THE OLIVE LEAF. 



Did it not bear down harmlessly the destructive power 

 of heaven ? Did it not assure Noah that the wrath of 

 God was appeased, that the storm was over, and that 

 peace and safety could once more be enjoyed upon the 

 earth? And is not He to whose salvation that leaf 

 pointed who is Himself the "Branch" God's light- 

 ning conductor to us? He bore the full force of the 

 Father's wrath due to sin ; He endured the penalty 

 which we deserved, and having smitten the shepherd, 

 .the sheep for whom He laid down His life are scathless 

 and unharmed. He is now our refuge from the storm ; 

 and under His shadow we are safe from all evil. 



4. In the fourth place, the green leaf is' the source of 

 all the streams and rivers in the world. It is by the 

 agency of the leaf that water circulates as the life-blood 

 of the globe. In a leafless world there would be no 

 rains and no streams. Destroy the woods, and you 

 destroy the balance of nature ; you prevent the forma- 

 tion of clouds, you dry up the rivers, and you produce 

 an arid desert. Whereas, on the other hand, foster the 

 growth of leaves, and they will alter the nature of the 

 climate, and change the wilderness into a fruitful field. 

 And how appropriately in this light did the green leaf 

 come to Noah as the earnest and the instrument of the 

 re-arrangement of a world which had been reduced to 

 a desert by the punishment of man's sin ! That leaf 

 assured him that the old rivers would flow again ; that 

 the former fields would smile anew; that the forests 

 would, as in previous times, cover the earth with their 

 shadow; and that all the conditions of seed-time and 



