Now in all these passages there is clear evidence that the Great Creator, for some wise and inscrutable reason, will cause these animals to change their fierce and destructive nature and habits into a mild and gentle disposition, in harmony with the pacific character of that blissful age. "Oh, that man would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men."

Then with regard to the flora: perhaps here the change is not so great, though still manifest enough; that remarkable passage in Isa. xxxv. 1, 2 will readily recur to the memory of the studious reader. Here the whole chapter describes the beauty and glory of Palestine, as restored in the age to come, together with the miraculous power which will be in operation in that golden age. And in the two first verses we have the beauty and luxuriance of its flora described in these poetic and yet literal expressions: "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose: it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, and the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God." And in Isa. xli. 19 we also read, “I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together." Add to this, Isa. lv. 13, "Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to

the Lord for a name, and for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."

Once more, in that beautiful Psalm lxvii., which is a written anticipation of Millennial times, and can only be used in this way "till Shiloh come, and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." Then Judah shall take her harp from the willows, and Israel shall sing a new song; "then shall the earth yield her increase," in floral beauty and autumnal redolence; and "Judah and Ephraim shall unite their Millennial doxology: 'Let the people praise Thee, O God, let all the people praise Thee."" See Ezek. xxxvi. 29, 30, 34, 35.

Perhaps the cause of this surpassing beauty and fruitfulness is to be found in the somewhat altered meteorology of that time. For though it is evident that even now God may act in a very particular manner with His people who fear Him, and reward the pious husbandmen with the early and latter rain, just when he needs it for the ripening of his fruits; yet it would appear from Acts xiv. 17 that He makes little distinction in the ordinary way; for Jesus says (Matt. v. 45), "He (the Father) maketh His sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and sendeth His rain on the just and the unjust." Yet it is evident from many parts of the prophetic Scriptures that there will be a modified order and arrangement of the laws of the meteorology of the earth in these times, and that these will be regulated, in some degree, according to the moral conduct and pious devotion of the subjects of the Millennial kingdom. And it will be interesting and instructive to examine a few of these portions :

(1) In Isa. xxx., after describing the self-will and rebellion of ancient Israel, the Lord Jehovah begins, through the prophet, to describe at ver. 18 the state of life in the restored Jerusalem: "For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem, thou shalt weep no more," &c.; and in ver. 23 He says, "Then shall He give the rain of thy seed, it shall be fat and plenteous, in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures." The whole context teaches that there will be great plentitude and fertility through the season, and abundance of rain in the Millennial age.

And beside this, in ver. 26, we are taught that both the sun and moon will shed greater brilliancy and power over the earth. The language is very remarkable, andif taken in its literality, as we are bound to take it, there is no escaping the conclusion that, for whatever cause, such will be the case: "Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of His people," &c. and this is the day of Israel's restoration and national glory. There are many other references correspondent to this in the Hebrew prophets, all showing that the Lord will in a special and singular way rule the elements in the age to come. See Psa. cxlvii. 2, 14, 16-18, Psa. clviii. 8, 9, 11, 12.

(2) In chap. xxxii. 15, we have a further reference to the surpassing fertility of these happy times. The prophet, after referring to the inauguration of the king who shall then rule, and the moral and social state which will supervene thereupon, says, in ver. 15, "Until

the spirit be poured upon us from on High, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest-when it shall hail coming down on the forest-blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.' The allusions are to the peculiar methods of oriental husbandry, which are the same, more or less, to-day as in patriarchal times, and will be in Palestine restored; and the whole connection speaks of that peculiar and abundant fertility which will obtain in the age to come, when "the broad rivers and streams (Isa. xxxiii. 21) shall overflow, as now the Nile and Jordan do; and the sower will go forth and "sow beside all waters," and when the waters subside, or evaporate, the seed will settle and germinate in the fine alluvial soil and yield a prolific crop, with little toil and labour, but with a bountiful harvest.

(3) In chap. xxxv., also, we have a most beautiful description, partly poetic and metaphorical, and partly literal, of the physical condition of the earth in this coming age: "For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." And then Isaiah, after describing certain miraculous cures, and moral and spiritual blessings and favours, proceeds to observe, "For in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water," &c. Now, from all this we conclude that there will be a great plenitude in millennial times, with a clearer

and brighter sun, and a milder and more genial atmosphere, all of which tend to produce, and will not fail to yield an abnormal fertility, as compared with these present times; a fertility with less labour, and yet affording more pleasure and happiness; hence the many allusions to the joy and gladness of those times of unprecedented social felicity, and all to be traced to the intervention of God's special Providence, Prof. Huxley says, speaking of Nature: "The very nature of the phenomena demonstrates that they must have had a beginning, and they must have an end!" This is a non sequitur, for it depends on the will of the Creator. Sir Isaac Newton has spoken more correctly when he said: "The reason unto God lies properly within the domains of science. For it belongs to science, starting from phenomena, to stop not till it raise us to the hidden ground of these phenomena.”

(4) And in Zech. viii. we have a further instance of the prolific fruitage and agriculture of the millennial age; for verses 3 and 4 clearly teach that a period yet future, and of permanent and abiding rest, is referred to; and verse 7 confirms this view, while verse 12 describes the then condition of restored Israel, and the fruitful plenitude which shall obtain in those times of prosperity: "For the seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew, and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things."

Thus Zechariah, who lived more than 200 years later than Isaiah, bears the same testimony to the