and Jerusalem to put on her beautiful
garments, and all waste places to break forth in joy; for the glory of
the Lord is risen upon the City of David. How rapturously does the
prophet, in the most glowing and lofty flights of poetry, dwell upon the
time when the redeemed of the Lord shall return to Zion with songs and
thanksgivings, no more to be called "forsaken," but a city to be renewed
in beauties and glories, and in which kings shall be nursing fathers to
its sons and daughters, and queens nursing mothers. These are the
tidings which the prophet brings, and which the poet sings in matchless
lyrics. To the Zion of the Holy One of Israel shall the Gentiles come
with their precious offerings. "Violence shall no more be heard in thy
land," saith the poet, "wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but
thou shalt call thy walls Salvation and thy gates Praise.... Thy sun
shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for the
Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the day of thy mourning shall
be ended.... Thy people shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the
land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I
may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one
a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in its time."

Salvation, peace, the glory of Zion!--these are the words which Isaiah
reiterates. With these are identified the spiritual kingdom of Christ,
which is to spread over the whole earth. The prophet does not specify
when that time shall come, when peace shall be universal, and when all
the people shall be righteous; that part of the prophecy remains
unfulfilled, as well as the renewed glories of Jerusalem. Yet a thousand
years with the Lord are as one day. No believing Christian doubts that
it will be fulfilled, as certainly as that Babylon should be destroyed,
or that a Messiah should appear among the Jews. The day of deliverance
began to dawn when Christianity was proclaimed among the Gentiles. From
that time a great progress has been seen among the nations. First, wars
began to cease in the Roman world. They were renewed when the empire of
the Caesars fell, but their ferocity and cruelty diminished; conquered
people were not carried away as slaves, nor were women and children put
to death, except in extraordinary cases, which called out universal
grief, compassion, and indignation. With all the progress of truth and
civilization, it is amazing th