CONCLUSION.

"A fruitful land maketh He barren, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein."

"THE great quantity of rock on the surface, and the little earth that is at times to be seen, must at first strike the observer as a great objection to this country, and may lead to the inquiry, How could such a rocky land be called the land flowing with milk and honey,' -the glory of all lands?

"There are many districts that are sadly encumbered with rock, yet the soil among these rocks is of a very superior kind; and were the rock somewhat broken up, the large pieces piled, and the small mixed with the soil, it might be made very productive. There is very striking proof of this in some districts, as that about Hebron, which abounds with rock, and yet is covered with the most productive vineyards. As to such a rocky country being so spoken of in the days of the Patriarchs, I suppose that it was in truth, at that time, the finest of lands; that the rock, which now lies bare in so many places, was then all covered with earth of the richest kind

"The more I see of Palestine, the more I am persuaded that it was once one of the first countries in the world. The time was, I doubt not, when all these rocks were covered with a fine vegetable mould.”PAXTON'S Letters, p. 148.

Maundrell, speaking of the naked rocky districts in some parts of Palestine, observes, "that, at sight of them, pilgrims are apt to be much astonished and baulked in their expectations; finding that country in such an inhospitable condition, concerning whose pleasantness and plenty they had before formed in their

minds such high ideas from the description given of it in the word of God. . . But it is certain that any man, who is not a little biassed to infidelity before, may see, as he passes along, arguments enough to support his faith against such scruples.

"For it is obvious... that these rocks and hills must have been anciently covered with earth, and cultivated, and made to contribute to the maintenance of the inhabitants, no less than if the country had been all plain-nay, perhaps, much more; forasmuch as such a mountainous and uneven surface affords a larger space of ground for cultivation than this country would amount to, if it were all reduced to a perfect level.

"For the husbanding of these mountains, their manner was to gather up the stones, and place them in several lines along the sides of the hills, in form of a wall. By such borders, they supported the mould from tumbling, or being washed down, and formed many beds of excellent soil, rising gradually one above another from the bottom to the top of the mountains.

"Of this form of culture you see evident footsteps wherever you go, in all the mountains of Palestine: thus the very rocks were made fruitful. And, perhaps, there is no spot of ground in this whole land that was not formerly improved, to the production of something or other, ministering to the sustenance of human life; for, than the plain countries, nothing can be more fruitful, whether for the production of corn or cattle, and consequently of milk. The hills, though improper for all cattle, except goats, yet being disposed into such beds, as are before described, served very well to bear corn, melons, gourds, cucumbers, and such-like gardenstuff, which makes the principal food of these countries for several months in the year. The most rocky parts of all, which could not well be adjusted in that manner for the production of corn, might yet serve for the plantation of vines and olive-trees; which delight to extract, the one its fatness, the other its sprightly juice,

chiefly out of such dry and flinty places."-MAUNDRELL'S Journey, pp. 65, 66.

"Even in those parts where all is now desolate," remarks Dr. Robinson, "there are everywhere traces of the hand of the men of other days... Most of the hills, indeed, exhibit the remains of terraces built up around them, the undoubted signs of former cultivation.” Again, when travelling towards Hebron, he observes, Many of the former terraces along the hill sides are still in use; and the land looks somewhat as it may have done in ancient times."-ROBINSON'S Researches, vol. ii. pp. 187, 428.

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"The desolation and barrenness of the land," remarks a recent traveller, "predicted in the Bible, have been brought about by those political events which are fast causing the depopulation of the country it now. no longer numbers men sufficient to till the ground, nor can the people raise funds adequate for the purpose. Thus does man, unwittingly, bring about the unerring decrees of the Almighty."1

When these observations are added to the foregoing accounts of the evident tokens of the former fertility of the Holy Land, and to those of its present desolation, we can hardly fail to recall the words of the Psalmist, "A fruitful land maketh He barren, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein."

Here, indeed, we find the solution of every difficulty which may arise in our minds at first sight of all the evils which have befallen this once highly-favoured country. The ground is again cursed for man's sake but when he shall turn to the Lord, the curse shall be taken away.

In the review of some of the principal prophecies respecting the Holy Land, in the first chapter, one remarkable prediction of Isaiah remained unnoticed, and we cannot close this volume better than by alluding

1 Lady F. Egerton's Journal of a Tour in the Holy Land, pp. 94, 95.

to it. It is one, the truth of which is confirmed by the reports of each traveller who has visited the country. It runs thus :

"Yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten as a teil-tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves."—(Isaiah vi. 13. See also xvii. 6.)

Notwithstanding that the glory of Jacob has been made thin, we find that amidst all the neglect and desolation which prevails, the substance is yet in the land. The soil, though uncultivated, is fat and loamy, and exhibits every sign of the greatest fecundity. In many places it seems as "rich as soil can be." "There are at present in Palestine all the materials requisite for the forming of a prosperous people ;" and it needs but that the blessing of God should again shine upon the land which is desolate for the sins of its inhabitants, and the "earth shall bring forth her increase,” as of old; the valleys shall again stand so thick with corn, that they shall laugh and sing; the mountains shall rejoice, and the trees of the field, before the Lord.

In conclusion, it may not be out of place to say a few words respecting the remarkable people for whom this goodly land is reserved, and our duty towards them.

The conversion of Israel is inseparably connected with their restoration to their own land; not till they shall look on Him whom they have pierced, saying, "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord," shall they be gathered from all lands to the inheritance of their fathers.

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And let not the Gentile think that he is uninterested in this great event, and that God's promises of mercy to repentant Israel are nothing to him." For this would be to show that very temper which our blessed Lord reproved so strongly in the Jews of old—that selfish temper which kept the elder son from partaking in his father's joy, when he welcomed the prodigal home. Rather let us seek for the spirit which Jesus showed,

when He wept over Jerusalem; for the zeal which warmed the breast of the great apostle of the Gentiles, when he exclaimed, " My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel, is, that they might be saved!"

Let us, too, beseech God to take from his ancient people "all ignorance, and hardness of heart;" and the veil that hides the true Messiah from their eyes, and so quickly to fetch them home to his flock, that the word of His dear Son may be fulfilled, and Jew and Gentile become "one fold under one Shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord." Let us often read with joyful hope the words of St. Paul, in the 11th chapter of his Epistle to the Romans; "Hath God cast away his people? God forbid... Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now, if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles... If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? . . .Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!... For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen."