deforms and corrupts the human mind, and preys upon it as worms do on the dead bodies which are laid in the grave,

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O lucifer, fon of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didft weaken the nations!

A new scene is here opened, in which the Jewish church address the king of Babylon, as a star of the firft magnitude, fallen from the confpicuous fplendor and dignity which he held in the political hemifphere. The word lucifer, fignifies one that bringeth light; and its import is well expreffed in the very next words, fon of the morning. It is a name given to the morning-star, which fhines bright immediately before day-break, ushers in the chearing light of the morning, and appears with peculiar luftre among the other stars in the firmament. By this defcription, which must be here understood in a figurative sense, the Babylonian monarch, who excelled other princes in dignity, magnificence, and brilliancy, and who fhone with a fplendor far fuperior to furrounding potentates, is certainly intended. Concerning this remarkable perfon, the church thus exclaims, How art thou fallen from the fummit of glory, empire, and influence, into obfcurity, contempt, and forgetfulness! The expreffion alludes to meteors, fomewhat like a ftar, which are fometimes obferved to fall from heaven, and immediately to disappear. Such was the fudden fall of this mighty prince, which is here mentioned with admiration and aftonifhment.

How art thou cut down to the ground, which didft weaken the nations! To give new force and beauty to the description, he who, in the former expreffion, is faid to have fallen as a ftar, is now represented as cut down like a tree. This prince, who, by the tyrannical exercise of his power, impaired the ftrength

of

of many nations, did not gradually pine away by ficknefs or disease; he did not wither away through age; he was not broken by accident: but he was fuddenly cut down by a violent blow, and fell at once as the tree that is cut down by the feller, never more to rise again. The Lord is known by the judgment that he executeth. What more fuitable punishment could have been inflicted upon this haughty, vain-glorious monarch than that which he received? What more juft and proper than that he, who was ambitious to be admired for power and grandeur tranfcending all other princes, fhould have fallen into obfcurity and derifion? that he, who aimed, through pride, to stand alone in the earth, fhould have been cut down as a tree?

13. For thou haft faid in thine heart, I will afcend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will fit alfo upon the mount of the congregation, in the fides of the north.

In these words the proud king of Babylon is infulted, on account of the extravagant boaftings which he uttered, and the ambitious projects he had formed, when in his former glory.This infolent and arrogant prince impiously faid, I will afcend into beaven. No man, in the fober use of reafon and of his fenses, can be fuppofed to have formed the abfurd de-. fign of literally performing the refolution contained in the words before us. The expreffion, therefore, must be interpreted in a manner confiftent with the wicked, avowed attempt, and facrilegious purpose, of this afpiring prince, and fo as to correfpond with the words in the latter part of the verfe. The heavens then must not be literally understood, to fignify the visible, airy, or starry heavens, into which no man can afcend, whilft he continues in this world; but that which was analogous to them, in the view of the king of Babylon. As the highest heavens are, in a pecu

liar manner, the dwelling-place of the Most High; fo he is faid to have dwelt in the temple at Jerufalem, which, in feveral respects, was' an image of heaven. There God appeared from between the cherubims: there he was worshipped by his faints, and afforded them defirable manifeftations of his prefence and glory, when they were employed in the duties of his fervice. Thither this haughty monarch had fecretly faid, that he would afcend. I will exalt my throne above the ftars of God. It furely could not enter into the head of the Babylonian prince, that it was poffible for him literally to fulfil this extravagant refolution; and, therefore, it is neceffary to explain his words in their metaphorical fenfe. In this view, his throne may denote his empire and royal authority. The stars of God may fignify the priests and teachers of the Ifraelites, who illuminated them by their inftructions, and to whom this defcription is fometimes given in prophetical language. Thefe ftars fhined with confiderable fplendor in the mystical Jewish heavens, and in fome measure enlightened that church. Above these stars this proud ambitious king refolved to fet up his throne, to ufurp authority over the fervants of Jehovah, and to lay claim to that homage which was performed to the true God.I will fit alfo upon the mount of the congregation, in the fides of the north. Mount Zion, to which this defcription very well agrees, feems to be intended. In that mountain the children of Ifrael were commanded to affemble, that they might attend upon God in the inftitutions of his worship, and enjoy the peculiar privileges of which he had given them comfortable affurance. This was the mount of the congregation, or folemn convention, where God was pleafed to meet with his people, and to commune with them. In the fides of the north, on which stood Jerufalem, the city of the great King. The words, thus explained, express the pre,

* See Dan. viii. 10.

fumptuous

sumptuous determination of the impious king of Babylon, to go up to Jerufalem, that he might affumè authority over the minifters of the Lord, and establish his dominion over the highly favoured mountain of Zion.

14 I will afcend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Moft High.

Pride and ambition know no bounds. Being feated upon mount Zion, this haughty prince promifed, that he would get above the height of the clouds. This expreffion, like thofe contained in the former verse, muft, I fuppofe, be figuratively understood, as the literal interpretation involves in it too abfurd a project to have been formed by a man in the exercife of reafon. The Lord promifed of old to his fervant Mofes, that he would appear in the cloud which refted above the mercy-feat; and, after the house of the Lord was built upon Zion, we read, that the house was filled with a cloud. Such was the arrogance of this proud man, that he refolved to afcend above the cloud, to take poffeffion of the fanctuary and fecret place, which the Almighty had appropriated for his own refidence, as a fymbol of his eternal throne in the highest heavens.I will be like the Most High, in majefty, glory, and authority. Totally indifferent about refemblance to God in holinefs, righteousness, and mercy, he wickedly afpired after likeness to him in the incommunicable glories of his divinity.

The refolutions here expreffed, when collectively confidered, import, that this impious prince formed the extravagant and blafphemous purpose of rivalling the great God in majefty and grandeur, and of attaining greater dignity, and a more elevated condition, than mortal man can enjoy in this world. He afpired to nothing lefs, than that his excellency might mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to the clouds f.

15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the fides of the pit.

Disappointment, depreffion, and mifery, were to be the fatal confequences of this haughty infolence, and infatiable ambition.--Thou shalt be brought down to hell, the dreadful receptacle prepared for the separated fpirits of wicked men, where thou fhalt be filled with forrow and anguish; and where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.As if this was infufficient to reprefent the mifery and wo in which he fhould be involved, it is added, To the fides of the pit. The expreffion may denote the low, neglected, and defpifed condition to which the prince was to be reduced. As elevation to heaven, in the language of fcripture, fignifies the highest exaltation; fo being thruft down to hell, and thrown to the fides of the pit, denotes the lowest and most abject depression, the most wretched and forlorn condition..

16 They that fee thee, fhall narrowly look upon thee, and confider thee, faying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms?

Those especially who had feen the king of Babylon in his glory, and were the fpectators of his unexpected, fudden overthrow, contemplating this furprifing event, whereby he was dejected from the highest pinnacle of worldly grandeur, into a wretched and contemptible condition, were to be ftruck with wonder and astonishment. Beholding this remarkable inftance of the vanity of human pride, of the uncertainty of temporal greatnefs, and of the righteoufnefs, power, and providence of God, and obferving the various ways whereby the divine displeasure feizes upon haughty tranfgreffors, they were to express their admiration in the following manner. To perceive the union of thefe with other circumftances, it would

be