that Jehovah, the God of Israel, will accomplish the downfall of Babylon. 'Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.' 'And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there; but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces; and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.' (Isaiah xiii. 17, 19-22.) In the forty-fifth chapter, the prophet goes into particulars, and gives specifications concerning the destruction of Babylon.

"1. Cyrus, the Persian, shall command the conquering enemy, (v. 1.)

"2. Cyrus, though a heathen, unacquainted with the true religion, is called to this great work by the God of Israel, (v. 4, 5.)

"3. God will open before him the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut,' (v. 1.)

"4. The 'treasures and hidden riches of Babylon shall be given to him,' (v. 3.)

“5. He shall 'let go the captive Jews.'

"6. Not for price nor reward;' that is, he shall

not demand a ransom, (v. 13.)

"7. He shall rebuild Jerusalem.

"8. And rebuild the temple,' (chap. xliv. 28.)

6

"But the Babylonian unbeliever demands, 'Where is Bel-where is Nebo while this destruction is coming on their favorite city? Where are those powerful gods of Babylon, that have dashed the nations in pieces before her conquering armies? Such an overthrow of Babylon is incredible, while she is upheld by Bel and Nebo.' The prophet replies, The Medes and Persians will pull down these senseless images, and break them to pieces, and put the metal of which they are composed on mules and pack-horses, and into carriages, and bear it away to Persia.' 'Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth; their idols were upon the beasts and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden ; they are a burden to the weary beast. They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.' (Isaiah xlvi. 1, 2.)"

The effect of this exposition on the mind of the gentleman who introduced the discussion I have not the means of knowing. The elucidation of the text is inserted here, with the hope that it may prove acceptable to the readers of the "Western Sketch-Book." 26*

EXPOSITION OF SCRIPTURE.

"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." (John xxi. 25.)

THE plain Christian reads this assertion of the apostle in much astonishment. No declaration in the New Testament appears to him more mysterious and strange; and, after reviewing it again and again, he finds himself utterly unable to form even a plausible conjecture of what the inspired writer intended. He could not mean to assert that if every one of the things which Jesus did in the presence of his disciples, before his death and after his resurrection, were committed to writing, the number and size of the books would be so great that there would not be in the world itself, or in the whole world, room enough to contain them; and yet this seems to be the direct import of the language employed. After many fruitless efforts to extract the apostle's meaning, he leaves the passage in despair, deeply regretting that, to his mind, "shadows, clouds, and darkness rest upon it."

Elsner, one of the most famous of European critics, explains this text as if the apostle had said, "If all the works that Jesus did were recorded, the unbelieving world would not admit them, so as to be moved by

them to faith and obedience." But the sacred writer well knew that unbelievers would scoff and reject what he had written. This, therefore, could not be assigned as a reason for his not writing more.

"God is his own interpreter." Many parts of his holy book, which at first are difficult of comprehension, become perfectly plain when compared with the events of his providence. After the apostles had witnessed the life and death of Jesus Christ, they had a much clearer understanding of the Old Testament predictions concerning him than the prophets had, by whom those predictions were uttered. (1 Pet. i. 10-12.) And many things which Christ did and said were at first unintelligible to the disciples; but after his resurrection, they were clear as the light of heaven. Accordingly, we read, (John xii. 16,) "These things understood not his disciples at the first but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him."

In like manner, the Christian who now attentively surveys what the Lord is doing for the advancement of his church, will be enabled to understand declarations contained in his word, which, a few ages back, were shrouded in impenetrable obscurity. The Lamb is opening seal after seal, and as he moves forward, "conquering and to conquer," the light of revealed truth will shine upon our dark world more and more, until the perfect millennial day. The passage under consideration is one of this description; it can be more fully comprehended now than in any former age. But it must be remarked, that the Greek word which in the text is translated contain, more properly signifies

to receive; the best Greek lexicons render it thus, xwpnoa, recipere, to receive. "The world itself," or "the whole world, could not receive the books that should be written." God designed that the inspired record of the doctrines, and miracles, and death of Jesus Christ should be put into the hands of the whole world, as an infallible rule of faith and practice. He mentioned this, by the mouth of Isaiah, as taking place in order to the conversion of all nations. "Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." His Omnipotent Spirit is now arousing the Christian church to the mighty enterprise; already the holy book is spreading among the nations with unexampled rapidity; already the benighted tribes of Europe, Africa, Asia, and America, begin to feel its amazing influence; already, in large and populous districts, every family has been visited and supplied with the sacred oracles. Nor shall the glorious work stop until every kindred and people under heaven read, in their own tongue, wherein they were born, "the wonderful works of God."

But says the apostle, if all the things which Jesus said and did in the presence of his disciples had been written in the inspired book, "I suppose that the whole world could not receive the books that should be written." No. It would have swelled the sacred writings to an extent too great; it would have been impracticable to have put the whole human family in possession of them, and thus fill the earth with the knowledge of the Lord. The spirit of inspiration, therefore, chose only to record so much as is necessary for the salvation of souls. "These are written, that