and burdened with a task almost too great for human strength. Inspired as they were by memories of a great past and hopes for a greater future, they were, nevertheless, sorely pressed by their present poverty and necessary toil. To find food and shelter, to restore some sort of social order, and lay foundations for the new state were labors that might well seem to be all that they could possibly accomplish.

But Haggai had set his heart on one thing, the rebuilding of the temple.

It seems, perhaps, at first sight, that this was a matter that might be postponed until the absolute necessities of life were

more secure.

So it seemed to those whom he addressed. But the prophet was wiser than his critics, for he appreciated, as they did not, the fact that the rebuilding of the temple was an absolute necessity to their national life. Without it, the continuity of their religious life could not be sustained. They could not hope for political independence, and the bonds of common blood and common ethical customs could not prevent the disintegration of their national ideals, unless they had some central object of devotion, some nucleus around which their new life might organize and be developed.

To suppose that Haggai was zealous only for the restoration of Ecclesiastical functions, that he was of the Pharisaic spirit that imagined that ritual and sacrifice constitute religion and purchase the favor of God, is to mistake the meaning of his message utterly. What he urged was the necessary means to the rebuilding of their national hopes, the restoration of divinely ordained means of grace by which alone the moral and spiritual blessings for which Israel had always stood could be realized. His appeal to the unfruitful seasons as an evidence of God's displeasure was the point of view of all ancient nations; and was, on the whole, much nearer the truth than our modern habit of mind which attributes all natural phenomena to a blind

and aimless action of forces, according to what we personify under the name of nature. That the permanent prosperity of any people is due to moral causes is unquestionable,-attested by every page of history.

In attributing bad harvests to God's disfavor, the prophets only assert, in particular, what is, in general, admitted by all. God keeps an open account with men; he does not balance his books at the end of every month, or every year; but, in the long run, the books of the universe do balance, the moral, and the spiritual, and the natural are one harmonious system-a cosmos.

It is a commonplace of science that you cannot cheat nature; soon or late we reap what we have sown. Haggai puts it only a little more directly when he cries, "He that earneth wages earneth wages to put into a bag with holes." The net result of our activities is dependent on the completeness of our conformity to the laws of God, moral and physical.

The response of the people to this preaching of Haggai was prompt and cordial, and the work of rebuilding the temple was begun. The feebleness of their resources made it impossible to rebuild the temple in its former glory. And the contrast between the new and the old was painful and discouraging. But Haggai lifts up his voice in comfort and encouragement: "Be strong, O Zerubbabel; be strong, O Joshua; be strong, all ye people of the land, for I am with you saith the Lord of hosts." The point of this message is that the important matter is not the material glory of their building, but the spirit that was in them.

"The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts." He had no need of these things, from men, but he did desire the loyal devotion which could be shown in no other way than by their willingness to sacrifice for the cause of truth and righteousness.

Then follows the vision of the future in which the prophet sees the strength of kingdoms destroyed, and the "desirable

things" of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts." The things that really matter

are secure.

JONAH

The Book of Jonah can hardly be called prophecy, in the ordinary sense of the term.

In form, it is a simple, and exceedingly well told story of a prophet's experience. Like the stories of Daniel and his friends, the message is conveyed rather by the action than by the words of the prophet.

The story is familiar, and falls in three sections: 1st, The prophet's flight from the call of duty, and his miraculous arrest -Chapter 1; 2nd, his prayer, II; 3rd, his mission to Ninevah accomplished, III.

Whether the story is to be interpreted literally, and his experience taken as actual fact, or the whole story to be understood as a parable, is a much debated question.

It seems probable that the latter view would be more readily accepted if it were not so often advocated on grounds that are not acceptable, namely, the incredibility of miracles.

When we are asked to take it as an allegory, because it is incredible as history, we are apt to refuse, because we do not believe that miracles are essentially incredible, holding that miracles are, like everything else, matters of evidence that there is no a priori obstacle to the belief in the supernatural, nor any reason to assume that God does not interpose his hand in extraordinary ways to accomplish his wise purposes.

This belief, which is perfectly reasonable, does not question the uniformity of natural law, nor deny the presumption that the order of nature is reliable, but simply holds that what has happened can be known only by the examination of evidence. The firmest conviction that miracles have occurred, however,

does not oblige us to assume that every narrative that can be taken literally must be so interpreted.

It is certain, as we have already seen, that much of Hebrew prophecy is given in the forms of allegory, symbols and dramatic acts, either done or described. The teachings of Jesus, also, are full of parables and other figures. It is certainly not incongruous, not surprising, if this book be found to be an example of this familiar method of revelation.

It may be taken as a safe rule that any writer should be taken literally, unless there are in his writings some adequate grounds for believing that he did not intend to be so understood.

The question whether this book is to be taken literally or allegorically is therefore a question of literary judgment.

We cannot here discuss the evidence, but appeal to each reader of the book to judge for himself whether the impression he receives is not distintcly that of allegory rather than the narration of actual events.

To me, the story has all the appearance of a parable, and I am no more concerned with the problem of the great fish than I am with the question whether the parable of the prodigal son related an actual or a supposed case.

However, I have no quarrel with those who judge the book to be a literal account of actual experience. The great lesson of the book is unaffected, and it is the lesson-the revelation— that is important.

What, then, is the lesson of the book of Jonah? To answer this, we must consider somewhat carefully the place of this book in the scheme of prophecy-not especially its date, for that is uncertain and not important; but its contribution to the system of truth revealed in holy writ.

One of the most fundamental doctrines of the whole Old Testament, the doctrine that most distinguished the religion of Abraham and his seed from the other religions of the world, was the unity and sovereignity of God.

"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord."

The covenant with Abraham was most explicitly made for the blessing of all nations. The special office of the seed of Abraham was to mediate redemption for the whole world; for this they received their peculiar privileges and discipline. This was their mission, their trust from God.

Whenever they lost sight of this truth, when they became narrow in their views and selfish, they were fleeing from the task imposed upon them, and God's hand was turned against them, as against Jonah when he shirked his mission and fled to Tarshish.

The afflictions that came upon the children of Israel were, in the view of all the prophets, God's rod of correction to bring them back to loyalty and fidelity to their trust.

The prayer of Jonah-Chapter II, is a most fit expression of the proper attitude of mind of a chastised and repentant people, and can hardly be other than a poet's expression of the nation's experience, and the pious reflection of the prophet on their state.

Now the historic fact was that God did not destroy Israel nor disannul his covenant. He "corrected them in judgment" and restored them to their office and renewed their commission. Even as the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, "Arise, go unto Ninevah, that great city and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee;" so God renews the order to the nation, "Be a blessing to the world."

Then, as Jonah's preaching aroused Nineveh to repentance and reform, and thus God's judgment was averted, Jonah, instead of rejoicing in God's mercy, is angry because such compassion is shown for a heathen people, and God very patiently corrected this vindictive spirit by appealing to his sympathy for the innocent and ignorant, and even the cattle whose destruction would be involved in the destruction of the city.

As an allegory, it is a wonderful picture of the history of Israel, their attitude of mind toward other nations, and the very