The National tribune., 1894-12-13

of sin, and must rejoice that we have such
competent Savior Jesus is fmmanuel-God
with us.
The late Rev. Chas. II. Sturgeon wrote
ut is noteworthy that he clearest promises
OF the Messiah have been given i'll the dark
est hours of history. If the Prophets had
been silent uron the Coming One before
they always speak out in the cloudy and
dark day for well the Spirit made them
know that the coming of God in human fie3h
is The lone star Of the worlds night. In the
worst times we TO preach Christ, and to
look TO Christ. In Jesus there is remedy
for the direst of diseases, and a rescue from
the darkest of despairs. 1t is Gods comfort
to troubled hearts liz all the ages; il is Gods
sign OF grace to- Us. The sure hope of sinners
and the great JOY Of saints is the incarnate
Lord, Unnamed, God with ms. May he be
! your Joy and mine. He it is who is the
great light of the people who dwell in the
land Of the shadow of death if any among
you are in that dreary land, may he be Light
and Life to you!
ISA, 9: II.
Time.
| We date about 7dI X. c. All through the
! interval from then on ito the birth of Christ
! the prophecy OF Isaiah was comfort to the
Jews. Time aud'a.tain it was read. So we
| often hear Isaiah9sp6ken of as the Evangelic
! Prophet. His wHfdS arc a vestibule to
the grand Temple Of Sew Testament revea-
/ ton.
l55Jpse l.
Chapter 8: q, 22, shows the condition of
the Jews in tie sssys'of Isaiaii-they were
! hungry, they fretled themselves, they felt
the terrible oppression inflicted by their
heather Kings, they were in trouble, dark
ness, dimness, Anguish. Chapter 0 intro
duces a change. The dimness was great,
bnl mol so grea: as it had been or could be.
Instead OF dimuess there vas to be cicarness.
IcbGlon correspondent 10 Lower Galilee--
Naphiaii TO Upper Galiee. This region
suffered very seriously from the first
Assyrlan invasion. st2 XII, 10: 20; cbron.,
5 2G) -
"Galilec of the nations" The country
al about the SCI or Galilee had become ia
habited by colonies sent by Esarhadien.
- XII. 17:2l) Those colonies were COM
posed Of heaikcn peoples. 1t was thus that
there originated such contempt Of that sec
ton of the country on the part OF the Jews
in the southern region OF Palestine. These
latter kept themselves freer from heather
Dlucnces-formcd less numerous marriage
CT business relations with Gentiles. They
considered themselves purer, more Jewish,
more loyal 10 their race than the Jews living
iii GalIlce or bordering thereon, and their
claim was doubtless quite well founded.
Verse 2.
We notice the contrasts in this lesson
darkness, great light; the shadow of death,
the shining light Notice darkness, in 6 %
The idea of dwelling intimates considerable
duration. Sin is daIkEess-it is dcatii--it
Ii shadow. jesus is light They who have
been ~ great darkness can most appreciate
briiliancy OF illumination. They, almost
snatched away by Satan, can realizs the joys
OF rescue, salvation through Christ.
Terse g.
In this verse there is seemingly contradic-
ton. The Revised Version removes he diff
Guilty by emitting mot" before" ncIeasedn
The National Thanksgiving season Of the
Jews was the Feast oil 'TabeTnacles-their har-
vest festival. time oil great rejoicing We
get an idea Of the degree OF joy felt and ex-
pressed when we recall how exultant were
victorious soldiers while dividing among
their number the valuable spoil, the rich
treasures captured from tie enemy, the gold
and silver Christ conquered Satan captur-
ing his treasures and distributing them
among bis own fol flowers. When Jesus over
came the Evil One ard saved us from his
power he gave to us the grandest spoils of he
enemy, the richest treasure to us TO Wit,
rescue from sin and he joys of redemption.
Applying the verse IN more secular sense
10 the Jews of that day, We can form some
idea of how happy they would be when re-
lieved from the captivity ard restored to
their own beloved hand.
Verse 4.
We have in this verse further reasons fer
JOY. The yoke was the emblem of slavery.
When the Romans conquered people they
forced them 10 walk iEra procession, passing
under yoke SO low that trey were obliged
10 bend as they walked beneath it, A yoke |
of foreign bondage haa been placed on the |
necks (Ggurdtivcly. steaking) Of the Jews. |
BY breaking that yoke is meant the freeing |
Of the people from such subjugation. "The |
staff of tine shoulder" The staff or rod was |
an emblem Of authority, and hence often |
OF misused authariiy or tyranny. Such |
cruel rulers or masters ut times put too
heavy loads on shoulders Of subjects or
slaves. To brealsi he staff came 10 mean TO
relieve persons thus alliic. ed or abused. |
Such relief was a cause OF great rejoicing.
Jud., Z: 1928 gvesaccnunt of the victory
Of Gideon over the Mitianitcs. That battle
was a grand triumph for the Israelites.
Such victory was TO Dc desired by any sub
jected people, and to such would be cause for
great joy.
Verse 5.
NsThe Revised Version rendered this verse
thus: " For all the armOr of the armed men
in tho tumult, and the garments rolled in
blood shall even he for burning, for fuel of
fire" In times of fixed peace implements
OF warfare may be destroyed. But the re.-
erence here is probably to the ancient custom
of piling up the weapons taken from an
enemy and offering them as sacrifice to the
god whom, they supposed, gave them The
victory.
Verse 6.
This verse with the seventh and eighth
contains prophecy of the birth and work
of Christ. ST. Luke, 1:3i, 30, applies a
4 a