The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord; but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; the Lord of Hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the Lord, If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord." (Jer. xxxi. 27-37.)

Notice here that under this new covenant the sins of the nation-the house of Israel and the house of Judah-are to be remembered no more by Jehovah, and also that Israel's ultimate permanence as a NATION is to be equalled only by the stability of the ordinances of heaven-the sun, moon, and stars. Judging from the terms of this prediction as quoted from Jeremiah, it would never strike an impartial reader that this covenant was to have any direct relation to any other than the nation of Israel. "I will make a new covenant with the HOUSE OF ISRAEL and with the HOUSE OF JUDAH; not according to the covenant that I made with THEIR fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt." This new covenant, then, is to be made with the descendants of those who left Egypt.

But it may be supposed by some that in Heb. viii. this covenant is transferred from Israel natural to Israel spiritual, so-called. Let us see the precise object the apostle had in view in quoting this prediction from Jeremiah. Paul had been showing the superiority of the Christ to Moses, and in doing so mentioned the fact that he was "the Mediator of a BETTER Covenant." Now Moses was the mediator of the covenant which was made between Jehovah and the nation of Israel at Sinai. But how could it be shown that the Mosaic covenant was inferior to that of which the Christ was Mediator? By the testimony of one of their own prophets, Jeremiah, who had predicted the establishment of a new and better covenant between God and the whole house of Israel, and so afforded the most conclusive evidence of the imperfection of the first. But let us hear the apostle himself:-" But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the Mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless then should no place have been sought for the second.

For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come (saith the Lord) when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old, is ready to vanish away." (Heb. viii. 6-13.)

But has this covenant no relation to the Church? some may be ready to ask. To this it must be replied, Yes, it has; not directly, however, but indirectly. The new covenant was dedicated or purified by the blood of Jesus. But in the wisdom of God this blood was to effect other objects besides the dedication of the covenant, namely, the remission of sins; and that not merely the sins of the nation, as intimated in the prophecy, but, as indicated by Jesus at the institution of the supper, the sins of all who should become his. Hence Paul quotes the portion referring to the remission of sins to show that where there is perfect provision made for this (as there was in the offering of the body of Jesus once for all), there is no necessity for any more offering for sin. (See Heb. x. 14-18.) It is thus evident that Paul does not quote the prophecy to show that it was fulfilled, but simply to show the superiority of Christ to Moses, both as being the Mediator of a better covenant, and as by his one offering making perfect for ever them that are sanctified. The parties with whom the covenant is to be made, so far from being explained by the apostle to be any other than the literal descendants of Abraham, are expressly said to be "the house of Israel and the house of Judah ;" and the prophecy is introduced by these words of the apostle, "FOR FINDING FAULT WITH THEM, HE SAITH, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant," &c. A reference to the prophecy shows that the fault was with the people of Israel, and with no other people; and so Paul is thus seen to have had no other idea in his mind than that which was in the mind of the prophet, namely, that the new covenant was to be made with the very people named in the prophecy -the twelve tribes of Israel, who had previously been defaulters.

But still more clearly to show that this prophecy has as yet had no fulfilment, it is only necessary to observe the time stated by the prophet at which it is to be accomplished. The passage we are considering forms part of a continuous prophecy beginning chap. xxx.: "Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book; for, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people ISRAEL and JUDAH, saith the Lord, and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning ISRAEL and concerning JUDAH. For thus saith

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the Lord," &c. In chapters xxx. and xxxi., the words concerning Israel and Judah are continued. At verse 33 of chap. xxxi. it is written, "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; AFTER THOSE DAYS, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." Now this is the new covenant, and the time of its coming into operation is said to be, AFTER THOSE DAYS." After what days? Certainly after the days mentioned in various parts of the preceding "words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and Judah," and which I have quoted above from verse 3 of chap. xxx., and which are reiterated at verse 29 of chap. xxxi., also already quoted. Observe here the explicit statement that it is after the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been builded and planted in their own land that the writing of the law in their hearts is to be effected under the new covenant.

Before leaving this important testimony it may be well to note how strictly the "God of Israel" has hedged round the promise of Israel's ultimate restoration against being misunderstood. In the last passage quoted it is expressly declared to be the selfsame people that God had watched over, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, that are to be again builded and planted. And, more than this even, the same faithfulness to his word which caused Jehovah to pluck up and to break down is pledged for the building and planting "LIKE AS I HAVE WATCHED Over them to pluck up, &c., so WILL I WATCH Over them to build and to plant, saith the Lord." This is repeated in different terms in chap. xxxii. 42,-" For thus saith the Lord, Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them;"-and should be accepted by every candid inquirer as the strongest assurance that, however much appearances may be against it, God will yet be justified before all the earth in his choice of Israel as his own peculiar nation.

It is proper to explain here that while the new covenant is to be established AFTER the people are restored to the land, it is pretty plain that the old covenant does not entirely vanish away until the establishment of the new. Deut. xxx. shows that the final restoration is to be effected on condition that the people adhere to the provisions of the old covenant; for, says Moses, "When thou shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, that THEN the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity," &c. There is an interesting prophecy of Ezekiel which may serve to throw some light on this point:"As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you. And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the

country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord." (Ezek. xx. 33-38.) The covenant here spoken of is in operation while Israel is in the wilderness of the people, and before they enter their own land; and as it is termed neither the new nor everlasting covenant, it would seem that it is the covenant originally made with the generation that came out of Egypt, and which was, along with the prophecy of Moses, re-delivered to the generation that actually entered Canaan. It may be suggested that this shall be part of the work of Elijah the prophet, who is to "restore all things," and of whom it is predicted by the last of Israel's prophets,For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble. And the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of Hosts. Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Mal. iv. 1-6.) J. CAMERON. Edinburgh.

(To be continued.)

EARTH'S TITLE-DEEDS TAKEN UP

BY THE HEIR.

"And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." &c.-REV. v. 1-8.

N the preceding chapter we have the commencement of God's dealings

an end. The latter are called the things that are; the former the things after these. The Lord Jesus, who is represented in the first, second, and third chapters, exercising judgment in the professing Church, is now seen in heaven. John is taken up into heaven; there he beholds God seated on a throne of government, encircled with a rainbow, the_token of God's covenant with creation, as we learn from Genesis ix. In the chapter before us we read that John saw a book, or roll of parchment, in the right hand of him who sat upon the throne. Here a very important inquiry at once arises,-What are we to understand by the Book thus seen lying on the hand of God? as it may be literally translated. Is it a book merely containing a revelation of the destinies of the Church and of the world? It appears to us that what is said in reference to it, clearly shows that that cannot possibly be its meaning. Were it so, there could have been no difficulty whatever in an inspired prophet

making known its contents. For God, in times past, spake unto the fathers by the prophets, and unveiled to their view in prophetic language what lay concealed in the future. If therefore here there is reference merely to the predictions of future events, we cannot understand why none was found able to open the Book, or why John should have shed tears merely because of a protracted delay in revealing the future. The Book, or the roll, is, we conceive, the title- deeds of man's forfeited inheritance. When God created man in holy innocence, bearing his own moral image, he set him over the works of his hands, as sovereign ruler of the earth and all that it contained. "For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet. All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea." (Ps. viii. 5-8.) Thus we learn that the sovereignty of this lower world was conferred upon man. God appointed him heir and lord of all, but he no sooner sinned than he lost his inheritance; the sceptre of dominion which God had put into his hands, was henceforth broken, and the title-deeds went by reversion to the original Owner of the inheritance. Ever since they have been in his hands, and fallen man serves where formerly he reigned. "Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat of the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread all thy days; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Such is the miserable condition to which sin has reduced earth's former sovereign.

Now the Book here spoken of contains, as we have said, the title-deeds to the inheritance, the counsels of God in regard to our world, and the successive acts of judgment and displays of providence whereby it is again to be restored. When, therefore, the angel proclaimed with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?" he asked the great and momentous question, Who is able to execute the Divine purposes in regard to the earth, and in regard to those who are living upon it? He asked, Who is able to give man a new title to it, and to place him in the actual possession of it? At present it is in the hands of Satan, who usurped earth's sovereignty as soon as man had lost it. Hence we hear him say to our Lord, when he had taken him up into a high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, "All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them; for that is delivered to me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou wilt therefore worship me, all shall be thine." (Luke iv. 5-7.) In keeping with this the Lord calls him, "The prince of the world." The Holy Spirit speaks of him as "the god of this world; " as "the prince of the power of the air; and says, that "the whole world lieth in wickedness," or rather, in the wicked one, under his sceptre and his sway. Hence the present is emphatically Satan's day; the day of the Lord is at hand; but now it is the devil's day! This solemn fact accounts for the fearful condition in which the world has been since Adam was expelled from Paradise; a field of blood; a scene of universal desolation, sorrow, bondage, moral ruin, and death. We readily grant that