The Hebrew Reading.

The second reading from the Hebrew prophets was given last evening in Sever 11 by Professor Lyon upon the Book of Isaiah. It is impossible to understand the prophets without a knowledge of the moral and political conditions of the time. Besides the internal evidence of the Bible, much information is given us by the recent Assyrian and Babylonian discoveries. Isaiah lived in that period of the Assyrian invasion of Palestine, and was a contemporary of four Assyrian kings. He lived at the court of Jerusalem during most of his life, filling the positions of court preacher, physician and counsellor. Isaiah was a determined opponent of all foreign alliances, and even when Sennacherib was besieging Jerusalem was, unwilling to call upon Egypt for assistance. He advised the people to put their trust in "Javeh," who would deliver them from their danger. Actually, the Assyrian King met with some disaster which forced him to return home. It was then supposed that this was owing to the direct intervention of Jalweh. The prophets said that the Assyrian invasions were to punish the Jews for their idolatry, but the invaders themselves had no such idea. The transportation of the Jews to Babylon was not a punishment, but was part of the general plicy of the Assyrian Kings. Isaiah preached reformation to the people and met with opposition, not because of his ideas, but because he repeated himself and bored his hearers. Only part of the Books ascribed to him were really written by the prophet. We are ignorant of his fate, but tradition says that he was sawn asunder between two planks. At the close of the lecture selections from the Book of Isaiah were read, and were accompanied with explanatory remarks.