_The burden of the desert of the sea_
THE DESERT OF THE SEA
This enigmatical name for Babylon was no doubt suggested by the actual
character of the country in which the city stood.
It was an endless breadth or succession of undulations “like the
sea,” without any cultivation or even any tree: low... [ Continue Reading ]
_Anoint the shield_
“ANOINT THE SHIELD”
The ancient shields being mostly of stout leather stretched over a
frame or rim of metal or wood, it was necessary to rub them with oil,
lest they should become hard and crack, or lest they should become so
rigid that an arrow or spear might easily penetrate... [ Continue Reading ]
_O My threshing, and the corn of My floor_
GOD’S THRESHING
Babylon is the instrument employed by the Divine wrath to thresh with.
But love takes part also in the work of threshing, and restrains the
action of wrath. A picture likely to give comfort to the grain lying
for threshing on the floor, _... [ Continue Reading ]
_The burden of Dumah_
THE BURDEN OF DUMAH
Like Moab, Edom had once formed part of David’s dominions, but in
the days of disruption and weakness both had rebelled.
What about Edom now? When Moab was so soon to fall--when the Assyrian
was spreading devastation all around--what was to be Edom’s fate... [ Continue Reading ]
_The burden upon Arabia_
ARABIA
The term “Arabia,” in the Old Testament, is not used in such a
wide sense as in modern English, and denotes merely a particular,
tribe, having its home in the northern part of what is now known as
the Arabian peninsula, and mentioned in Ezekiel 27:20, by the side of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, sad all the
glory of Kedar shall fail_
END OF THE YEAR: A WARNING AND A LESSON
I. A TERRIBLE THREATENING. We have here a prophecy of the fall of a
nation, which had held a proud position by reason of prowess and skill
in war. But glory founded... [ Continue Reading ]