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•CONGREGATION, MOUNT OF THE (Isaiah 14:13), has been supposed to refer to the place where God promised to meet with his people (Exodus 25:22; 29:42, 43) i.e., the mount of the Divine presence, Mount Zion. But here the king of Babylon must be taken as expressing himself according to his own heathen notions, and not according to those of the Jews. The “mount of the congregation” will therefore in this case mean the northern mountain, supposed by the Babylonians to be the meeting-place of their gods. In the Babylonian inscriptions mention is made of a mountain which is described as “the mighty mountain of Bel, whose head rivals heaven, whose root is the holy deep.” This mountain was regarded in their mythology as the place where the gods had their seat.‌

•CONSCIENCE that faculty of the mind, or inborn sense of right and wrong, by which we judge of the moral character of human conduct. It is common to all men. Like all our other faculties, it has been perverted by the Fall (John 16:2; Acts 26:9; Romans 2:15). It is spoken of as “defiled” (Titus 1:15), and “seared” (1 Timothy 4:2). A “conscience void of offence” is to be sought and cultivated (Acts 24:16; Romans 9:1; 2 Corinthians 1:12; 1 Timothy 1:5, 19; 1 Peter 3:21).

•CONSECRATION the devoting or setting apart of anything to the worship or service of God. The race of Abraham and the tribe of Levi were thus consecrated (Exodus 13:2, 12, 15; Numbers 3:12). The Hebrews devoted their fields and cattle, and sometimes the spoils of war, to the Lord (Leviticus 27:28, 29). According to the Mosaic law the first-born both of man and beast were consecrated to God.

In the New Testament, Christians are regarded as consecrated to the Lord (1 Peter 2:9).

•CONSOLATION OF ISRAEL a name for the Messiah in common use among the Jews, probably suggested by Isaiah 12:1; 49:13. The Greek

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