The Mountains of Israel.

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THE MOU TAI S OF ISRAEL. FROM S. AUGUSTI E THE PREACHER JOH M. ASHLEY EDITOR

" I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel." — Ezek. xxxiv. 13. S. Augustine. — *'He appointed 'the mountains of Israel,' the Authors of the divine Scriptures. Feed ye there, that ye may feed securely. Whatsoever ye may have thence heard, let it savour well to you ; reject whatsoever is without, lest ye wander in fog. Hear ye the voice of your Shepherd ; gather ye yourselves together to the mountains of Holy Scripture, There, are delights for your heart ; there, is nothing poisonous, nothing foreign ; they are most fertile pastures ; only come ye, and be ye fed upon the mountains of Israel." — De Pastor, c. xi. vol. ix. p. 246, E. As our Blessed Lord did afterwards- so did the Prophet, speaking nearly five hundred and ninety years before He came, use the outward world of nature to represent the inward world of grace ; speaking prophetically of that Good Shepherd hereafter to come Who would spiritually feed His flock in those fruitful, joyous, free, and open pastures, in which there would

10 The Mountains of Israel. be food enough and to spare, and all the joyousness of combined holiness and knowledge. Holy Scripture is then well likened to the '* mountains of Israel," inasmuch as it is —

I. Pleasant. — " There are delights for your heart.** A glorious feeling to roam upon the mountain-sides, treading the soft herbage under foot ; inhaling the light pure air ; catching the expanse and view which seems to lead the soul onw^ard towards those eternal realms in which the sun is ever shining, and where sin, sorrow, and death never come. In Holy Scripture, as upon the mountain-top — 1) we breathe a purer air than belongs to this common world and life. The motives and principles which it seLs before us are so noble, high, and pure, that it takes us for a time away from and above all the low, paltry, and petty feelings and interests which so lower and mar the beauty of our daily lives. We are nourished by an air so light and hopeful, so untainted by the bitterness of the spirit of man. 2) Upon the mountain, how expansive is the vision, the gentle slopes beneath our feet ; the valleys stretching far away ; the distant hills all blue with sun and mist, faint emblems of God's Holy City. Holy Scripture is the earliest record of man's race ; it begins with the creation of the world. Embracing all the past, it includes all the present ; it reaches onward by its prophecy to that new heaven and new earth, in

The Mountains of Israel. 11 which for ever the glorified shall tarry around the throne of the Lamh. 3) How free, too, is it on the hills ; room for every action ; all that cramps and hinders bodily development is far removed. Holy Scripture frees the soul from the bonds of superstition, fear, and doubt, giving a new liberty as well as a new life to the spirit, by which it becomes free indeed. II. Harmless. — "There is nothing poisonous" or harmful, upon the mountains. Over those rounded hillocks of Israel, there lurk no secret dangers, no hidden enemies ; life on them is as safe as it is in-

nocent. o secret sources of harm, no tinge of that which ought not to be, can be found in Holy Scripture. For — 1 ) it is perfect because inspired. There is always a danger to be apprehended when the mind unduly feeds upon the imperfect works of man. The highest profane writer, a Plato, or a Shakespeare, leaves some traces of his own dark spots upon the earnest student. 2) It is infallible, it cannot err ; it can never lead astray its followers. The best human systems contain some mistake or error in them, which it would be deadly to embrace. III. Personal. — " There is nothing foreign," standing upon the mountain ; there is a feeling, '* I am monarch of all I survey 5" it belongs to me. A sense of personal possession accompanies such a position. Holy Scripture, the more it is known, loved, and

12 The Mountains of Israel. studied, becomes the soul's very own. 1) It supplies the wants of the inward man ; 2) it appeals to the deeper feelings of man's highest and best nature ; 3) it enters into and sympathises with all the emotions of our Godlike nature. Holy Scripture is nothing, if it does not satisfy the mind, develope the affections, and sympathize with man's joys and sorrows. IV. Fruitful. — " They are most fertile pastures." The " hills drop fatness," fragrant with grass and sweet herbs ; so is Holy Scripture most fruitful in — 1) examples to be followed and avoided ; 2) warnings ; 3) promises to encourage and to comfort. Epilogue. — Feed, then, upon those mountains — 1) daily — 2) prayerfully — 3) reflectively.

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