground.

This chapter refers to the gospel, and the glorious change it should make in the state of the world.

I

HE wilderness and the folitary place fhall be

glad for them, for the deftruction of the enemy; 42 and the defert fhall rejoice, and bloffom as the rofe. It fhall bloffom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and finging: the glory of Lebanon fhall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they fhall fee the glory of the LORD, [and] the excellency of our God; that is, fpiritual bleffings, deferibed under thefe emblems, 3 Shall abound. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and con4 firm the feeble knees. Say to them [that are] of a fearful heart, Be ftrong, fear not; an address to the apostles and minifters of Chrift: behold, your God will come [with] vengeance, [even] God [with] a recom5 penfe; he will come and fave you. Then the eyes of the blind fhall be opened, and the ears of the deaf fhall be unstopped, which was literally done by Chrift and his 6 apostles. Then fhall the lame [man] leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb fing: for in the wilderness 7 fhall waters break out, and ftreams in the defert. And the parched ground fhall become a pool, and the thirsty land fprings of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, [shall be] grafs with reeds and rushes; fandy places fhall become good patures; referring to the influence

A

fluence of Chrift's doctrine and Spirit upon the world, and efpecially to the change that should take place in the gentile 8 nations. And an highway, or caufeway, fhall be there, and a way, and it fhall be called, The way of holiness; the unclean fhall not pafs over it; but it [fhall be] for thofe; or, God fhall be with them, fhall be their guide and companion in the way; therefore the wayfaring men, 9 though fools, fhall not err [therein.] No lion hall be there, nor [any] ravenous beaft fhall go up thereon, it fhall not be found there; all their spiritual enemies fhall be 10 vanquished; but the redeemed fhall walk [there:] And the ranfomed of the LORD fhall return, and come to Zion with fongs, all fhall terminate in heaven, and everlafting joy upon their heads; as garlands of flowers were worn at feafts, fo fhall they wear a crown of glory: they fhall obtain, joy and gladness, and forrow and fighing fhall flee away.

I.

"L

REFLECTION S.

ET us rejoice in the happinefs of Chrift's kingdom, and the glory of the gofpel. It has the brightest glories of the Mofaick difpenfation, and fome which are unspeakably greater and nobler. The mira. cles of Chrift confirmed his doctrine, and were emblems of the effects of it upon the mind; the eyes of the underftanding were enlightened, ignorant heathens were brought to know God, and Christ, and religion; obftinate wills were fubdued; idolatry, flavery, polygamy, and other vices and miferies were banished, as far as that prevailed, and the fpiritual enemies of men conquered. The glorious change it made in the state of the moral world is but imperfectly reprefented by these figures; but they ought to excite our thankfulness that we are favoured with this glorious difpenfation, and that it hath already contributed fo much to the happiness of mankind.

2. The view here given us of the way of religion, fhould engage us to walk in it. It is the way of holinefs, of univerfal rectitude, purity, and goodness; a fafe, plain, and pleasant way; there is no difficulty in finding it, no danger

in walking in it. We meet there with the beft company, and have God for our guardian and guide, our companion and friend. In this way then let us walk, and proceed therein with vigour and cheerfulness; ftrengthen our own and others' feeble knees, and encourage one another's hearts. This delightful road will at length bring us to the heavenly Zion, where forrow and fighing, where fin, corruptions, and enemies fhall be no more; but upon our heads fhall be everlasting joy, and in our mouths everlasting songs.

I

CHA P. XXXVI, XXXVII.

No king

OW it came to pafs in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, [that] Sennacherib king of Affyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, 2 and took them. And the king of Affyria fent Rabhakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he ftood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field. 3 Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's fon, which was over the houfe, and Shebna the fcribe, 4 and Joah, Afaph's fon, the recorder. And Rabshakeh faid unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus faith the great king, the king of Affyria, What confidence 5 [is] this wherein thou trufteft? I fay, [fayeft thou] (but [they are but] vain words) [I have] counfel and ftrength for war: now on whom doft thou truft, that 6 thou rebelleft against me? Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: fo [is] Pharaoh 7 king of Egypt to all that truft in him. But if thou fay to me, We truft in the LORD our God: [is it] not he * whofe high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and faid to Judah and to Jerufalem, Ye fhall 8 worship before this altar? Now therefore give pledges, I pray

Thefe two chapters are the fame as 2 Kings xviii. 13, to the end of chap. xix. and the reader is referred to the expofition and reflections upon those places.

I pray thee, to my mafter the king of Affyria, and I' will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on 9 thy part to fet riders upon them. How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the leaft of my mafter's fervants, and put thy truft on Egypt for chariots 10 and for horfemen? And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to deftroy it? the LORD faid unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. 1 Then faid Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy fervants in the Sylanguage; for we understand [it:] and fpeak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people 12 that [are] on the wall. But Rabfhakeh faid, Hath my mafter fent me to thy mafter and to thee to speak these words? [hath he] not [fent me] to the men that fit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and 13 drink their own pifs with you? Then Rabíhakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and faid, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of 14 Affyria. Thus faith the king, Let not Hezekiah de

ceive you for he fhall not be able to deliver you. 15 Neither let Hezekiah make you truft in the LORD, faying, The LORD will furely deliver us: this city fhall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Affyria. 16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus faith the king of Affyria, Make [an agreement] with me [by] a prefent, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one 17 the waters of his own ciftern; Until I come and take

you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn 18 and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. [Beware] left Hezekiah perfuade you, faying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Affyria?. 19 Where [are] the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where [are] the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they deliver20 ed Samaria out of my hand? Who [are they] among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD fhould deliver 21 Jerufalem out of my hand? But they held their peace,

and