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them, that they are the seed which The Lord hath blessed : lxi. 9.]

Isa.

Mal. iii. 10-12. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine House, and prove Me now herewith, saith The Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and empty you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy [corrupt] the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before the time in the field, saith The Lord of Hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed for ye shall be a delightsome Land.

MAN'S LIFE AS THE DAYS OF A TREE.

Isa. lxv. 8-10, 20, 22, 23. Thus saith The Lord, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, "Destroy it not! for a blessing is in it," so will I do for My servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all. [xxiv. 13, 14, "When thus "-(wasted and desolate)"it shall be in the midst of the Land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done. They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the Majesty of The Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea."] And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of My mountains: and Mine elect shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there. [vi. 13, In it shall be a tenth, when it is returned, and hath been browsed: yet, as a teil [turpentine] tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves, the stock thereof shall be a holy seed.] And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for My people that have sought Me.

There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed [xxvi. 10]. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not

plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of My people, and Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands: [or, shall wear out the work of their hands]. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of The Lord, and their offspring with them.

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Isa. lxi. 3. That they might be called Trees of righteousness, the planting of The Lord, that He might be glorified.

Jer. xvii. 7, 8. Blessed is the man that trusteth in The Lord, and whose Hope The Lord is. For he shall be as a Tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the River, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of droughts, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

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Ps. i. 1-3, 4. counsel of the ungodly, .. but his delight is in The Law of The Lord! He shall be like a Tree planted by the Rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither [fade]; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. [The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Jude 12 Trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.]

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the

Zech. viii. 4. There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age [for multitude of days].

[Ezek. xv. 2. What is the vine-tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? Hos. x. 1. Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself [emptying the fruit which it giveth]: according to the multitude of his fruit, he hath increased the altars.]

Ezek. xvii. 22-24. Thus saith The Lord God: I will also [2-10] take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it: I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one [Isa. liii. 2,] and will plant it upon a high Mountain and eminent [Ps. ii. 6; Isa. xlv. 25; Jer. iv. 5. "In The Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory." "And the nations shall bless themselves

in Him, and in Him shall they glory"]: In the Mountain of the Height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.

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And all the trees of the field shall know that I, The Lord, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish.

Ezek. xlvii. 12. And by the River upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all Trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new [principal] fruit according to its months, because their waters they issued out of the Sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf for medicine [for bruises and sores: for healing].

[Rev. xxii. 2. In the midst of the street of the city, and on either side of the River, was there The Tree of Life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of The Tree were for the healing of the nations.]

Hosea xiv. 4-9. I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely for Mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the Dew unto Israel; he shall grow [blossom] as the lily, and cast [strike] forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow [blossom] as the vine: the scent [memorial] thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, "What have I to do any more with idols?" I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green Fir tree. From Me is thy fruit found. Who is wise? and he shall understand these things: prudent? and he shall know them: for the ways of The Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein. [Dan. xii. 10; Jer. ix. 12-16.]

John xv. 1, 4, 5, 8. I am The True Vine, and My Father is The Husbandman. Abide in Me! and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can

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ye, except ye abide in Me. I am The Vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit! for severed from Me ye can do nothing. . . Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples.

[Disciples to or for Me,-reflecting honour on the Vine-Dresser: Matt. xxvii. 57; "for" (not merely of) "Jesus,"-striving to win others to Him.]

SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL BLESSINGS OF ISRAEL.

Gen. xiii. 16.

I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.

Deut. xxviii. 1-14.

And it shall come to pass if thou shalt hearken diligently unto The Voice of The Lord thy God, to observe and to do all His Commandments which I command thee this day, that The Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto The Voice of The Lord thy God.

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Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle; the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket, and thy store [dough, or kneading-trough]. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The Lord shall command blessing upon thee in thy store-houses [barns], and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and He shall bless thee in the Land which The Lord thy God

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giveth thee. The Lord shall establish thee a holy people unto Himself, as He hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the Commandments of The Lord thy God, and walk in His ways.

And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by The Name of The Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee. And The Lord shall make thee plenteous for good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the Land which The Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee. The Lord shall open unto thee His good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy Land in its season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

And The Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the Commandments of The Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them. And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Joel ii. 21-23.

Fear not, O Land! be glad and rejoice! for The Lord will do great things.

Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field! for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth its fruit, the Fig-tree, and the Vine [symbols of Israel, frequently used; Matt. xxi. 19; Luke xiii. 6-Isa. v. 1-7 (John xv. 1; Hos. xiv. 8)], do yield their strength.

Be glad, then, ye Children of Zion! and rejoice in The Lord your God: for He hath given you the former rain [a teacher of righteousness] moderately [according to righteousness], and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpiller, and the palmer-worm, My great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise The

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