I 
 
 d^-^^ 
 
 Itheological seminary,! 
 
 ! Princeton, N. J. 
 
 D 6V/.sc^ Division......... 
 
 i\ Section 
 
 i/ Bool:, 
 
 
/ 
 
 
/I'. 
 
 
 A GENERAL ^D CONNECTED -^ 
 
 VIEW 
 
 OF 
 
 THE PROPHECIES, 
 
 RELATIVE^TO 
 
 i 
 THE CONVERSION, EES'^OEATION, UNION, AND FUTURE GLORY 
 
 OS THE HOUSES OF 
 
 JUDAH AND ISRAEL; 
 
 THE PROGRESS, AND FINAL OVERTHROW, 
 
 OF 
 
 THE ANTICHRISTIAN CONFEDERACY 
 
 IN THE LAND OF PALESTINE; 
 AND THE ULTIMATE GENERAL DIFFUSION OF 
 
 CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 ^ 
 
 BY THE REV. GEORGE STANLEY FABER, B. D. 
 
 VICAR OF S TOOK TON-UPON-TEES. 
 
 "At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of tli) 
 ' people: and there sliall he a time of trouble, such a^f never was since there was a nation even !<■ 
 ' that same time ; and at that time thy people shall be delivered." Dan. xii. 1. 
 
 \ 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, 
 T. B. WAIT & CO. PRINTERS. 
 
 1809. 
 
HON. AND RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD, 
 
 SHUTE BARRINGTON, LL.D. 
 
 I.ORD BISHOP OF DURHAM.' 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 1 o complete the plan of my Dissertation on 
 the 1260 years^ there was wanting, a general and con- 
 nected view of the various prophecies -which treat of the 
 7Vonderful events about to take place at the expiration of 
 that period. Prevalent as the powers of darkness may- 
 be during their allotted season, they are destined to 
 be at length destroyed. Their destruction will syn- 
 chronize with the restoration of the Jews, and will 
 usher in that glorious state of things so frequently and 
 so exultingly described by the ancient prophets. The 
 lost ten tribes will be united with the tribe of Judah ; 
 and the blessings of pure Christianity will be very 
 generally diffused throughout the world. Such, we 
 are led from holy Scripture to believe, will be the 
 magnificent close of the great period of 1260 years. 
 
 Without presuming to inquire too curiously into 
 the state of the millennian Church and the nature of 
 the Messiah's earthly reign, it is not difficult to con- 
 ceive, how materially the face of society would be 
 changed, and how wonderfully the general condition 
 of mankind would be meliorated, were the Gospel 
 
IV 
 
 C6rclially embraced and faithfully acted upon, if not 
 absolutely by all-, yet by an incalculably gi-eat majori-' 
 ty. At present, to say nothing of the huge multitudes 
 involved in the darkness of Paganism or the mists of 
 Mohammedism, the gi'eatest exertion of Christian cha- 
 rity, the most laborious attempt to hope against hope, 
 will leave no conviction in the minds of the truly seri- 
 ous, that even in countries professing the religion of the 
 Messiah tJie majority are faithful followers of their 
 Lord. We are compelled to acknowledge, by the 
 melancholy testimony of our very senses, that too 
 many have a name that they live, and are dead ; that 
 not merely lukewarmness and indiiference and a disre- 
 rcgard to the spirit of Christianity are prevalent, but 
 that numbers, in Consequeilce of their actual crimmali- 
 ty, can be distinguished from Pagans only by an appel- 
 lation^ in ^/i^?'/* cases, an empty geographical appellation. 
 Now let us suppose this state of things to be reversed ; 
 let us picture to ourselves either the whole, or nearly 
 the whole, of mankind as being Christians not in word 
 only, but in deed : and we may perhaps form some 
 conception of the nature of the Millennium. What 
 the narrow primitive Church was in spirit and in prac- 
 tice, the immense millennian Church would likewise 
 be. Behold how these Christians love each other, 
 would again become a true remark. Where univer- 
 sal affection prevailed, where selfishness was as much 
 extinguished and evil lusts and passions were as much 
 subdued as among the first believers, wars and dissen- 
 tions, both public and private, would be no more. 
 Where holiness of conversation, springing from grate- 
 ful love to God through Christ, was predominant, 
 the various miseries arising from vice and immo- 
 rality would be unheard of The world, in a de- 
 gree, would be brought back to a Paradisaical state ; 
 
and, when the minds of men ceased to be agitated by 
 bad dispositions, and their bodily strength to be under- 
 mined by intemperance and excess on the one hand 
 and by poverty and wretchedness on the other, it is 
 natural to suppose, that their lives would be extended 
 to a much longer period than they are at present. 
 
 But some perhaps may ask, How can these things 
 he ? To such a question the believer finds it not very 
 difficult to gi\e an answer. It was by an abundant effu- 
 sion of the Holy Spirit, not by any natural inherent 
 goodness of their own, that the primitive Christians 
 were made to differ from others. It is by the agency 
 of the same Spirit (I speak throughout of his ordi- 
 nary operations), that every believer of the present 
 day thankfully acknowledges, with Scripture and the 
 Church, that a new heart is created within him. And 
 it is by a yet more abundant effusion of the Holy 
 Ghost both on Jews and Gentiles, as we are expressly 
 taught in prophecy, that the great mass of mankind 
 will truly and effectually be gathered into the fold of 
 Christ in the days of the Millennium. There is no 
 difficulty in conceiving, had it been agreeable to the 
 purposes of the Most High so to have ordered mat- 
 ters, that all men in the apostolic age might have been 
 made like-minded with the primitive believers ; and 
 that the Gospel might have been universally received, 
 instead of being universally opposed. There is no dif- 
 ficulty in conceiving, that the heart of a Nero or a 
 Dioclesian might, ihrough the Spirit, have been as 
 effectually turned to the knowledge and love of the 
 truth, as the heart of a Peter or a Paul. Consequently, 
 there is no difficulty in conceiving, that the Holy Spi- 
 rit, who was pleased only to operate to a certain extent 
 in the days of the Apostles, may hereafter operate so 
 generally as to render nearly the whole of mankind 
 
VI 
 
 similar, perhaps even superior, in holiness and genuine 
 piety to the first Christians. All this, I repeat it, may 
 easily be conceived ; for who shall presume to limit 
 the extent of God's operations ? And, whether I be 
 right or wrong in expecting a miraculous interference 
 of the Divine Word, we ai"e certainly led from prophe- 
 cy to believe, that some such general diffusion of holi- 
 ness will assuredly take place, and with it (what is in- 
 deed its natural consequence) a general diffusion of 
 happiness. 
 
 This period, we are taught to expect, will be intro- 
 duced by the most dreadful political convulsions that 
 the world ever witnessed. Before " the greatness of 
 the kingdom under the whole heaven," to adopt the 
 language of Daniel, " shall be given to the people of 
 the saints of the Most High," the tyranny of the two 
 little horns must be broken, and the empire of the 
 great Roman beast, in his last form and under his last 
 head, must be dissolved. In the midst of the expir- 
 ing struggles of God's enemies, the Jews must be res- 
 tored and converted. And thus at length, when this 
 tremendous tempest shall have exhausted itself, the 
 glorious day of millennian happiness shall dawn upon 
 a long benighted and distracted world. 
 
 What part we mav be destined to take in these aw- 
 ful events, may well afford matter of anxious anticipa- 
 tion to all of us, more especially when the present 
 situation of Europe is considered with a reference to 
 prophecy. That some prevailing maritime power of 
 j^ faithful worshippers will be chiefly instrumental in 
 converting and restoring a part of the Jewish nation, 
 seems to be declared in Scripture more than once with 
 sufficient plainness: but I am persuaded that your 
 Lordship will agree with me, that we may employ 
 ourselves much more profitably in labouring to diffuse 
 
Vll 
 
 the knowledge of the Gospel aiid to increase among 
 us the number of the truly pious, than in speculating 
 upon the probability or improbability of our being the 
 maritime power in question. We live in times, which 
 might produce seriousness even in the most unthink- 
 ing ; and I am willing to hope, that there actually has 
 been of late years a considerable increase of genuine 
 religion among us. Our situation peculiarly fits us to 
 be the ark, as it were, of God's Church. We must 
 beware of making him our enemy, and then we need 
 not fear what man can do unto us. But, however mat- 
 ters may terminate, your Lordship will have the satis- 
 faction of reflecting, that you have not been silent; 
 that you have raised your voice, as a watchman of our 
 Israel ; and that, in the solemnity of what you have 
 conceived might be a last address, you have borne 
 your testimony against any relapse into a superstition, 
 from which our pious forefathers separated themselves, 
 and which is destined to fall in the course of God's 
 righteous judgments, ere the glorious kingdom of the 
 mountain shall commence. 
 
 I have the honour to be 
 
 Your Lordship's most obliged 
 and dutiful humble Servant, 
 
 GEORGE STANLEY FAB^K, 
 
 February 25^ 1808, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 1 HE plan, which I have pursued in the following workj 
 is the same as that which I adopted in my Dissertation on 
 the 1260 years. It was finished in the spring of the year 
 1806 : and, instead of altering the text, such events as 
 have since occurred, that appeared worthy of our obser- 
 vation, I have animadverted upon in the notes. 
 
 The longer I have considered the subject, the more I 
 am confirmed in my former opinions. The passing train 
 of events, the long period of time during which the abo- 
 minations of Popery have been suffered to prevail from 
 whatever precise era the appointed three times and a half 
 ought to be computed, the very spirit of the age itfelf, all 
 serve to shew, that we cannot be very far removed from 
 what Daniel calls the ti?ne of the end. At least, whate- 
 ver may be thought of the other particulars, this last, I 
 mean the spirit of the f/o*<?,' seems to me sufficiently deci- 
 sive. " When the Son of man cometh," said our Lord, 
 " shall he find faith on the earth ?" The present age has 
 been boastfully termed the age of reason : and, when we 
 consider the sejise in which it has been so termed, we 
 can scarcely avoid esteeming the appellation synonymous 
 with the age of unbelief Individual unbelief indeed has 
 existed in all ages of the church : but never was there an 
 age, in which infidelity has been so widely and so syste- 
 matically diffused ; never was there an age, to which the 
 emphatic question of Christ so closely applied, as the 
 present. Nor am I at all singular in my opinion. The 
 question of our Lord, as it has been well observed by a 
 late eminent divine, certainly " gives us reason to ex- 
 pect, that, at the coming of the Son of man, faith shall 
 
scarcely be found on earth. It is obvious therefore to 
 conckide, that, in proportion as the faith decays, the com- 
 ing of Christ is drawing near. The scoifers of the last 
 days may insolently demand of us, as it was foretold they 
 should, where is the pro?nise of his coming ? and object, 
 that there is no sign of it, for that all things continue 
 as they were. But this cannot now be said with truth. 
 All things do not continue as they w^ere. There hath 
 been a marvellous change of late in the affairs of this 
 world and in the state of religion, with which all serious 
 men are alarmed, justly apprehending that some still 
 greater event is to follow. The signs of the times, to 
 those who can read them, are many *." 
 
 Some have supposed, that the 1260 years are already 
 expired, and that their expiration took place about the 
 commencement of the French revolution. As yet I have 
 seen no sufficient reasons to induce me to assent to this 
 opinion. According to the most natural interpretation of 
 Dan. xii. 6, 7, the interpretation adopted by Mr. Mede 
 and other eminent expositors, the interpretation which 
 best harmonizes with parallel prophecies, the Jews will 
 begin to be restored so soon as the three times and a half 
 shall have expired. But the Jews have not begun to be 
 restored. Therefore we scarcely seem warranted in sup- 
 posing that the three times and a halfhdvc expired. How- 
 ever this may be, I have little doubt that the wonderful 
 shaking of nations during these last eighteen years is 
 preparatory to the return and conversion of God's cho- 
 sen people, and to the final overthrow of his congregated 
 enemies. 
 
 In citing the various prophecies which relate to these 
 events, I have adhered to no one translation in particular, 
 but have given that version of them, by whomsoever 
 proposed, which appeared to me best to express their 
 true meaning. Any material variation from the establish- 
 ed translation is noticed and defended in the margin. 
 On this account, as \a'c11 as for another reason, I have 
 found it expedient to cite the prophecies in question at 
 full length. In our common version, one and the same 
 
 * Jones's Works, Vol. vj. p. 358. 
 
XI 
 
 connected prediction is frequently broken into apparently 
 unconnected parts by the arbitrary division of chapters. 
 Hence, the general design of the prophecy is greatly 
 obscured; and by cursory readers, who pause at the 
 termination of each chapter as if the subject were there 
 completely finished, can scarcely be understood. In the 
 following work, what I conceive to be parts of one pro- 
 phecy are arranged accordingly ; and several chapters 
 are frequently commented upon collectively, as jointly 
 forming only one complete whole. The usual method of 
 treating the subject by selecting detached texts, instead 
 of considering the unbroken predictions of which these 
 texts are mere parts, has always appeared to me extreme- 
 ly defective. I have therefore departed from it, and think 
 myself fully justified in doing so. 
 
 At one period it was the humour of the day to spiri- 
 tualize the prophecies, as it was called : that is to say, 
 those prophecies, which in their plain and obvious accept 
 tation relate to the restoration, the conversion, and the 
 future glories, of the house of Israel, were referred to 
 the original propagation and final uni^'ersal extension of 
 Cliristianity. But, according to such a mode of exposi- 
 tion, there is scarcely any thing which the ancient pro- 
 phecies may not be made to declare. Its extreme licence 
 affords a sufficient confutation of it. I entirely think with 
 the late Bp. Horsley, that the plain literal meaning of the 
 prophecies which respect the future fortunes of the Jews 
 ought to be strenuously maintained by all who study J 
 them. They are occasionally indeed written in the lan- 
 guage of symbols; and, when this is the case, they must 
 no doubt be interpreted accordingly. But the literal 
 applicatio7i of them is not thereby aifected. The political \ 
 and spiritual revival of the house of Israel may be exhi, 
 bited to us under the imagery of the birth of a child or of 
 a resurrection from the dead. But, although the language 
 in this particular be metaphorical, the proper house of 
 Israel, not the Gentile Chfirch of Christ, must be intend- 
 ed, unless we wholly depart from the obvious sense of 
 the prophecy. The literal mode of exposition recom- 
 mended by Bp. Horsley, in opposition to the licence of 
 spiritualizing J has been adopted by Mr. Bichcno, as well 
 
Xil 
 
 as by myself : and, though I cannot agree with him in 
 all points (if I could, the present work had been super- 
 fluous), I certainly think, that in his treatise on the resto- 
 ration of the Jews he has thrown much light, perhaps 
 more light than any of his predecessors, on the subject. 
 
 In a work written on the plan of the present one, it was 
 impossible to avoid a certain degree of repetition : but I 
 could not give up the plan, because I am persuaded that 
 it is best calculated to attain to the knowledge of the 
 truth. In my preliminary general statement, I have de- 
 tailed, in one unbroken narrative, what I conceive may be 
 collected from prophecy relative to the great events which 
 will take place after the expiration of the 1260 years. 
 But this, unless supported by proofs, would be no better 
 than a sort of theological romance. The proofs there- 
 fore follow in their order. Each prediction is given at 
 length, and each is separately considered. Now, since 
 all these predictions relate to the same period, though 
 there is a considerable degree of variety in them, there 
 must likewise be much sameness ; and of this character 
 of the predictions the several commentaries upon them 
 must unavoidably partake. The subject however is of 
 so much importance, that, by those who really wish to 
 study it, I shall readily be excused for discussing it so 
 largely. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 A GENERAL Statement of what may be collected from prophecy relative to 
 the restoration of Israel and the overthrow of Antichrist. P. 1. 
 
 PROPHECY I. 
 
 The dispersion of the Israelites. ...their idolatry in their dispersion....thcir 
 future restoration. Deut. iv. 27— 31. P. 50. 
 
 PROPHECY II. 
 
 The calamities at the siege of Jerusalem....the various circumstances attend- 
 ing tlie dispersion of the Jews....their final conversion and restoration, 
 Deut. xxviii. 15—66. xxix. 22—29. xxx. 1—10. P. 51. 
 
 PROPHECY III. 
 
 The millennian glory of Jerusalem....the rebuking of Antichrist. Isaiah ii» 
 1—5. P. 59. 
 
 PROPHECY IV. 
 
 The judicial blindness of the Jews....their preservation from entire destruc' 
 tion. Isaiah vi. 8—13. P. 60. 
 
 PROPHECY V. 
 
 The birth of Christ. ..his second advent....the blessings of his millennian king- 
 dom. ...the restoration and conversion of Israel... .the exhaustion of the mys < 
 tic Euphrates and Nile....the overthrow of the Antichristian sovereign of 
 the mystic Babylon in the land of Palestine. Isaiah si. xii. xiii. xiv. I — 2r» 
 P. 68. 
 
 PROPHECY VI. 
 
 The dispersion of the Jews....the irruption of Antichrist at the time of their 
 restoration. ...the character of some maritime nation destined to restore the 
 converted Jews....the occupation of mount Zion by Antichrist.. ..his invasion 
 of Egypt.... the state of Egypt at this period....the religious connection of 
 Assyria, Israel, and Egypt. Isaiah xvii. xviii. xix. P. 86. 
 
 PROPHECY VII. 
 
 The dispersion of the Jews....their restoration from the west....the lamentatiou 
 of Judah on account of the treachery of Antichrist....his restoration in the 
 midst of great political troubles. ...the overthrow of Antichrist....the triumph 
 of the restored Jews.. ..the certainty of their restoration and of the over- 
 throw of Antichrist the exhaustion of the Euphrates and the Nile 
 
 Isaiah xxiv. xxv, xxvi. xxvii. P. 115. 
 
 PROPHECY Vltl. 
 
 The dispersion and subsequent restoration of the Jews...the overthrow of the 
 mystic Assyrian. Isaiah xxx. 17.... 33, P. 128. 
 
PROPHECY IX. 
 
 Tl'.e desolation of the mystic Edom....the miracles of Christ at his first and 
 second advent....the restoration of the Jews. Isaiah xxxiv. xxxv. P. 131 
 
 PROPHECY X. 
 
 The first advent... .the second advent....the overthrow of Antichrist....the con- 
 version and restoratioa of the spiritually blind Jews a denunciation 
 
 against Babylon. Isaiah xlii. xliii. 1---21. P. 137. 
 
 PROPHECY XJ. 
 
 The gathering- both of Jews and Gentiles into the millennian church. ...the 
 greatness of Israel....the fall of Antichrist., Isaiah xlix. 5— 26. P. 143. 
 
 PROPHECY XII. 
 
 The joy and prosperity of the once desolate church of Judah at the time of 
 tlie restoration. ...the vain gathering together of Antichrist. Isaiah liv. P. 147. 
 
 PROPHECY XIII. 
 
 The spiritual glory of the millennian church.... tlie continental restoration of 
 the ten tribes....the maritime restoration of the converted of Judali. Isaiah 
 Ix. P. 150. 
 
 PROPHECY XIV. 
 
 The restoration and conversion of Judah. ...the triumph of Christ over the 
 mystic Edom. Isaiah Ixii. Ixiii. P. 153. 
 
 PROPHECY XV. 
 
 The call of the Jews. ...the mystic birth of the Jewish nation....a description of 
 the Anticlu'istian confederacy. ...its overthrow. ...the scattering of sucli as 
 escape....the restoration of the converted ten tribes. ...the glories of the mil- 
 lennium. Isaiah Ixvi. 5 — 24. P. 163. 
 
 PROPHECY XVI. 
 
 The captivity, restoration, conversion, and union, of Israel and Judah. ...the 
 invasion of Palestine from the north by Antichrist... .his destruction. Jer. 
 iii. 1—18. iv. 5—29. i. 13—15. vi. 1, 22, 23. x. 22—25. xil. 10—17. P. 170. 
 
 PROPHECY XVII. 
 
 The idolatry of the Israelites in the land of their dispersion....their restoration 
 by sea and by land....the punishment of Judah... .the general conversion of 
 the Gentiles. Jer. xvi. 13—21. P. ISO. 
 
 PROPHECY XVIII. 
 
 A denunciation against those who have tyrannized over Israel... .the restora- 
 tion and conversion both of Israel and Judah. Jer. xxiii. 1—8. P. 182. 
 
 PROPHECY XIX. 
 The gener.ll restoration of Israel... the restoration of Judah in a time of great 
 . trouble. ...the overthrow of Antichrist....the certaint\' of the restoration of 
 Israel, and Ills Iiappy st.ate subsequent to it. Jer. xxx. xxxi. P. 185. 
 
 PROPHECY XX. 
 The desolation of the mystic Edom. Lamen. iv. 21, 22. P. 193. 
 
 PROPHECY XXI. 
 he restoration and conversion of the Jews. Ezek. xi. 13 — 21. P. 193. 
 PROPHECY XXII. 
 The restoration and conversion of Judah and Israel... .the conversion of the 
 Gentiles.. .Jerusalem the liead of all churches, though not by the Mosaical 
 covenant. Ezek. xvi. 46—63. P. 195. 
 
PROPHECY XXm. 
 
 The restoration of Israel....the long suffering's of the Jews in the course of 
 their return. Ezek. xx. 33 — 44. P. 196. 
 
 PROPHECY XXIV. * 
 
 The overthrow of the mystic Tyre and her prince preparatory to the com- 
 plete restoration and prosperity of Israel. Ezek. xxvi. 7—21. xxvii. xxviii. 
 P. 200. 
 
 PROPHECY XXV. 
 
 The dispersion of Israel through the tyranny of their shepherds... .God will 
 require his people at their hands. ...the restoration of Judah partly in a con- 
 verted and partly in an unconverted state....the opposition of the unconvert- 
 ed to the converted, a proof that the unconverted will be restored by An- 
 tichrist... .downfal of the mystic Edom....the political revival, restoration, 
 and final union of Israel and Judah. ...the overthrow of Gog and Magog- 
 at the end of the Millennium. Ezek. xxxiv. xxxv. xxxvi. 1 — 32. xxxvii. 
 xxxviii. xxxix. P. 221. 
 
 PROPHECY XXVI. 
 
 Descriptive character of the powers that will compose the Antichristian con- 
 federacy....the progress of Antichrist to Palestine....his overthrow there.... 
 the restoration of .ludah during a time of great trouble at the close of the 
 1260 vears. Dan. ii. 40 — 45, 34, 35. vii. 7 — 27. Rev, xiii. xvii. Dan. xi. 
 36—45. xii. Rev. xvi. 12—21. xviii. P. 258. 
 
 PROPHECY XXVII. 
 
 The restoration of Israel.. ..their instrumentality in converting the Gentiles.... 
 the state of the Jews in the days of their dispersion. Hosea i. 2 — 11. ii. 21 
 — 23. iii. P. 277. 
 
 PROPHECY XXVin. 
 The captivity of Judah and Israel....the application of some of their members 
 to the mystic Assyrian to effect their restoration. ...their distress. ...their 
 final political revival. Hosea v. 8—15. vi. P. 281. 
 
 PROPHECY XXIX. 
 
 The successive restoration of Judah and Israel. Hosea xi. 8 — 12. P. 287. 
 
 PROPHECY XXX. 
 
 The restoration and conversion of Israel....his rejection of Antichrist. Hosea 
 xiv. P. 289. 
 
 PROPHECY XXXI. 
 
 Irruption of Antichrist into Palesthie.. ..his destruction there... .general effusion 
 of the Holy Spirit. ...a descrip^ion of the overthrow of the confederated 
 nations at the period of the restoration of Judah. Joel i. 1—14. ii. iii. 
 P. 292. 
 
 PROPHECY XXXII. 
 
 The dispersion of the Jews, and the occupation of their country by foreign 
 invaders ...their restoration and triumph over the mystic Edom. Amos viii. 
 11, 12. ix. 4—15. P. 311. 
 
 PROPHECY XXXIII. 
 
 The certainty of the restoration of Judah and Israel. Micah ii. 12, 13. P. 314. 
 PROPHECY XXXIV. 
 
 The glories of the millennian church....the mystic birth of the .Tewish nation.... 
 the overthrow of the Antichristian confederacy partly by the instrumenta- 
 
lity of the Jews.. ..the advent of Christ.. ..he protects the now converted 
 Jews, and destroys the mystic Assyrian....the instrumentality of the Jews 
 in the conversion of the Gentiles. Micah iv. v. P. 315. 
 
 PROPHECY XXXV. 
 Lamentation of the dispersed church of Israel....a promise of her restoration 
 and the overthrow of Antichrist. Micah vii. P. 323. 
 
 PROPHECY XXXVI. 
 *rhe dispersion of the Jews....the sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans. ...the 
 call of the converted Jews.. ..their triumphant settlement in their own land 
 ....the destruction of the mystic Nineveh... the prevalence of pure religion.... 
 the instrumentality of some great maritime nation in restoring the Jews. 
 Zeph. i. 2—18. ii. iii. P. 327. 
 
 PROPHECY XXXVII. 
 The various dispersions of Israel by four kingdoms of the Gentiles.. ..the final 
 restora,tion and prosperity of the Jews.._the miraculous overthrow of Anti- 
 christ. Zechi. 12— 21. P. 344. 
 
 PROPHECY XXXVIII. 
 The general restoration of the Jews, and the conversion of the Gentiles. 
 Zech. viii. 2...23. P. 349. 
 
 PROPHECY XXXIX. 
 
 The instrumentality of Judah in the overthrow of Antichrist....the restoration 
 of Joseph....his office of converting the Gentiles....the fate of Egypt and 
 Assyria. Zech. x. 3—12. P. 352. 
 
 PROPHECY XL. 
 
 The miraculous overthrow of the Anticliristian confederacy....the conversion 
 of certain Jews in Jerusalem. ...the preservation and conversion of the third 
 part of the Antichristian confederacy.. ..the previous sacking of Jerusalem 
 by Antichrist....the manifestation of Messiah to destroy Antichrist....the 
 extermination of false religion. ...the destruction of Antichrist....the preva- 
 lence of true religion. ...the nature of the plague with which the faction of 
 Antichrist will be afflicted. ..the part which Judah will act.. ..the final con- 
 version and prosperity of Judah. Zech. xii. xili. xiv. P. 355. 
 
 PROPHECY XLI. 
 
 The restoration of the Jews at the close of the times of the Gentiles. Luke 
 xxi. 20—24. P. 369. 
 
 PROPHECY XLII. 
 
 The restoring of the kingdom to Israel. Acts i. 6. P. 373. 
 PROPHECY XLIII. 
 
 The present rejection and final conversion of the Jews, when the fulness of 
 the Gentiles shall have come. Rom.xi. 1 — 33. P. 374. 
 
 PROPHECY XLIV. 
 
 The visible manifestation of Christ to confound Antichrist. Rev. i. 7. P. 379. 
 
 Conclusion. P. 380. 
 
A GENERAL AND CONNECTED 
 
 VIEW, &C. 
 
 A general Statement of what may be collected from Prophecy 
 relative to the restoration oJF Israel and the overthrow of Anti- 
 christ. 
 
 1 H E restoration of Israel and the overthrow of Anti- 
 christ are so closely connected together, that it will be 
 found impossible to treat of the one without likewise 
 treating of the other. In a former work * I have briefly 
 considered them both : but, the object of that work being 
 an examination of the prophecies which relate to the 
 whole period of the 1260 days, it was necessary to dis- 
 cuss what is only the catastrophe of the great drama with 
 a proportionable brevity. Yet even that part of the sub- 
 ject appeared to be of so much importance, as justly to 
 merit a distinct and more ample consideration. Hitherto 
 I have confined myself almost entirely to the prophecies 
 of Daniel and St. John : noAV I purpose to take a wider 
 range, and to collect into one point of view the various 
 scattered predictions, which foretell that the whole house 
 of Israel shall assuredly be restored, and that the power 
 of Antichrist shall at the same period be broken for ever. 
 But first, that the subject may be rendered more clear 
 and less intricate, I shall give a general statement of what 
 may be gathered from them relative to those two great 
 events f. 
 
 * A Dissertation on the prophecies that relate to the great period of 1260 years. 
 
 1 1 think it superfluous to croud, my margin with references, as all the 
 prophecies, upon which this general statement is founded, will he. given at 
 lai'ge and commented upon hereafter. 
 
 1 
 
The era of the restoration of Judah seems to be very 
 definitely marked by Daniel. He teaches us, that at the 
 close of the three times and a ha for the 1260 days^ God 
 will cease to scatter his holy people, or (as Mr. Wintle 
 renders the passage) will accomplish the scatterings of 
 his holy people ; in other words, that he will begm to 
 bring them back into their own land *. And, in order 
 (as it were) that we may not possibly misunderstand him, 
 
 * " Until how long- shall be the end of these wonders .' — It shall be until 
 a time, times, and a half ; and, when he sliall have finished to scatter the 
 power of the holy people, all these wonders shall be finished." (Dan. xii. 6, 
 7.) since then all the luonders coiitainediuithin the ptriod (fthe three times and 
 a half a.ve finislied when the scattering of the holy people is finished, the most 
 natural meaning of the passag-e seems to be, tlitit the period of their scattering 
 ivill coine to a close, and consequently they themselves will begin to be restored, 
 when the three times and a half shall have expired. But they liave not yet 
 begim to cease to be a scattered people ; therefore the period of their scatter- 
 ing has not come to a close : and, since this period expires when the period tff 
 three times and a half ivhich contains the luona'ers expires, we can scarcely 
 avoid inferring-, tliat we cannot as yet have arrived at the termination of the 
 three times and a half. In short, as it appears to me, the only certain badge of 
 this termination is tlie commencement oj" the restoration ofyudah. liut see the 
 matter fully discussed in my Dissert, on the 1260 years. Chap. iii. and in 
 my reply to Mr. Uicheno. 
 
 Some, I believe, have imagined, that the holy people, wliose scattering is to 
 be finished at the end of the 1250 years, are not the yews, but those pious wit- 
 nesses who are appointed to prophesy in sacliclotli during tliat period. 
 The whole context however of the prediction shews this opinion to be erro- 
 neous. The revealing angel introduces it by informing Daniel, that he will 
 make him understand what shall befall his people in the latter days, or (as the 
 original expression ought rather in that passage to be translated) during the 
 succession of days. (Dan. x. 14.) Such being the case, since tlie prophecy 
 reaches to tlie very ti')ne of the end, and to the overthro%v of Antichrist, we must 
 necessarily suppose, that it will conclude witii foretelling the restoration of 
 the Jeius : otherwise the most remarkable event in the history of Daniel's 
 people would be omitted. Indeed the very expression to scatter shews, that 
 they alone can be intended ; for in none of tlie predictions relative to the ty- 
 ranny oi' Popery are the witnesses ever said to be scottered,wor'm{siCX.were they 
 ever scattered in any such remarkable manner as the yews. 
 
 I am no way singular in drawing the preceding conclusion from this pro- 
 phecy of Daniel. 
 
 " The yews,^^ says Mr. Mede, ** shall be carried captive over all nations, and 
 yerusalem trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfill- 
 ed : that is, until tlie monarchies of the Gentiles should be finished. For 
 these times of the Gentiles are that last period of the fourth kingdom prophe- 
 sied of, a time, times, and half a time : at the end wiiereof the angel swears 
 unto Daniel (Chap. xii. 7.), that God should accoviplish to scatter the power of 
 the holy people. This is that fulness of the Gentiles, vvliich being come, St. 
 Paul tells us, the Deliverer shall come out of Zion, and all Israel shall be saved. 
 Rom. xi. 26. (Treatise on Daniel's Weeks. Works B. iii. p. 709). I make 
 no question but these times of the Gentiles, with which the yews' tribulation 
 shall end, are either the times of the four monarchies in general (that is, the 
 times of that prophesied, dominion of the Gentiles), or, (which is all one ift 
 
he furtlier informs us, that tliis shall come to pass at the 
 same time that an expedition into Palestine is undertaken 
 by Antichrist^ \vho is there destmed to perish ; and that 
 this expedition shall take place at a period denominated 
 the time of the endy which, as may be easily collected from 
 other parts of the book of Daniel, denotes the period of 15 
 years wJiich commences at the expiration of the 1260 yearSy 
 and extends to the beginning of the AlilleTmium *. Thus 
 are we in a manner doubly informed, that the Jews will 
 begin to be restored, when the 1260 years shall have 
 dl'a^\ll to their close. 
 
 As for the order and manner of the conversion of Israel^ 
 his general restoration^ and the final expedition and over- 
 throw of the Antichristian faction, we have reason to be- 
 lieve, so far as can be collected from prophecy, that they 
 will be as follow^s. 
 
 Either before or about the expiration of the 1260 years, 
 the eyes of one great division of the scattered Jews will be 
 opened ; and they will joj'^fuily embrace the faith of that 
 Redeemer, whom they have so long rejected and despised. . 
 In effecting first their conversion (possibly before the 
 end of the 1260 years), and afterwards their restoration f 
 (certainly when the 1260 years shall \\2i\Q filly expired), 
 some mighty may-itime nation of faithful worshippers will 
 be principally instrumental. To this great division of 
 Judah, destined to be brought to the knowledge of the 
 
 event) those last times of the fourth kingdom of a time, times, and half a 
 tim-e." Works B. iv. epist. 12. p. 753. See also epist. 8. p. 744. 
 
 " Mr. Lowth," says Mi*. Wintle, " has recounted a number of passages in 
 the prophets, which indicate the restoration of the ^ews in the latter days, or 
 when the fourth monarchy sliall expire. — .\t this decisive period, or after the 
 1260 years of the reign of Antichrist (Popery) and the addition of another 
 short term for the restoration of the yews, will be the end of these wonders or 
 marvellous things inquired after in the last verse." (Wintle on Dan. xii. 7.) 
 " Though the reign of Antichrist seems here fixed for 1290 years, which is a 
 term of 50 years more than was mentioned at Ver. 7, this excess in the opi- 
 nion of some is the time allotted for the collecting of the ^eius from their 
 captivity among all nations, or the several countries of their dispersion ; and 
 at the close of Ver. 7 there does seem to be a further period alluded to ybr 
 this purpose, after the time, times, and a half, or the 1260 years." Wintle on. 
 Dan. xii. 11. 
 
 * See my Dissert, on the 1260 years. Chap. rii. 
 
 ■f Dan. xii. 1, 6, 7. relates to the restoration, not the conversion, of yudah. 
 'T\\& former commences at the close of the 1260 years. 
 
truth while yet in the land of their dispersion, the mari- 
 time worshippers will be sent, the appointed messengers 
 of God, in swiftly- sailing vessels : and, reverently obe- 
 dient to the divine command, they will bear them safely 
 in a mighty fleet, as a present to the Lord of hosts, to the 
 place of his holy name, even mount Zion. The Jews 
 therefore, who are thus converted and brought back by 
 sea, must clearly be such Jews, as shall be scattered either 
 through the dominions and colonies of the maritime pow- 
 er, or through those of other s?naller maritime iiations in 
 alliance with and professing the same faith as the great 
 naval power itself. 
 
 At the period when these matters are transacting, the 
 Ottoman empire will have been overthrown, and the great 
 confederacy of Antichrist will have been completed. It 
 will consist of the Roman beast under his last or Carlo- 
 vingian head, the false prophet or the ecclesiastical power 
 of the Papacy, and the subordinate vassal kings of the 
 Latin' empire. To these Daniel adds a state, which he 
 describes under the character of a king that magnified 
 himself above every God, and which from the account of 
 its actions is plainly the grand contriver and director of 
 the whole confederacy^. Hence we are naturally led to 
 conclude, that tJiis state will at that period be identified 
 with the last head of the beast]-. The state in question 
 I have elsewhere shewn to be Antichristian France : and 
 recent events have but too amply confirmed the conjec- 
 ture, that its chief would sooner or later acquire the em- 
 pire of Charlemagne %. As yet indeed he has not assumed 
 the title of Emperor of the Romans ; but he has become 
 virtually and elfectively the Emperor of the West, the 
 lord of the destinies of France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. 
 With our own eyes we may now behold the rapid forma- 
 
 * Having tlius specified the inembers of which the Antichristian confederacy 
 is composed, I shall refrain hereafter, in order to avoid needless repetition, 
 from particularizing- tliem. Wlienever therefore I speak of the Antichristian 
 confederacy, or the Antichristian faction, the reader is desired to understand 
 jne as speaking' conjointly of all these different members. 
 
 t See my Dissert, on the 1260 years. Vol. ii. p. 359—365. (2d. Edit. p. 400 
 —408.) 
 
 i See my Dissert, on the 1260 years, Vol. i. p. 317—551, (2d. Edit. p. 346 — 
 383.) 
 
tion ^iithat conspiracy of federal kings, of which he openly 
 avows himself the head ; and which, after the effusion of 
 the sixth vial and the overthrow of the Ottoman empire*, 
 will begin to be gathered together by secret diabolical 
 agency to their destruction at Megiddo. We need only 
 look to what is passing on the great stage of the Latin 
 empire; and we shall require no comment on the pre- 
 dicted confederacy of the beast under his last head, the 
 false prophet, and the kings of the Roman earth. St. John 
 teaches us to expect such a confederacy after the sound- 
 ing of the third woe 'trumpet, after the horrors of the sym- 
 bolical harvest, while the blazing sun of military despo- 
 tism is scorching with an intolerable heat the degraded 
 Latin empire, in the last days of blasphemous infidelity ; 
 and we now see the commencement of its formation. 
 
 While the faithful ??ia?itime power is engaged in con-7 
 verting one great division of the Jews, with a view per- 
 haps t to their ultimate restoration ; the Antichristian 
 confederacy will take under its protection another great 
 division of the Jews, and will prepare to direct its arms 
 against Palestine, in order to restore them in an uncon^ 
 verted state (and that for mere political purposes) to the . 
 countiy of their forefathers. Daniel has given us a won- 
 derfully minute account of the progress of this Antichris- 
 tian confederacy to Palestine ; which, as might naturally 
 be expected from the circumstance of the maritime pow- 
 er commanding at sea, is plainly by land. Antichrist, in 
 his attempt to invade the holy land from his empire in the 
 West, must necessarily pass through Turkey. In whose 
 hands Greece and Asia Minor will then be, no one can 
 
 * That the exhaustion of the ivaters of the Euphrates means the subversion of 
 the Ottoman evipire, is sufficiently manifest from the analogy of the apocalyp- 
 tic language. If the issuing forth of the four angels from the Euphrates with an 
 innumerable body of cavalry , under the sixth trumpet, denote, as it plainly does, 
 the rise of the Turkish monarchy ; then, unless we suppose St. John to be 
 utterly inconsistent with himself, the exhaustion of that same Euphrates must 
 denote its subversion. But see my Dissert, on the 1260 years, Vol. ii. p. 344 
 et infra. (2d. edit. p. 381.) 
 
 fit is possible, that the tnaritim.e poiver may at first attempt to convert 
 the yews without any specific design of restoring them. Its restoration of 
 them may be undertaken in consequence of Antichrist's project of restoring 
 the unconverted yews. But respecting such points as these we can at present; 
 merely conjecture. 
 
at present with certainty determine : but this we know, 
 that the Ottoman empire itself will have been previously 
 overthrown at the beginning of the effusion of the sixth 
 vial. In this attempt, Antichrist will meet with some 
 opposition from a king of the south, and with a most de- 
 termined and formidable resistance from a king of the 
 north, who will come against him like a whirlwind with 
 chariots and horsemen and many ships ; witli the last, 
 most probably to prevent his crossing into Asia. Yet, 
 in spite of all their attempts, he shall enter into the coun- 
 tries, overflowing them like a resistless torrent ; and, the 
 prophet specially adds, shall pass over ; meaning, perhaps, 
 over the streights which divide Asia from Europe, and 
 which the northern potentate shall vainly attempt to 
 block up with his ships. This great northern power I 
 have already conjectured to be Russia * : and, the more I 
 have since thought upon the subject, the more I am in- 
 clined to adhere to my first opinion. What state is meant 
 by the king of the south, we have not as yet, I think, 
 sufficient grounds to determine. 
 
 Antichrist, having now passed over the streights, rapid- 
 ly advances into the glorious land or Palestine, overthrow- 
 ing and pillaging many countries by the way. Such then 
 being his route, he must necessarily enter into the holy 
 land from the north : accordingly this dreadful invasion is 
 more than once described as proceeding from the north. 
 Like a vast flight of locusts, his armies cover the face of 
 the whole countrj^, devouring and wasting, w'lXh. their 
 accustomed rapacity, all the productions of nature. 
 
 Unsated by victory, he still meditates new conquests. 
 After placing his allies, the unconverted Jews, in Jerusa- 
 lem and its vicinity, he now directs his steps towards 
 Eg}^pt. Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the chil- 
 dren of Ammon however, escape out of his hand. For 
 this they have to thank, not his moderation and clemen- 
 cy, but merely their local situation. A map will best 
 explain the reason of their security. The districts, which 
 those nations formerly occupied, lie so far to the east, as 
 
 * See my Dissert, on the 1260 years. Vol. 1. p. 356. (2d. Edit. p. 400) 
 
to be entirely out of the way of any army which is pas- 
 sing from Judea into Egypt. But over other countries, 
 more closely adjoining to Egypt, he will stretch forth 
 his hand: and, while Egypt is unable to escape his ma- 
 rauding rapacity, those, whom Daniel calls the Lubim 
 and the Cushim^ shall be compelled to attend his steps, 
 and probably either augment his armies * or perform the 
 most menial offices in his camp. 
 
 In the midst of his African conquests, he is troubled 
 by tidings out of the east and out of the north. What 
 these tidings are, Daniel does not positively determine : 
 but the subsequent context shews, that they must relate to 
 the approach of some new enemies, and to some disagree- 
 able intelligence respecting Jerusalem. From these data^ 
 and by the assistance of other parallel prophecies, we may 
 form no improbable conjecture at least respecting those 
 tidings out of the east and out of the north, which are 
 described as so grievously troubling Antichrist. We left 
 the great maritime power, preparing to bring by sea its 
 allies, the converted Jews, as a present to the Lord of 
 hosts, to mount Zion. Now, in whatever part of the 
 world this power may be situated, whether far beyond 
 the eastern or the western Cushean streams, it is plain 
 that its navy can only approach Palestine by the way of 
 the Mediterranean sea. Such then will indisputably be 
 its course. The maritime expedition at length reaches 
 Palestine : but the converted Jews, and their naval protec- 
 tors, find themselves opposed by the unconverted Jews, 
 and the troops which Antichrist had left behind him to 
 garrison Jerusalem and other strong-holds. Apparently 
 after no trifling bloodshed, and (if I judge rightly from 
 some prophecies) when the converted Jews had suffered 
 very considerably, the eyes of their unconverted brethren 
 will unexpectedly be opened ; they will look upon him 
 whom they had pierced ; and, throwing off" the base yoke 
 oi Antichrist, they will cordially join such of their nation 
 as had embraced Christianity, and had allied themselves 
 
 • We have already beheld the tyrant take into his pay, as body guards 
 those foreign mercenaries, the IMaraalucs. 
 
8 
 
 to the faithful maiitime power. At the period when 
 these e^'ents happen, and that they ivill happen is reveal- 
 ed with sufficient clearness, we may suppose Antichrist 
 to be in Egypt and Libva : for to what other time, in 
 the course of his whole progress, can we with equal pro- 
 priety ascribe them ? Thus situated, he would plainly 
 receive the intelligence from the north and from the east. 
 From the north and the north-east he would learn, by 
 means of some light vessels, first that the navy of the 
 ?w«7*?V?;?2<? yjoiyer was approaching, and afterwards that it 
 had safelv reached the coast of Palestine : from the east 
 he would learn, by means of his own fugitive troops 
 which had been stationed in Judea, that the maritime 
 power had completely succeeded in its first attempt, that 
 it had brought back a large body of convei'ted Jews, and 
 that those who had been restored by Antichrist in an 
 unconverted state had suddenly embraced the faith of 
 protestant Cliristianity, and had revolted from him to their 
 already believing brethren *. Unless we admit, that 
 either this, or something like it, will be the case ; we 
 shall find it no easy matter to account for the fury with 
 which Antichrist is represented, as returning into Judea 
 which he had already subdued, and as besieging Jerusa- 
 lem which he had already given to his allies the uncon- 
 ve?'ted Jews. For, that certain unbelieving Jews will be 
 converted in Jerusalem, is plainly asserted by Zechariah : 
 and, that the city will after\\-ards be besieged and taken, 
 is asserted both by Zechariah and Daniel. But all those 
 Jews, who are restored by the maritime power, will return 
 in a converted state ; as is manifest from the Ian2:ua8:e 
 used by Isaiah and Zephaniah. By whom then can the 
 unconverted Jews have been restored, except by Anti- 
 christ, who will make himself master of the whole land 
 of Palestine ? And why should he afterwards besiege 
 them in Jerusalem, except on account of their conver- 
 sion mentioned by Zechariah, and their revolt from his 
 cause? For, if they had not revolted from him after 
 
 * A map will explain, how to any person in Eg-ypt news from Palestine 
 must come from the north and the east. 
 
"their conversion, no reason can be assigned why he 
 should so bitterly attack them. 
 
 Troubled with such unpleasant tidings from the east 
 •ftnd from the north, Antichrist hastily quits Egypt and 
 Libya, and retraces his steps to Judea. Going forth in 
 the height of his fury, he threatens to destroy all such as 
 should oppose him : and, calling in the aid of Popish 
 bigotry, he sanctifies his expedition by representing it as a 
 holy crusade against heretics ; and, with banners blessed 
 by the false prophet who (as we have reason to believe 
 from the Apocalypse *) will be his attendant f , he de- 
 votes many to utter extermination under the blasphe- 
 mous pretext of religion. His wonted success at first 
 attends him. He besieges Jerusalem now occupied by 
 his enemies, and takes it. Here he exercises his usual 
 barbarity ; a barbarity, increased ten- fold by the defection 
 of his late allies. The houses are rifled, and the women 
 are ravished, by his licentious soldiery. Half of the in- 
 habitants are made captive : but the other half are per- 
 mitted still to remain in the city, under the control 
 most probably of a strong garrison. Thus does he plant 
 the curtains of his tents between the seas in the glorious 
 holy mountain : and thus is Jerusalem, now for the last 
 time, trodden down of the Gentiles. 
 
 During these disasters, the troops of the maritime 
 power appear to have retreated towards the sea-shore, in 
 order that they may be able to regain their ships, if all 
 further resistance should prove fruitless. Here they 
 would doubtless be joined by the great body of their 
 allies, the first converted Jews, and by such of those that 
 \vere afterxvards converted, as were able to effect their 
 escape from the rage of jlntich?ist. To this devoted 
 host the tyrant now directs his attention. Anticipating 
 an easy victory over his last enemies, either by suddenly 
 cutting them off from their ships, or by compelling them 
 to re-embark, and with proud exultation looking forward 
 
 * See Rev. xix. 19, 20. 
 
 t Mr. Whitaker conjectures, that the seat of the Papacy will be finally re, 
 moved to Jerusalem. (Comment, on Rev. p. 443.) I think his conjecture by 
 no means improbable. The remarkable passage, contained in Rev. xix. 19, 
 20, seems at least to favour the belief, that the power of the Papacy, no less 
 than that of Antichrist, will be broken in Palestine. 
 Q 
 
10 
 
 to the uncontrolled empire of the civilized world, he- 
 leaves Jerusalem, and advances with his whole army to 
 Megiddo. Between this town and the sea we may sup- 
 pose the troops of the maritime power and the Jexvs to 
 have taken their position, hopeless probably of victory 
 from their vast disparity in numbers to the huge hosts of 
 their enem}-. But the battle is not always to the strong, 
 nor the race to the swift. At this anxious mom.ent, the 
 glorj- of the Lord is suddenly manifested in the midst of 
 Jerusalem, and Jehovah himself becometh a wall ot lire 
 around her. The Almighty Word of God goeth forth, 
 like a man of war, in the greatness of his strength ; and 
 all his saints, the innumerable ai^mies of heaven, are with 
 him. His <x\\ivA commission is from the Most High. 
 For, after the manifestation of the glory, the Lord of 
 hosts sendeth him unto the nations that have spoiled his 
 ancient people ; that he may shake his hand o\er them, 
 that they may become a spoil unto those A\hom they had 
 made their ser^ ants, that they may kno^v that the lord of 
 hosts hath sent him, that they may leani that he who 
 toucheth Juclah toucheth the apple of his eye. The tre- 
 mendous vision halts for am.oment on the mount of 01i\"es ; 
 which, like Sinai of old, acknowledges a present God, and 
 with a mighty earthcjuake cleaves asunder in the midst. It 
 then advances to the valley of Megiddo, and hovers over 
 the heads of the palsied troops of AiiticJirist. The divine 
 Word displays himself to the assembled nations. The 
 faithful look up Avith awful wonder, kno\ving that their 
 redemption draweth nigh. Every eye seeth him; and 
 they also, his kindred after the flesh, which pierced him, 
 now behold him in his glory. He cometh with clouds : 
 and all kindreds of the Latin eai'th wail because of him. 
 He descendeth in his wrath : he treadeth the wine- press 
 in the fury of his indignation : his gai'ments are sprinkled 
 with the blood of his enemies. 
 
 It appears, from comparing various prophecies toge- 
 ther, that the overthrow of the Antichristian confederacy 
 will be eflfected partly by supernatural and paitly by 
 natural agency. Christ will indeed tread the wine-press 
 alone, for to his sole might will the victory be owing : yet 
 will he likewise use the instrumentality of others. While he 
 
11 
 
 miraculously smites his enemies with a dreadful plague, 
 so that their flesh shall consume away while they stand 
 upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in 
 their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their 
 mouth ; he will send likewise among them a great tumult 
 from the Lord, so that they shall lay hold every one on 
 the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against 
 the hand of his neighbour. Jiidah also, summoned to the 
 dreadful task of vengeance by his God, shall take an ac- 
 tive part in the destruction of his enemies : for, in that 
 day, the Lord will make the governors of Judah like a 
 hearth of fire among the wood, and Uke a torch of fire in 
 a sheaf ; and they shall devour all the people round about, 
 on the right hand and on the left. Thus will Antichrist 
 come to his end, and none shall help him : thus will the 
 beast noiv under his last head be taken, and with him the 
 false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with 
 which he deceived them that had received the mark of 
 the beast and them that worshipped his image. These 
 both will be cast alive into a lake of fire burning with 
 brimstone : and the remnant will be slain with the sword 
 of that Almighty Conqueror who sitteth upon the white 
 horse, the sword that proceedeth out of his mouth ; and 
 all the fowls will be filled with their flesh. 
 
 There has been so long a suspension of the visible in- 
 terpositions of Providence, a suspension nevertheless 
 expressly foretold by Isaiah *, that we are apt in the pre- 
 sent day to feel a sort of hesitation in admitting that they 
 will ever be renewed. The Jexvs perpetually required a 
 sign of the Lord, at the period of \\\s first advent : ive, on 
 the contrary, can scarcely bring ourselves to interpret 
 literally even the most express predictions, relative to his 
 miraculous and personal manifestation at the period of 
 his second advent \ . Few have felt the influence of this 
 prejudice more than mj^self : and nothing but a laborious 
 comparison of prophecy with prophecy has enabled me 
 to subdue it. Yet, while I now fully assent to Mr. 
 Mede's opinion, that there will be some such pretema- 
 
 * See Bp. Horsley's I^etter on Isaiah xviii. P. 96. 
 
 t " The time for the restoration of the jfews," says Bp. Horsley, "is no oth- 
 erwise defined than as the season of our Lord's second advent." (^Letter on 
 
12 
 
 tural manifestation, I cannot think that he assigns to it its 
 proper place in the succession of events. He supposes, 
 that it will be the cause of the conversion oi' the Jews : 
 whereas, according as matters appear to me, they will be 
 
 Isaiah xviii. p. 16. See also p. 14.) His Lordship might have added, with 
 Mr. Mede, on the aulhonty of Dan. xii. 6, 7, tliat the time of their restora- 
 tion is likewise deiiued to be the season at the expiration of the \2(>0 years. 
 
 As 1 shall have frequent occasion, in the course of the present work, to 
 mention the second advent of Christ, it may not be amiss briefly to state what 
 I understand by it. 
 
 The second adient of Christ is commonly spoken of, from tlie pulpit and in 
 ordinary conversation, as the time %vhen our Lord ivill come to judge both the 
 quick and the dead, and to assign to all their everlasting portion either (f happi- 
 ness or inisery. This notion of it is not perfectly correct. The second ad- 
 vent includes indeed the fnal destination of the whole race of mankind ; but 
 it includes likewise much more, commencing' long before that time which we 
 are vfonifamiliarly to call the day of j-udgment. In fact, the great day of judg- 
 tiient suichronizcs with the ivhole period of the second advent, comprehending 
 at once the fnal destination of mankind and inany other antecedent particulars. 
 It is necessary to form a clear idea of this point ; otherwise, when it is said 
 that the yexvs will be restored at the era of the second advent, the reader 
 mig'ht be in danger of imagining that they would not be restored till that era 
 which IS faviiliarly called the day of judgment, that is to say, the fnal corisuin- 
 ination of all things : whereas, after their restoration and coinersion, they 
 are to fli.urish in their own land during the space of at least lOOOjert/vy. 
 
 Mr. .Mede has treated this subject so well, that 1 cannot do better thaft 
 avail myself of his remarks. 
 
 " When Daniel's tiines are done, the Son of man comes In the clouds of 
 heaven, to receive the empire of all the kingdoms of the world. Dan. vii. 14. 
 
 " When St. Luke's times of the Gentiles are finished, then shall be signs in 
 the sun and moon ; the Son of man comes also in the clouds of heaven, the 
 redemption of Israel and the kingdom of God are at hand. Luke xxi. 27, 
 28,31.- 
 
 " The first coming of Christ was to be while the fourth kingdom was yet in 
 being ; the second, when it should end." Works, B. iv. Epist. 8. p. 744, 745. 
 
 ♦' The times of the Gentiles ai'e Uiat last period of the fourth kingdom pro- 
 phesied of, a time times and half a time ; at the end whereof the angel 
 swears imto Daniel (Chap. xii. 7.) that God should accoviplish to scatter the 
 foiver of the holy people. This is that fulness of the Gentiles, w^hich being 
 come, St. Paul tells us, The deliverer shall come out of Zion, and all Israel 
 shall be saved." Works, B. in. Treatise on Daniel's Weeks, p. 709. 
 
 " 'Hie mother text of Scripture, whence the Church of the yews grounded 
 the name and expectation of the great day of judgment, with the circumstances 
 thereto belonging, and whereunto almost all the descriptions and expressions 
 thereof in the New Testament have reference, is that vision in the seventh of 
 Daniel of a session of judgment wlicn the fourth beast came to be destroyed : 
 where this great Assises is represented after the manner of the great Syne- 
 drion or consistoiy of Israel ; wherein the pater judicii had his assessores, sit- 
 ting upon seats placed semi-circle wise before him from his right hand to his 
 left. I beheld (saitli Daniel Chap. vii. 9.) till the thrones or seats were pitched 
 down (nameh- for the senators to sit upon, not thrown down, as we of late have 
 it), and the Ancient of days (pater consistorii) did sit- And I beheld, till the judg- 
 ment was set (that is, the whole Sanhedrim,) and the books were opened. 
 
 " Here we see both the form of judgment delineated, and the name of 
 judgment expressed ; which is afterwards yet twice more repeated . first, 
 in the amplification of the tyranny of the wicked horn (Ver. 21, 22.), which (is 
 
13 
 
 previously converted ; aiid Christ will be revealed, not to 
 turn them to the faith, but to execute' judgment upon his 
 enemies, " I incline to think," says he, " that they shall 
 be called by vision and voice from heaven, as St. Paul 
 was ; and that that place of Zechariah They shall see hhn 
 •whom they have pierced^ and that of Matthew Ye shall 
 
 said) continued till the Ancient of days came, and jfudgment luas given to the 
 saints of the most High, \. e. potestas judicandi ipsis facta ,- and the tiiird time 
 in the angel's interpretation (Ver. 26.). £ut the jfudgment shall sit, and they 
 shall take arvay his dominion to consume and destroy it to the end. Where, ob- 
 serve also, that cases of dominion, of blasphemy, and apostacy, and the like, 
 belonged to thejurisdictionof the great Sanhedrim. 
 
 " From this description it came, that the jfevjs gave it tlie name of the day 
 of judgment and the day of the great judgment ; whence, in the epistle of St. 
 Jude (Ver. 6.), it is called the judgm^ent of the great day. 
 
 " From the same description they learned, that the destruction then to be 
 should be by fire, because it is said (Ver. 9.) His throne ivas a fiery flame, 
 and his Viheels burning fire ; and (Ver. 11.) The beast ivas slain, and his body 
 destroyed and given to the burning flam^e . 
 
 " From tile same fountain are derived those expressions in tlie Gospelj 
 where this day is intimated or described ; Tlie Son of inan shall come in the 
 clouds of heaven ; The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father ivith hi^ 
 holy angels: forasmuch as it said here, Thousand thousands viinistersd unto 
 him; and that Daniel saw One like the Son of man coming ivith the clouds 
 tf heaven, and he caine to the Ancient of days, and they brought him yiear him. 
 
 " Hence St. Paul learned, that the saints should judge the %\>orld, because it 
 is said that maJiy thrones ivere set, and (Ver, 22.) by way of exposition, tliat 
 judgment was given to the saints cfthe Must High. 
 
 " Hence the same apostle learned to confute the false fear of the Thessa- 
 lonians, that the day of Christ's second coining was then at hand : because that 
 day could not be till the man cf sin were first come, and should Iiave reigned 
 liis time appointed : forasmuch as Daniel had foretold it should be so, and 
 that his destruction should be at the Son of man's appearing in the clouds ; 
 whose appearing therefore was not to be till then. This is sTrKpxveia nji; 
 Tx^aa-ioii civla in St. Paul : luhom the Lord (saith he) shall destroy at the 
 £7n<poe.veiri of his coming. Daniel's micked horn is St. Paul's man of sin, as the 
 Church from her infancy interpreted it. 
 
 •' But to go on : wliile this judgment sits, and when it had destroyed thf 
 fourth beast, the Son of man which comes in tlie clouds receives dominion, 
 and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve 
 and obey him (Ver. 14.) ; which kingdom is tlirice exjilained afterwards to be 
 the kingdoon of the saints of the Most High, Ver. 18, 22, 27. 
 
 " These grounds being laid, 1 argue as followeth : 
 
 •' Tlie kingdom of the Son of man and of the saints of the Most High in 
 Daniel begins when the great judgment sits. 
 
 " The kingdom in the Apocalypse, wlierein tlie saints reign with Christ a 
 thousand years, is the same with tlie kingdom of tlie Son of man and saints 
 of the Most High in Daniel. 
 
 " Ergo, It also begins at the great judgment. 
 
 " That the kingdom in Daniel and that of a thousand years in tlie Apoca- 
 lypse are one and the same kingdom, nppears thus : 
 
 " First, because they begin ab eodetn termJno, namely, at the destruction 
 of the fourth beast : that in Daniel, when the beast (then ruling in the ivicked 
 horn J was slain, and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame 
 (Dan. vii. 11, 22, 27.) : that in the Apocalypse, Vhen the ixast and the false 
 
14 
 
 not see me henceforth till you say, Blessed is he that 
 coineth in the name of the Lord*, seems to imply some 
 such matter. Thev will never believe that Christ reigns 
 at the right hand of God, until they see him. It must 
 be an invincible evidence which must convert them, after 
 so many hundred years settled obstinacy. But this I 
 speak of the body of the nation ; there may be some Pra- 
 ludia of some particulars converted upon other motives, 
 as a forerunner of the great and main conversion!." 
 To this opinion of Mr. Mede it was objected by Dr. 
 Twisse, hoxv such a vision could be manifested to the 
 Jews dispersed in several parts of the xvorld. The answer 
 was, that a vision or apparition in heaven may be seen by 
 the greatest part of the xvorld at the same time, as stars 
 
 prophet fthe voided horn in Daniel) were taken, and both cast alive into a lake 
 burning with brimstone. Rev. xix. 20, 21. 
 
 " Secondly, Because St. John begins the regninn of a tliousand years from 
 the same session of judgment described in Daniel ; as ajjpears by his parallel 
 expression borrowed from thence. 
 
 " Daniel says, Cl):ip. vii. 
 
 " 9. I beheld till the thrones ivere 
 pitched down — and the judgment (i.e. 
 judges) sat. 
 
 " 22. And judgment was given to the 
 saints of the Most High. 
 
 " And the saints possessed the king- 
 dom, ; viz. with til e Son of man who 
 came in the clouds. 
 
 St. .Tolin says. Chap. xx. 
 4. / saiv thrones, and they sat upon 
 them. 
 
 And judgment %u as given unto them. 
 
 And the saints lived and reigned with 
 Christ a thousand years. 
 
 " Now, if this be sufficiently proved, that the tliousand years begin with 
 the day of judgment, it will appear further out of the Apocalyjise, that tlie 
 judgment is not consunimate till they be ended ; for Gog and Magog's des- 
 truction and the universal resurrection is not till then : therefore the whole 
 thousand \ears is included in the day of judgment. 
 
 " Hence it will follow, that, whatsoever Scripture speaks of a kingdom of 
 Christ to be at his second appearing or at the destruction of Antichrist, it must 
 needs be the same which Daniel saw should be at that time, and so conse- 
 quently be the kingdom of a thousand years which the Apocalypse includes 
 between the beginning and consummation of the great judgment." Mede's 
 Works, B. iv. Epist. 15. p. 762, 763. 
 
 In short, the whole matter may be briefly stated as follows. The day of 
 Chrisfs second advent or the great day of judgment commences at the close of 
 the V260 years, when the vengeance of God begins to go forth against the 
 Antichristian faction ; extends through the period of tiie Millennium ; and ter- 
 minates with the final destination of all mankind either to everlasting hajjpi- 
 ness or everlasting misery. Hence this day of the second advent comprehends 
 two manifestations of the Messiah ; the one previous to the Millennium for 
 the destruction of ^?!f/cAr/«t, the other «!/Z'se(7i/e';;f to the Millennium for the 
 universal judgment both of quick and dead. The first of these manifestations 
 is predicted in Dan. vii. 9, 10, 11, 18, 22,26, 27. and Rev. xix. 11— 21. the 
 second is predicted in Rev. xx 11 — 15. 
 
 * Zechar. xii. 10. Matt, xxiii. 39 
 
 t Mede's Works, B. iv. Epist. xiv. P. 761. 
 
15 
 
 and comets are : how else shall the appearing of our Sa- 
 viour in the clouds of heaven., at his coming to judgment^ 
 he seen at once by so many nations of the world? Mr. 
 Mede adds, " Howsoever it be, I suppose it is no sin to 
 conceive magnificence and Tr^sTrovlui of so great a work of 
 God towards a people for M'hom he hath formerly shewn 
 so many wonders ; especially this being to be the gi'eatest 
 work of mercy and wonder that ever he did for them, far 
 beyond the bringing them forth of Egypt, and leading them 
 in the wilderness*." And, in another part of his works, 
 he draws a comparison betVv^een St. Patd's conversion and 
 the calling of the Jews ^ supposing the one to be a kind of 
 type of the other f. 
 
 iVIy objection to Mr. Mede's opinion, in the manner 
 in which he has stated it, is neither its improbability nor 
 its impossibility abstractedly considered ; but simply that 
 it cannot be made to harmonize with the general tenor 
 of the prophecies which treat of the restoration and con- 
 version of the Jews. It is expressly declared by Zecha- 
 riah, that the glory of the Lord shall be manifested in the 
 midst of Jerusalem ; and that, after such manifestatioji, 
 Jehovah sent by Jehovah shall go forth and execute judg- 
 ment upon his enemies. All the other prophets agree 
 in attesting the same ; that, whenever the Word of God 
 is revealed, it shall be to pour destruction upon the rebel 
 army of Antichrist. This glory will most probably be the 
 same as the Shechinah that attended the children of Israel 
 out of Egypt : a vast pillar of light, shooting up to an im- 
 mense height in the air so as to be visible at a very great 
 distance, and surmounted by a cloud ; thus causing Je- 
 rusalem to appear, as if encompassed and covered with 
 fire. Now, if such a tremendous vision as this continu- 
 ed to hover over Jerusalem (for that is the place assigned 
 by the prophet for its appearance) ; and if the end of its 
 manifestation were to attract the attention of the scattered 
 Jervs, and to effect their conversion, as Mr. Mede sup- 
 poses : it is incredible, that Antichrist would ever dare to 
 undertake such an expedition, as it is foretold that he 
 ^hall imdertake. Or, granting the utmost that ca?i be 
 
 * MecTe's Works, B. iv. Epist. xvli. P. 767. 
 t Mede's "^^'ol■ks, K, v. C. 2. p. 891, 
 
1,6 
 
 granted to daring impiety ; granting that Antichrist might 
 harden his heart to attempt the conquest of Palestine, as 
 Pharaoh did to seek the destruction of Israel at the Red 
 sea, notwithstanding the fieiy portent, increasing in ap- 
 parent magnitude as he approached towards it, glared full 
 before his eves : yet we can sccircely believe, that he 
 would be able to effect the conquest of all Palestine, to 
 bestow Jerusalem upon a band of unconverted Jeivs, to 
 subdue Egypt, to return from thence in his fuiy, and to 
 sack Jerusalem ; if the glory of the Lord were all this 
 time in the midst of the city. Yet such must necessari- 
 ly be our conclusion, if we adopt unreservedly Mr. Mede's 
 opinion : for we are expressly told, that a part of the 
 Jews shall be converted in Jerusalem, and that Jerusa- 
 lem ^hall be sacked while in their possession. Of the 
 two texts, which he cites from Zechaiuah and St. Mat- 
 thew, the one seems to me by no means to prove his point, 
 and the other to prove the direct contrary. I cannot 
 think, that ^ve ha"\"e any warrant to suppose that the JewSy 
 restored by Antichrist^ will at the time of their conver- 
 sion look upon him whom they have pierced any other- 
 wise than spiritually, because their conversion precedes 
 the sacking of Jerusalem ; whereas the manifestation of 
 the Lord succeeds it, and immediately precedes the de- 
 struction of Antichrist. Then indeed they will literalhj 
 look upon him whom they have pierced, but not till then. 
 And this opinion is decidedly confirmed by the other 
 text, which proves the very reverse of what Mr. Mede 
 intended that it should prove. Our Lord assures the 
 Jeivs, that they shall 7iot see him, until they say, Blessed 
 is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Whence it is 
 manifest, that they must^;*^^ say. Blessed is he that com- 
 eth in the name of the Lord ; and aftei'wards behold him, 
 whom they have so long rejected. This is precisely 
 what I have supposed that they will do : whereas Mr. 
 Mede exactly in\erts the particulars of the text ; and ar- 
 gues, that the Jews will^r^^ see the Messiah, and after- 
 ivards acknowledge him*. 
 
 * ^Ir. Lovvth supposes, like ilr. Mede, that the Jcks will be converted in 
 consequence of a supernatural manifestation of Christ. See his Comment, on 
 Zech. xii. 10. 
 
17 
 
 On the whole I think it clear, that the revelation of 
 God's glory over Jerusalem, will at once ^wccee J the con- 
 version and restoration of Judah^ the whole expedition of 
 Antichristy and the sacking of the city ; that it will sud- 
 denly take place, when the confederacy has reached the 
 valley of Megiddo, and is on the point of over^v helming 
 the troops of the maritime nation and the converted Jews 
 under its protection ; and that, immediately after it has 
 taken place, the Word of God, issuing from the bright- 
 ness of the Sheehinah with all the armies of heaven, will 
 descend ^vith irresistible violence on his irreclaimable 
 enemies, and thus stupendously conclude the great apos- 
 tatical drama of 1260 years. 
 
 Since the Jexvs are to be restored in the midst of war 
 and bloodshed, or, as Daniel expresses it, during a time- 
 of trouble such as never was since there was a nation^ we 
 may reasonably suppose that gi-eat numbers of them will 
 perish. Accordingly we find, that their return from the 
 countries of their dispersion is expressly compared by 
 Ezekiel to their ancient exodus from Egypt. As God 
 pleaded with their fathers in the wilderness of the land of 
 Egypt ; so will he likewise plead with them, causing 
 them to pass under the rod, and purging out from among 
 them the rebels. It is probable indeed, that only a small 
 part of the first generation of those that are restored will 
 quietly sit down under their own vines and under their 
 own fig-trees. One whole generation of the Israelites, 
 that were brought out of Egypt, perished in the^ course 
 of forty year's in the w ilderness : and there is reason to 
 think, as we shall presently see, that the conversioji and 
 restoration ofJudah^ and the expedition and destruction of 
 Antichrist, will occupy a periocl of not less than 30 years> 
 • The swift messengers of the great maritime power will 
 begin the work of converting the Jews, that is to say such 
 Jews as are scattered through the countries subject to their 
 influence : Antichris vneanwhile will collect the uncon- 
 verted Jews from those parts of the isles of the Gentiles, 
 or the regions of Europe-^, which are under his immedi- 
 
 * By the isles of the Gentiles the Jews understood all those countries which 
 they could not reach fronn Palestine except by sea. Hence the name was given 
 to Europe in contradistinction to Asia, which to them was strictly continen- 
 tal. See Mede's Works, P. 272. aiid Mr. Lowth's Comment, on Isaiah xi, IL 
 
18 
 
 ate control, for the purpose of bringing them back in 
 an mibelie-s ing state to their own country : but whether 
 he^ or whether the 7naj'iti?ne poxvei', will absolutely begin 
 the work of restoring the ancient people of God, cannot, 
 I think, be certainly gathered from Scripture*. His plan 
 will be a plan of pure Machiavelian policy : and consi- 
 dering the frailty of human nature, it is much to be feai'- 
 cd that the plan of the maritime power ^ strenuously as 
 that power will exert itself in converting no less than in 
 collecting the Jews, will be somewhat alloyed by worldly 
 motives, and will not be adopted simply from a desire to 
 promote the glory of God. Most probably politics will 
 have taken such a turn at that eventful period, as to make 
 it seem to be the interest of both those great powers to 
 attempt the restoration of the Jews. At this time, namely 
 at the close of the 1260 years^ and when the last vial 
 begins to be poured out, Europe will be agitated by the 
 storms of wai\ The symbolical earthquake of some ex- 
 tensive political convulsion will divide the great city^ or 
 the Roman empire, into three parts ; and the cities, or 
 kingdoms, of the nations will fall, when the mystic Baby- 
 lon is now^ about to come in remembrance before God to 
 give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his 
 wrath. The division of the great city into three parts 
 seems to denote a triple division of the federal empire of 
 Antichrist^ not improbably made in imitation of the three 
 prefectures of the ancient Roman empire ; for Zechariah 
 iTientions three such parts as being engaged in the last 
 
 * That the maritime pother, mystically termed by Isaiah the ships rf Tar- 
 shish, will be the Jirst, ov (as the original expression is rendered by tlie lxx. 
 and in tlie Latin translation of the Arabic version) among the Jirst, to attempt 
 the co7iversio)i of tlie Jews ; and that they will after-\\iards bring- back to Pales- 
 tine sucli as shall be converted by their instrumentality, seems to be revealed 
 with svifficient plainness : but it is no where, I believe, positively declared, 
 that they shall beg-inthe wov^oi restoring the Jews. Since /larf cf them are 
 to be brought back by Antichrist in an itnconverted state, a.nd part by the mari- 
 time poii-er in a converted state, it certainly is possible that Antichrist may be- 
 gin to restore the one division previous to the restoration or even the conversion 
 of the other division. Most probably howeverthe two events will be nearly, 
 if not altogether, contemporary. The ])rophecy contained in Isaiah Ix. 8, 9, 
 relates solely to the restoration of the converted j^eivs, because they are declar- 
 ed to be brought unto the name of the Lord ; and we are taught that the 
 ships of Tarshish shall be among the first to imdertake this great entcr- 
 prize. 
 
19 
 
 war in Palestine *. In the midst of these wars and revo- 
 lutions, Antichrist will begin his grand expedition for the 
 purpose of conquering Egypt and the Holy land, and of 
 restoring his vassal allies the wicoiwerted Jews. Uni- 
 formly successful in the beginning of his project, he will 
 apparently reach the place of his destination and fix the 
 apostate Jews in Jerusalem, before the maritime power 
 shall have been able to convert, to collect, and to bring by 
 sea to their o^vn land, the other great body of the Jews ; 
 although that power is represented as being foremost in 
 the work of converting certain members of Judah, and as 
 afterwards restoring them when they have been so con- 
 verted. Thus doubly brought back by two mighty con- 
 tending nations, and thus plunged into the midst of perils 
 and of war during the space oi thirty years (for so long a 
 period will probably intervene between the first effusion 
 of the seventh vial at the close of the 1260 years when 
 they begin to be restored, and the destruction of Antichrist 
 at Megiddo), the Jews must inevitably suffer many cala- 
 mities ; and we are taught accordingly by Ezekiel, that 
 such will assuredly be the case. The whole of this is 
 perfectly consonant with the ordinary course of the divine 
 justice. National wickedness can only be national!}^ pun- 
 ished : and the long impenitence of the Jewish people 
 will not at the last, even during the very time of their 
 restoration, be either overlooked or uru-equited. 
 
 When the army of Antichrist is miraculously over- 
 thrown, the Lord, who forgetteth not mercy even in the 
 midst of judgment, will not make an entire end ; but will 
 spare some of the least guilty of his enemies, reserving 
 them for the noblest purposes. Zechariah teaches us, 
 that even so much as a third part shall be spared. These 
 may be supposed to be less hardened in wickedness than 
 their associates ; and to have engaged in the expedition, 
 either through the inveterate prejudices of a Popish edu- 
 cation (the expedition having been blessed and sanctified 
 by the false prophet J , or through the tyrannical compul- 
 sion which we have already beheld Antichristiaii France 
 
 * I of course wish this to be understood as a mere conjecture. It is very 
 possible, that the three parts engaged in the Antkhristian war may have no con- 
 Hection with the three divisions of the great city. 
 
20 
 
 begin to exercise over her degraded federal allies. Nor 
 will they only be spared ". plucked as brands out of the 
 burning, they will likewise be converted by the mercy of 
 God to a zealous profession of genuine Christianity. 
 When two parts are cut olf, and die, in all the land ; the 
 third part shall be left therein. And the Lord will bring 
 the third part through the fire, and \viU refine them as 
 silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They 
 shall call on his name, and he will hear them. He will 
 say, It is my people : and they shall say, The Lord is my 
 God. 
 
 Thus wonderfully preserved and converted, they will 
 become proper instruments to accomplish the yet unful- 
 filled purposes of the Most High. Scattered over the 
 face of the whole earth, they will cany every where the 
 tidings of their own defeat, of the marvellous power of 
 the Lord, and of the restoration of Judah. Meanwhile we 
 may suppose the awful apparition of the Shechinah still 
 to remain suspended over Jerusalem, visible from its stu- 
 pendous height to an immense distance, and bearing am- 
 ple attestation to the veracity of the fugitives *. Nor will 
 they carry their message in vain. Judah is indeed restored : 
 but the lost ten tribes of Israel are still dispersed through 
 the extensive regions of the Nortli and of the East. These, 
 according to the sure word of prophecy, however they 
 may be now concealed from mortal knowledge, will be 
 found again, and will be brought back into the country 
 of their fathers. All nations, and all tongues, shall come 
 and see the glory of the Lord ; for he will set among 
 them a sign, even the sign of the Son of man, the sign 
 of the illuminated Shechinah ; and will send unto them 
 those that have escaped from the slaughter of the Anti- 
 christian confederacy^ that they may declare his glory 
 among the nations. Convinced by ocular demonstration 
 that God doth indeed reign in Zion, and at once divinely 
 impelled and enabled both to seek out from among them 
 and to find the long-lost sheep of the house of Israel, they 
 
 * I apprehend it was from passages of this import, that Mr. Mede suppos- 
 ed that the yeivs would be converted by a supernatural manifestation of 
 Christ. Had he said the ten tribes, instead of the Javs, I believe hc would 
 liave approached very near to the truth. 
 
21 
 
 Avill bring by land, in vast caravans, all the brethren of 
 Jiidah for an offering unto the Lord, as the great mari- 
 time poiver had already brought the converted Jexvs lor a 
 present unto the Lord to his holy mountain. Then 
 shall the stick of Joseph be united for ever with the stick 
 of Jiidah : Ephraim shall be no more a sepai'ate people : 
 but the whole house of Jacob shall become one nation un- 
 der one king, even the mystic David, Jesus the Messiali. 
 The various prophecies, which speak of the restoration 
 of the ten tribes y certainly cannot relate to the restoration 
 of those detached individuals out of them, who returned 
 with Judoh from the Babylonian captivity. This is mani- 
 fest, both because their restoration is represented as per- 
 fectly distinct from the restoration of Jiidah ^ and because 
 it is placed at once subsequent to that event and to the 
 overthrow of Antichrist. In fact, the converted fugitives 
 from the army of Antichrist are described as being great- 
 ly instrumental in bringing about the restoration of the 
 ten tjibes. Hence their restoration is plainly future : 
 and hence Ave cannot, with any degree of consistency, 
 apply the predictions vdiich foretell it to the return of a 
 few individuals from Babylon with Judah. " It is sur- 
 prizing," says Bp. Horsley, Avhen treating of one out of 
 the many prophecies, that explicitly declare the future 
 restoration and union both of Judah and Is7'ael'^ ; " It is 
 surprizing, that the return of Judah from the Babylonian 
 captivity should ever have been considered, by any Chris- 
 tian divine, as the principal object of this prophecy, and 
 an event in which it has received its full accomplishment. 
 It was indeed considered as an inchoate accomplishment, 
 but not more than inchoate, by St. Cyril of Alexandria. 
 The expositors of antiquity, in such cases, were too apt 
 
 * Hoseai. 10, 11. "Nevertheless the number of the children of Israel 
 shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured, and cannot be 
 counted ; and it shall be, that, in the place wliere it was said unto them. No 
 people of mine are ye, tliere'it shall be said unto them. Children of the living- 
 God. And the children of Judah shall be collected, and the children of 
 Israel shall be united, and they shall appoint themselves one head, and 
 come up from the earth. For great shall be the day of Jezrael" — That is to 
 say, as Bp. Horsley remarks very justly, " Great and happy shall be the 
 day, when the holy seed of both branches of the natural Israel shall be pub- 
 lickly acknowledged of their God ; united under one head, their king Mes- 
 siah ; and restored to the possession of the promised land, anVl to a situation 
 of high pre-eminence among the nations of the earth." 
 
22 
 
 to take up with some circumstances of general resem- 
 blance, without any critical examination of the terms of 
 a prophecy, or of the detail of the historj^ to which they 
 applied it. The fact is, that this prophecy has no relation 
 to the return from Babylon in a single circumstance. And 
 yet the absurd intei'pretation, which considers it as ful- 
 filled and finished in that event, has of late been adopted- 
 But what was the number of the returned captives, that 
 it should be compared to that of the sands upon the sea- 
 shore ? The number of the returned, in comparison with 
 the whole captivity, was nothing. Then Jiidah and Is- 
 rael shall appoint themselves one head — Zorobabel^ says 
 Grotius. But how was Zorobabel one head of the rest 
 of Israel, as well as Judah ? A later critic answers, After 
 the return from Babylon, the distinction between the king- 
 doms of Israel and Judah ceased. But how was it, this 
 distinction ceased ? In this manner, I apprehend, The 
 kingdom of Israel had been abolished above 180 years 
 before ; Judah alone existed as a body politic ; and the 
 house of Judah returned under their leader Zorobabel, 
 with some few stragglers of the captivity of the ten tribes. 
 And no sooner were the returning captives settled in Ju- 
 dea, than those of the ten tribes, joining with the mon- 
 grel race w^hich they found in Samaria, separated them- 
 selves from Judaic and set up a leader and a schismatical 
 worship of their own. Was this any such incorporation, 
 as the prophecy describes, of Judah and the rest of Israel 
 under one sovereign '^ ? To interpret the prophecy in this 
 manner is to make it little better than a paltiy quibble ; 
 more worthy of the Delphic tripod, than of the Scripture 
 oftrutlit-"' 
 
 Of the Jews, who were carried away captive to Baby- 
 lon, only a very small part, according to Houbigant J not 
 more than a hundredth part, returned to their own coun- 
 tiy. Those, who were left behind, will doubtless, at the 
 time of the second advent, be brought back along with 
 their brethren of the ten tribes ; just as those individuals 
 of the ten tribes, who rettniied with Judah from Babylon, 
 
 * This t-vo-fohi return and incorporation of yudah and Israelis yet more de- 
 finitely predicted by Ezekiel than bv Hosea. See Ezek. xxxvii. 15 — 28. 
 t Bp. Horslev's Hosea, p. 59, 60. i Cited by Bp. Horsley. 
 
and (adhering to him notwidistanding the Samaritan 
 schism) were afterwards scattered with him by th^ Ro- 
 mans, will be brought back with their brethren the Jervs. 
 So far, but no further, the otherwise distinct restorations 
 of Judah and Joseph will in some measure be mingled 
 together. This circumstance is very accurately noted by 
 Ezekiel, even when predicting the txvo-fold restoration of 
 Judah and Joseph^ and their subsequent union u^ider one 
 king. He speaks neither of Judah nor Joseph simply ; 
 but styles the one division Judah and the children of Israel 
 his companions^ and the other division Joseph and all the 
 house of Israel his companions * : thus plainly intimating, 
 that some of the children of Israel shall return with Judah; 
 but that members of all the tribes, not of the kingdom 
 of the ten tribes only, but of all the tribes, shall return 
 with Joseph. 
 
 And here we cannot but observe the strict justice of 
 God in arranging the manner of this two-fold restoration. 
 Judah^ with many more advantages than Israel, sinned nev- 
 ertheless yet deeper than he did. They were both equally 
 guilty of idolatry : but Judah^ that is to say, that part of 
 Judah which returned from Babylon, added to all his for- 
 mer iniquities the deep guilt of rejecting and crucifying 
 the Lord of life. Hence we find, that, while he is restor- 
 ed, partly in a converted and partly in an unconverted 
 state, through many wars, perils and afflictions, and dur- 
 ing a time of unexampled trouble : Israel^ and his com- 
 panions of Judah., to whom the Saviour had never been 
 oflfered, return after the destruction of Antichrist, wholly 
 in a converted state t, escorted honourably and joyfully 
 by all nations, free from all dangers, exempt from all dif- 
 ficulties, during the earliest dawnings of the peaceful day 
 of millennian blessedness. 
 
 It may probably be asked, How can the ten tribes ever 
 be discovered and restored after the lapse of so many 
 
 * Ezek. xxxvii. 16. 
 
 \ This is manifest from Isaiah's declaration, that they should be broiig-ht 
 an offering' to the Lord, as the children of Israel bring' an offering- in a clean 
 vessel into the house of the Lord. See Chap. Ixvi. 18, 19, 20. The Phraseo- 
 logy is perfectly parallel to that of the two passages, wherein the restoration 
 of the converted division of Judah, by the great maritime po'v.-er^ is predicted. 
 See Isaiah xviii. 7. and Zephan. iii. 9, 10, 
 
24 
 
 centuries, during which they have been completely lost 
 and mingled among the nations of the east ? The Jews 
 indeed tell us many marvellous stories of their yet exist- 
 ing as a distinct body politic in a large and spacioi^s 
 courttry with fine cities : but no one knows to this day, 
 Avhere it is situated *. 
 
 To such a question it would be sufficient simply to 
 answer, / know not. The restoration of the ten tribes is 
 expressly foretold^ and is therefore an article of faith. 
 With the manner of their discovery I presume not to 
 concern mysell". I know that all things are possible with 
 God : and therefore I know, that he, \\dio at the last day 
 will collect our scattered members and raise our long- 
 dissolved bodies from the dust, can with equal ease col- 
 lect the scattered members of Israel^ and disco\'er them 
 however lost among the nations whither they have been 
 led away captive. Indeed it is worthy of notice, that the 
 resurrection of the body is repeatedly used by the pro- 
 phets to typify the political revival of Judah and Israel, 
 and by none of them with more minute particularity of 
 circumstance than Ezekiel : insomuch that 1 know not 
 a better commentary upon the manner of their disco^■ery 
 and restoration, than the elaborate parable, with which he 
 ushers in a literal prediction of those wonderful events f- 
 But it is a very remarkable circumstance, that, pre- 
 cisely at the present era, an era marked so strongly b}' 
 the signs of the times, as to give us every reason to be- 
 lieve, that we are living in the predicted last days of An- 
 tichristian blasphemy, and that the 1260 years are rapid- 
 ly drawing near to their termination : it is, I say, a re- 
 markable circumstance that, at this Aery era, a people 
 should begin to attract our notice in the East Indies, 
 which appear to be a fragment either of Me lost ten tribes, 
 or of the Jews that never returned from the Babylonian 
 captivity. In my former more general work on prophe- 
 cy, I thought it sufficient barely to mention this people f : 
 in my present, which exclusively treats of the restoration 
 
 * See Bp. Newton's Dissert, vm. 1. 
 
 I See Ezek. xxxvii. 
 
 t Dissert, on the 1260 years, Vol. ii. p. 350. (2d. Edit. p. 387.) 
 
25 
 
 #/' Israel and the overthrow of Antichrist^ a more copi-^ 
 ous account of them will be strictly in place *. 
 
 The late Mr. Vansittart was the first, I believe, who 
 brought forward to public notice the traditions of the' 
 
 * I have read a work entitled. The History of the American Indians, by 
 yames Adair, Esq. a trader ivith the Indians, and resident in the country for 4Q 
 years, which, if it be authentic, is singularly curious and interesting ; but I 
 know not what degree of credit it bears, or how far his account is confirmed 
 by those of other travellers and residents. 
 
 " From the most exact observation," says he, *' that I could make in the 
 long time I traded among the Indian Americans, I was forced to believe them 
 lineally descended from the Israelites, either while they were a maritime 
 power, or soon after the general captivity ; the latter however is the most 
 probable — Had the nine tribes and a half of Israel, which were carried oft" 
 by Shalmaneser king of Assyria and settled in Media, continued there long ; 
 it is very probable, by intermarrying with the natives and from their natural 
 fickleness and proneness to idolatry and the force of example, that they 
 would have adopted and bowed before the Gods of the Medes and Assyri- 
 ans, and have carried them along with them : but there is not a trace of this 
 idolatry among the Indians." Hence he argues, that those of the ten tribes, 
 who were the forefathers of the Americans, soon advanced eastward from 
 Assyria, and reached theu- settlements in the new continent before the des- 
 truction of the first temple. 
 
 In proof of the Americans being thus descended, he adduces the following 
 arguments. 1. Their division into tribes. 2. Their worship of Jehovah. 
 3. Their notions of a theocracy. 4. Their belief in the ministration of an- 
 gels. 5. Their language and dialects. 6. Their manner of counting time. 
 7. Their prophets and high-priests. 8. Their festivals, fasts, and religi- 
 ous rites. 9. Their daily sacrifice. 10. Their ablutions, and anointings. 
 11. Their laws of uncleanness. 12. Their abstinence from unclean things. 
 13. Their marriages, divorces, and punishment of adultery. 14. Their several 
 punishments. 15. Their cities of refuge. 16. Their purifications, and cere- 
 monies preparatory. 17. Their ornaments. 18. Their manner of curing the 
 sick. 19. Their burial of their dead. 20. Their mourning for their dead. 
 21. Their raising seed to a deceased brother. 22. Their choice of names 
 adapted to their circumstances and the times. 23. Tlieir own traditions ; the 
 accounts of our English writers ; and the testimonies, which the Spanish and 
 other writers have given concerning the primitive inhabitants of Peru and 
 Mexico. 
 
 A few extracts from what is said under these different heads may not be 
 unacceptable. 
 
 1. "As the nation hath its particular symbol ; so each tribe, the badge 
 from which it is denominated. The Sachem of each tribe is a necessary par- 
 ty in conveyances and treaties, to which he affixes the mark of his tribe. If 
 we go from nation to nation among them, we shall not find one, who doth not 
 lineally distinguish himself by his respective family. The genealogical names, 
 which they assume, are derived either from the names of those animals 
 whereof the Cherubim are said in revelation to be compounded, or from such 
 creatures as are mostfimiliar to them. The Indians however bear no religi- 
 ous respect to the animals from whence they derive their name : on tlie con- 
 trary, they kill them when opportunity serves. When we consider that these 
 savages have been above twenty centuries without the use of letters to carry 
 down their traditions, it cannot reasonably be expected, that they should 
 still retain the identical names of their primogenial tribes : their main cus- 
 toms corresponding with those of the Israelites sufficiently clears the subject. 
 Besides, as hath been hinted, they call some of their tribes by the names of 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 Afghans or RohiUas. Having met with a Persian abridg- 
 ment of the Asrarul Afaghinah^ or the secrets of the 
 Afghans y he was induced to translate it, and to transmit 
 it to Sir WilUam Jones then president of the Asiatic so- 
 
 the cherubinical figures that were carried on the four principal standards of 
 Israel. 
 
 2. "By a strict permanent divine precept, the Hebrew nation were order- 
 ed to worship, at Jerusalem, Jehovah the true and living God, who by the 
 Indians is styled Toheiuak s which the 72 interpreters, either from ignorance 
 or superstition, have translated Adonai, the very same as the Greek Kyrius^ 
 signifying Sir, Lord, or Master, which is commonly applied to earth!) poten- 
 tates witliout the least signification or relation to, that most great and awful 
 name which describes the divine essence. 
 
 3. " Agreeably to the theocracy or divine government of Israel, the Indi- 
 ans think tlie Diety to be the immediate head of their state— All the nations 
 of Indians are exceedingly intoxicated with religious pride, and h<..\e an inex- 
 pressible contempt of the white people — They used to call us, in their war 
 orations, the accursed people .• but they flatter themselves with the name oi the 
 beloved people ; because their supposed ancestors, as they affirm, were under 
 the immediate government of the Deity, who was pi'esent with them in a ve- 
 ry peculiar manner and directed them by prophets, while the rest of the 
 world wei-e aliens and outlaws to the covenant— When the old Archim.tgus, 
 or any one of their Magi, is persuading the people at their religious solem- 
 hities to a strict observance of the old beloved or divine speech, he nhvays 
 calls them the beloved or holy people, agreeably to the Hebrew epithet Atnint 
 (my people) during the theocracy of Israel— It is their opinion of the theo- 
 cracy, or that God chose them out of all the rest of mankind as his peculiar 
 and beloved people, which alike animates both the white Jew and the red 
 American with that steady hatred against all the world except themselves, 
 and renders them hated or despised by all. 
 
 5. *' The Indian language and dialects appear to have the very idiom and 
 genius of the Hebrew. Their words and sentences are expressive, concise, 
 emphatical, sonorous, and bold ; and often, both in letters and signification, 
 are synonymous with the Hebrew language." Here follows a number of ex- 
 amples. 
 
 6. •' They count time after the manner of the Hebrews. They divide the 
 year into spring, summer, autumn, and winter. They number their year 
 from an)' of those four periods, for they have no name for a year ; and they 
 subdivide these, and count the year by lunar months, like the Israelites who 
 counted by moons as their name sufficiently testifies— The number and regu- 
 lar periods of the Indians' religious feasts is a good historical proof, tliat they 
 counted time by, and observed, a weekly sabbatli long after their arrival ort 
 the American continent — They began the year at the first appearance of the 
 first new moon of the vernal equinox, according to the ecclesiastical year of 
 Moses — Till the 70 years captivity commenced, the Isi-aelites had only nume- 
 ral names for the solar and lunar months, except Abib and Ethanim : the for- 
 mer signifies a green ear of corn ; and the latter robust or valiant : and by the 
 first name the Indians, as an explicative, term their passover, which the 
 trading people call the green corn dance." He then gives a specimen of the 
 Hebrew manner of comiting, in order to prove its similaiity to that of the 
 Indians. 
 
 7. " In conformity to, or after the manner of the Jews, the Indian Ameri- 
 cans have their prophets, high-priests, and others of a religious order. As 
 thefje ws had a sanctum sanctorum, so have all the Indian nations. There they 
 deposit their consecrated vessels ; — none of the laity daring to approach that 
 eacred place*— The Indian tradition says, that their forefathers were possess- 
 
27 
 
 ciety. It opens, as he justly observes, with a very wild 
 description of the origin of that tribe, and contains a nar- 
 rative which can by no means be offered upon the whole 
 as a serious and probable history : yet the knowledge of 
 
 ed of an extraordinary divine spirit, by which they foretold things future, and 
 controlled the common course of nature : and this tiiey transmitted to their 
 oflTsprin.e^, provided they obeyed the sacred laws annexed to it — Ishtoallo is 
 the name of all their priestly order ; and their pontifical office descends by 
 inheritance to the eldest — There are some traces of agreement, though chief- 
 ly lost, in tiieir pontifical dress. Before the Indian Archimagus officiates in 
 maknig the supposed holy fii-e for the yeai-ly atonement of sin, the Sagan 
 clothes iiim with a white ephod, which is a waistcoat without sleeves. — In 
 resemblance of the Urim and Thummim, the American Archimagus wears 
 a breastplate made of a white conch-shell with two holes bored in the middle 
 of it, through which he puts the ends of an otter-skin strap, and fastens a 
 buck-horn white button to the outside of each, as if in imitation of the pre- 
 cious stones of the Urim." Upon this statement I may observe, that Ishtoallo 
 may perhaps be a corruption oi IsJi-da-Eloah, a nnati of God (See 2 Kings iv. 
 21, 22, 25, 27, 40, et alibi) ; and that Sagan is the very name, by which the 
 Hebrews called the deputy of the High-Priest, Vv^ho supplied his office, and 
 who performed the functions of it, in the absence of the High-Priest, or 
 when any accident had disabled him from officiating in person. (See Calmet's 
 Diet. Vox Sagan.) 
 
 8. " The ceremonies of the Indians in their religious worship are more 
 after the Mosaic institution, than of pagan imitation ; which could not be, if 
 the majority of the old nation were of heathenish descent — They are utter 
 strangers to all the gestures practised by the pagans in their religious rites 
 •—They have another appellative, which with them is the jnysterious essential 
 name of God ; the tetragrammaton, or great Jour-lettered name, which they 
 never name in common speech : of the time, and place, when, and where, 
 they mention it, they are very particular, and ahvays with a solemn air— It is 
 well known what sacred regard the Jews had to the four-lettered divine 
 name, so as scai'cely ever to mention it, but once a year when the High- 
 Priest went into the sanctuary at the expiation of sins. Might not the Indians 
 copy fiom them this sacred invocation To-He-Wah ? Their method of invok- 
 ing God in a solemn hymn with that reverential deportment, and spending a 
 full breath on each of tlie two first syllables of the awful divine name, hath a 
 surprizing analogy to the Jewish custom, and such as no other nation or peo- 
 ple, even with the advantage of written records have retained— It may be 
 worthy of notice, that they never prostrate themselves, nor bow their bodies 
 to each other, by way of salute or homage, though usual with the eastern na- 
 tions ; except when they are making-, or renewing, peace with strangers, who 
 come in the name ofTah." After speaking of their sacred adjuration by the 
 great and awful name of God, he says : " When we consider, that the period 
 of the adjurations, according to their idiom, only asks a question, and that 
 the religious waiters say Tah with a profoimd reverence in a bowing posture 
 of body Immediately before they invoke Yo-He-Wah ; the one reflects so 
 much light upon the other, as to convince me that the Hebrews both invoked 
 and pronounced the divine tetragrammaton Yo-He-Wah, and adjured their 
 witnesses to give true evidence on certain occasions according to the Indian 
 usage : otherwise, how could they possibly in a savage state have a custom 
 so nice and strong pointing a standard of religious caution ? It seems exactly 
 to coincide with th^ conduct of the Hebrew witnesses even now, on the like 
 religious occasions." According to Mr. Adair, the American Indians have, 
 like the Hebrews, a sacred ark, in which are kept various holy vessels. " It 
 is highly worthy of notice that they never place the ark on the ground, nor 
 
28 
 
 what a nation supposes itself to be, more especially if it 
 trace its descent Irom the stock of Jacob, cannot fail to 
 be interesting. In fact, although the Afghans are most 
 probably mistaken in fixing the period at which they 
 
 sit on the bare earth while they are carrying it against the enemy. On hilly 
 ground where stones are plenty, they place it on them ; but, in a level land, 
 upon short logs, always resting themselves on the like materials. They have 
 also as strong a faith of the power and holiness of their ark, as ever the Isra- 
 lites retained of theirs. The Indian ark is deemed so sacred and dangerous 
 to be touched, either by their own sanctified warriors, or the spoiling ene- 
 my, that they dare not touch it upon any account. It is not to be meddled 
 with by any except the chieftain and his waiter, under penalty of incurring 
 great evil : nor would the most inveterate enemy touch it, for the same rea- 
 son. .The leader virtually acts the part of a priest of war pro -tempore^ in 
 imitation of the Israelites fighting under the divine mihtary banner — As re- 
 ligion is the touchstoi>e of every nation of people ; and as these Indians can- 
 not be supposed to ha%'e been deluded out of theirs, separated from the rest 
 of tlie world for many long forgotten ages, the traces, which may be discerned 
 among them, will help to corroborate the other arguments concerning their 
 origin." Among their other religious rites, they cut out the sinewy part of 
 the thigh. This custom Mr. Adair supposes to be commemorative of the an- 
 gel wrestling with Jacob, See Gen. xxxii. 32. 
 
 12. •' Eagles of every kind they esteem unclean food ; likewise ravens, 
 crows, bats, buzzards, swallows, and every species of owl. They behevc, 
 that swallowing flies, gnats, and the like, always breeds sickness. To this 
 that divine sarcasm alludes, " s'wallo'wing a camel and straining at a gnat" 
 Their purifications for their priests, and for having touched a dead body or 
 other unclean things, are, according to Mr. Adair, quite Levitical. He ac- 
 knowledges however, that they have no traces of circumcision ; but thinks 
 that they lost tliis rite in their wanderings, as it ceased during the 40 years 
 in the wilderness. 
 
 15. " The Israelites had cities of refuge for those who killed a person una- 
 wares. According to the same particular divine law of mercy, each of these 
 Indian nations have either a house or town of refuge, which is a sure asylum 
 to protect a man-slayer or the unfortunate captive, if they can once enter into 
 it. In almost every Indian nation there are several peaceable towns, called 
 old beloved, ancient, holy, or white, towns. They seem to have been former- 
 ly towns of refuge : for it is not in the memory of their oldest people that 
 ever human blood was shed in them, although they often force persons from 
 thence and put them to death elsewhere." 
 
 16. " Before the Indians go to war, they have many preparatory ceremo- 
 nies of purification and fasting, like what is recorded of the Israelites. 
 
 21. "The surviving brother, by the Mosaic law, was to raise seed to -a 
 deceased brother, who left a widow childless. The Indian custom looks the 
 very same wfiy : yet it is in this, as in their law of blood, the eldest brother 
 can redeem. 
 
 23. " Although other resemblances of the Indian rites and customs to those 
 of the Hebrews miglit be pointed out, not to seem tedious, I proceed to the 
 last argument of the origin of the Indian Americans ; which shall be from their 
 own traditions, from the accounts of our English writers, and from the tes- 
 timonies whicli the Spanish writers have given concerning the primitive in- 
 habitants of Peru and Mexico. 
 
 " The Indian tradition says, that their forefathers in very remote ages came 
 from a far distant country, where all the people were of one colour ; and that, 
 in process of time, they moved eastward to their present settlements. So 
 tjiat what some of oui" writers have asserted is not just, who say the Indians 
 
29 
 
 believe themselves to have branched out from the parent 
 tree, for Scripture affords not the least warrant to their 
 opinion ; yet there is certainly nothing very irrational in 
 supposing, that they may have been, at some time or 
 
 affirm, that there wel-e originally three different tribes in those countries." 
 Here Mr. Adair gives a fabulous story. " This story sprung from the inno- 
 ^'ating superstitious ignorance of the popish priests to the south-west of us. 
 Our own Indian tradition is literal and not allegorical ; and ought to be receiv- 
 ed, because persons who have been long separated from the rest of mankind 
 must know their own traditions the best, and could not be deceived in so ma- 
 terial and frequently repeated an event. Though they have been disjoined ' 
 through different interests time immemorial, yet (the rambling tribes of north- 
 ern Indians excepted) they aver that they came over the Misaisippi from the 
 westward, before they arrived at their present settlements. This we see 
 verified by the western old towns they have left behind them, and by the si- 
 tuation of theirold beloved towns or places of refuge lying about a west 
 course from each different nation. Such places in Judea were chiefly built 
 in tiie most remote parts of the country ; and the Indians deem those only as 
 beloved towns where they first settled. This tradition is corroborated by a 
 current report of the old Chikkasah Indians to our traders, that about 40 
 years since" (tliis was written in the year 1775) "there came from Mexico 
 some of the old Chikkasah nation in quest of their brethren as far north as the 
 Aquakpah nation about 130 miles above the Nachee old towns on the south 
 side of the Missisippi ; but, through French policy, they were either killed 
 or sent back, so as to prevent their opening a brotherly intercourse as they 
 had proposed. And it is worthy of notice, that the Muskohgeh cave, out of 
 which one of their politicians persuaded them their ancestors formerly ascend- 
 ed to their present terrestrial abode, lies in the Nanne Ilamgeh old town, in- 
 habited by the Missisippi Nachee Indians, which is one of the most western 
 parts of their old inhabited country — The old waste towns of the Chikkasah 
 lie to the west and south-west, from whence they have lived since the tim^ 
 we first opened a trade with them ; on which course they formerly went to 
 war over the Missisippi, because they knew it best, and had disputes with 
 the natives of those parts, when they first came from thence. Wisdom di- 
 rected them to connive at some injuries on account of their itinerant camp of 
 women and children : for their tradition says it consisted of 10,000 men be- 
 sides women and children, when they came from the west and passed over 
 the Missisippi. The fine breed of running wood horses, which they brought 
 with them, were the present Mexican or Spanish barbs. They also aver, that 
 their ancestors cut off and despoiled the greatest ])art of a caravan loaded 
 with gold and silver : but the carriage of it proved so troublesome to them, 
 that they threw it into a river, where it could not benefit the enemy — 
 
 " Ancient history is quite silent concerning America, which indicates," that 
 it has been time immemorial rent asunder from the African continent, ac- 
 cording to Plato's Timeus. The north-east parts of Asia were also undisco- 
 vered till of late. Many geographers have stretched Asia and America so 
 far as to join them together, and others have divided those two quarters of 
 the globe at a great distance from each other. But the Russians, after seve- 
 ral dangerous attempts, have clearly convinced the world that they are now 
 divided, and yet have aliear communication together by a narrow straight, 
 in which several islands are situated, through which there is an easy passage 
 from the north-east of Asia to the north-west of America by the way of 
 Kamschatka, which probably joined to the north-west point of America. By 
 this passage, supposing the main continents were separated, it was very 
 practicable for the inhabitants to go to this extensive new world, and after- 
 wards to have proceeded in quest of suitable climates, according to the law 
 
30 
 
 other, aiid in some manner or other, connected at least 
 with the ancient Israelites. 
 
 " The Afghans^ according to their o^vn traditions, are 
 the posterity of Melic Talut^ or king Saul ; who, in the 
 opinion of some, was a descendant of Judah, the son of 
 Jacob ; and, according to others, of Benjamin, the brother 
 of Joseph. In a war, which raged between the children 
 of Israel and the Amalekites, the latter, being victorious, 
 plmidered tlie Jews, and obtained possession of the ark 
 of the covenant. Considering this the god of the Jews, 
 they threw it into the fire, which did not affect it. They 
 aftenvards attempted to cleave it with axes ; but -without 
 success. Every indiA'idual, who treated it with indignity, 
 was punished for his temerity. They then placed it in 
 their temple ; but all their idols bowed to it. At length 
 they fastened it upon a cow, which they turned loose in 
 the wilderness. 
 
 " When the prophet Samuel arose, the children of 
 Israel said to him, JFe have been totally subdued by the 
 
 of nature that directs eveiy creature to such clnnes as are most convenient 
 and agreeable Sucli readers, as may dissent from my opinion of the Indian 
 American origin and descent, ought to inform us how the natives came here, 
 and by what means they foi-med the long chain of rites, customs, &c. so simi- 
 lar to the usage of the Hebrew nation, and in general dissimilar to the modes 
 of the pagan world — 
 
 " I presume, enough hath been said to point out the similarity between the 
 rites and customs of the native American Indians, andthoseof the Israelites; 
 and that the Indian system is derived from the moral, ceremonial, and judi- 
 cial, laws of the Hebrews, tlioiigli now but a fuintcopy of tlie divine original. 
 Their religious rites, martial customs, dress, music, dances, and domestic 
 forms of life, seem clearly to evince also, that they came to America in early 
 times before sects had sprung up among the Jews ; wliich was soon after 
 their prophets ceased, and befoi-e arts and sciences had arrived at any per- 
 fection : otherwise it is likely they would have retained some knowledge of 
 them, at least where they first settled, it being a favourite climate ; and con- 
 sequently they were in a more compact body, than on this northern part of 
 the American continent." 
 
 The recent discoveries of Captain Cook respecting the streight which se- 
 parates Asia and America are now laid down in every modern map. Dr. 
 Robertson is decidedly of opinion, that all the Americans are of Asiatic ex- 
 traction with the sole exception of the Esquimaux. He further observes^that, 
 according to the traditions of the Mexicans, " their ancestors came from a 
 remote country, situated to tlie north-west of Mexico. The Mexicans point 
 out their various stations as they advanced from this into the interior provin- 
 ces ; and it is precisely the same route which they must have held, if they had 
 been emigrants from Asia." Hist, of America, B. iv. Sect 8. p. 41, 42, 43. 
 
 With regard to the curious work of Mr. Adair, as 1 have no means of as- 
 certaining its authenticity, I wish to be understood as giving no opinion what- 
 soever upon it. " Neque confirmare arguraentis, neque I'efellere, in anime 
 est : ex ingenlo suo quisque demat, vel addat, fidem." 
 
31 
 
 Amalekites^ and have no king. Raise to us a ki?rg, that 
 we may be enabled to contend for the glory of God. Sa- 
 muel said, In case you are led out to battle^ are you deter- 
 mined to fight ? They answered, Jfliat has befallen us that 
 we should not fight against Infidels ? That nation has ba- 
 nished us from our country and children. At this time the 
 angel Gabriel descended, and, delivering a wand, said, 
 It is the command of God^ that the person., ivhose stature 
 shall correspond with this wand., shall be king of Israel. 
 
 Melic Talut was at that time a man of inferior condi- 
 tion, and performed the humble employment of feeding 
 the goats and cows of others. One day a cow under his 
 charge was accidentally lost. Being disappointed in his 
 searches, he was greatly distressed, and applied to Samuel, 
 saying, / have lost a cow., and do not possess the means of 
 satisfying the oxvner. Pray for me., that I may be extri- 
 cated from this difficulty. Samuel, perceiving that he M^as 
 a man of lofty stature, asked his name. He answered, 
 Talut. Samuel then said. Measure Talut with the wand 
 which the angel Gabriel brought. His stature was equal 
 to it. Samuel then said, God has raised Talut to be your 
 king. The children of Israel answered. We are greater 
 than our king. We are men of dignity., and he is of infe- 
 rior condition. How shall he be our king ? Samuel in- 
 formed them, that they should know that God had con- 
 stituted Talut their king, by his restoring the ark of the 
 covenant. He accordingly restored it, and they acknow- 
 ledged him their sovereign. 
 
 " After Talut obtained the kingdom, he seized part of 
 the territories of Jaliit., or Goliah ; who assembled a large 
 army, but was killed by David. Talut afterwards died 
 a martyr in a war against the Infidels ; and God consti- 
 tuted David king of the Jews. 
 
 " Melic Talut had two sons,. one called Berkia., and 
 the other Irmia., who served David, and were beloved by 
 him. He sent them to fight against the infidels ; and, by 
 God's assistance, they were victorious *^. 
 
 " The son of Berkia was named Afghan, and the son 
 of Irmia was named Usbec. Those youths distinguished 
 
 * Though Saul had not two sons of these names, yet the names themselves 
 ■ure plainly Hebrew. Berkia is Barachia, and Irmia is Jeremiah. 
 
32 
 
 themselves in the reign of David, and were employed 
 by Solomon. Afghan was distinguished by his corpo- 
 ral strength, which struck terror into demons and genii. 
 Usbec was eminent for his learning. 
 
 " Afghan used frequently to make excursions to the 
 mountains ; where his progeny, after his death, establish- 
 ed themselves, lived in a state of independence, built 
 forts, and exterminated the infidels. 
 
 " When the select of creatures, Muhammed, appeared 
 upon earth, his fame reached the Afghaiis, who sought 
 him in multitudes under their leaders Khalid and Abdul 
 Rashid^ sons of fValid. The prophet honoured them 
 with the most gracious reception, saying. Come, 
 Muluc, or kings ; whence they assumed the title of Mu- 
 lic, which they enjoy to this day. The prophet gave 
 them his ensign, and said that the faith would be strength- 
 ened by them. 
 
 " Many sons were bom of Khalid, the son of Walid, 
 who signalized themselves in the presence of the prophet, 
 by fighting against the Infidels. Muhammed honoured 
 and prayed for them.^ 
 
 " In the reign of the sultan Mahmud of Ghaznah, eight 
 men arrived of the posterity of Khalid the son of TValidy 
 whose names were Kalun, Alun, Daud, Talua, Ahmed, 
 Awin, and Ghazi. Tlie sultan was much pleased with 
 them, and appointed each a commander in his army. He 
 also conferred on them the offices of Vazir, and Vakili 
 Mutlak, or regent of the empire. 
 
 " Wherever they were stationed, they obtained pos- 
 session of the countr)' , built mosques, and overthrew the 
 temples of idols. They increased so much, that the 
 army of Mahmud was chiefly composed of Afghans — 
 
 " The Afghafis now^ began to establish themselves in 
 the mountains ; and some settled in cities Avith the per- 
 mission of sultan Mahmud. They framed regulations, 
 dividing themselves into four classes, agreeably to the fol- 
 lowing description. The first is the pure class, consisting 
 of those whose fathers and mothers were Afghans. The 
 second class consists of those whose fathers were Afghans, 
 and mothers of another nation. The third class contains 
 those whose mothers were Afghans, and fathers of another 
 
33 
 
 nation. The fourth class is composed of the children of 
 women whose mothers were Afghans^ and fathers and 
 husbands of a different nation. Persons, who do not 
 belong to one of these classes, are not called Afghans. 
 
 " After the death of sultan Mahmud, they made ano- 
 ther settlement in the mountains. Shihabuddin Gauriy 
 a subsequent sultan of Gaz?iah, was twice repulsed from 
 Hindustan. His Fazir assembled the people, and asked 
 if any of the posterity of Khalid were living. They an- 
 swered, Many now live in a state of indepemlence in the 
 mountains, where they have a co7isiderable army. The 
 Fazir requested them to go to the mountains, and by 
 intreaties prevail on the Afghans to come ; for they were 
 descendants of companions of the prophet. 
 
 " The inhabitants of Ghaznah undertook this embas.^ 
 sy ; and, by intreaties and presents, conciliated the minds 
 of the Afghans, who promised to engage in the service of 
 the sultan, provided he would come himself and enter 
 into an agreement with them. The sultan visited them 
 in their mountains, honoured them, and gave them dres- 
 ses and other presents. They supplied him with 12,000 
 horse, and a considerable army of infantry. Being dis- 
 patched by the sultan before his own army, they took 
 Dehh ;- killed Roy Patoura the king, his ministers, and 
 nobles ; laid waste the city ; and made the infidels pri- 
 soners. They afterwards exhibited nearly the same 
 scene in Canauj. 
 
 " The sultan, pleased by the reduction of those cities, 
 conferred honours upon the Afghans. It is said, that he 
 then gave them the titles of Patan and Khan. The word 
 Patan is derived from the Hindi verb Paitna, to rush, in 
 allusion to their alacrity in attacking the enemy. The 
 Patans have greatly distinguished themselves in the 
 history of Hindustan, and are divided mto a variety of 
 sects. 
 
 " The race of Afghans possessed themselves of the 
 mountain of Solomon, which is near Kandahar, and the 
 circumjacent country, where they have built forts. This 
 tribe has furnished many kings. The following monai'chs 
 of this race have set upon the throne of Dehli: sultan 
 Behlole, Afghan Lodi, sultan ^ecander, sultan Ibrahim, 
 5 
 
34 
 
 Shir Shah, Islam Shah, Adil Shah Sin\ They also 
 number the following kings of Goiir : Solaiman Shah 
 Gurzani, Bayazkl Shah, and Kutb Shah ; besides whom 
 their nation has produced many conquerors of provinces. 
 The Afghans are called Solaimani ; either because they 
 were formerly the subjects of Solomon king of the Jews, 
 or because they inhabit the mountain of Solomon *." 
 
 It must be confessed, that this Afghan tradition bears 
 a strong resemblance to many of those Mohammedan 
 legends, which are founded upon Scripture ; whence it is 
 certainly not impossible, that a tribe of Mussulmans 
 might be in possession of it without being descended 
 from the house of Israel : yet I know not whether another 
 instance can be produced of a nation, ^vilich professes 
 the faith of Mohammed, believing itself to be of Jewish 
 oris^in. It is easv to account for a tradition, which cor- 
 responds \vith Scripture, being in the hands of Moham- 
 medans : but it is not quite so easy to account for the 
 circumstance of those Mohammedans claiming a Hebrew 
 descent, unless we alloAv the validity of that claim. There 
 iU'e some points respecting them, in which Mr. Vansittart 
 and Sir William Jones do not perfectly agree. The for- 
 mer observes, that " they are great boasters of the antiqui- 
 ty of their origin, and reputation of their tribe ; but that 
 other Mussulmans entirely reject their claim, and consi- 
 der them of modern and even base extraction." The 
 latter, on the contrary, who is not v/ont to throw out 
 assertions at random, adds the following note to the tra- 
 dition ; whence it appears, that he was not disinclined to 
 admit their claim. " This account of the Afghans may 
 lead to a very interesting discovery. We learn from 
 Esdras, that the ten tribes, after a wandering journey, 
 came to a country called Arsareth ; where, we may sup- 
 pose, they settled f- Now the Afghans are said, by the 
 best Persian historians, to be descended from the Jews ; 
 they have traditions among themselves of such a descent ; 
 and it is even asserted, that their families are distinguish- 
 ed by the names of Jewish tribes, although, since their 
 con\crsion to the Islam, they studiously conceal their 
 
 * Asiatic Researches, Vol. ii. Numb. 4. 
 f 2 Esdras xiii. 40 — 4r 
 
origin. The Pushto language, of which I have seen a 
 dictionary, has a manifest resemblance to the Chaldaic ; 
 and a considerable district under their dominion is called 
 Hazareh or Hazaret, which might easily have been 
 changed into the word used by Esdras. I strongly re- 
 commend an inquiry into the literature and history of the 
 Afghans:' 
 
 From this interesting note of that great linguist M^e 
 learn four very curious particulars, relative to the Af- 
 ghans : 1 . that they have a tradition among themselves, 
 that they are of Jewish origin, although not very forward 
 to acknowledge their descent ; 2. that this is not a mere 
 vague tradition, known only to themselves and ridiculed 
 by their neighbours, but that the best Persian historians, 
 with whose empire they have always been connected *, 
 assert the very same ; 3. that a considerable district under 
 their dominion is to this day called Hazaret, a word 
 nearly resembling Arsareth, which (according to the 
 apocryphal Esdras, whoever he might be, and at what- 
 ever period he might live ■\) was the name of the countiy 
 into which the ten tribes retired ; 4. and that their lan- 
 guage has a manifest resemblance to the Chaldaic. 
 
 Though I would not implicitly depend upon popular 
 tradition, yet neither would I entirely reject it. In the 
 present case however it is so remarkably supported, that 
 ■we can scarcely refrain from giving it some degree of cre- 
 dit. The best Persian historians sanction the popular be- 
 lief of the Afghans : and, what has always been allowed to 
 be one of the strongest proofs of national descent and re- 
 fetionship, their language manifestly resembles the Chal- 
 daic. In mentioning Arsareth as the country to which 
 the ten tribes retired, the apocryphal Esdras probably al- 
 luded to a tradition respecting the fate of their brethren at 
 that time familiar to the Jexvs : and we find, that a large 
 part of the country of the Afghans, who believe themselves 
 to be of Hebrew origin, and whose belief is at once cor- 
 roborated by the best historians of Persia and by the cir- 
 
 * " the Afghans ; a tribe, at different times subject to and always con- 
 nected with the kingdoms of Persia and Hindustan." Mr. Vansittart's let- 
 ter to Sir William Jones. 
 
 f The reader will find the different opinions respectin:^ the author of the 
 second book of Esdras detailed in Dr. Gray's Key to the Old Testament." 
 
36 
 
 cumstance of their language being a branch of the Chaldaie, 
 is even to this day called Hazaret. The reader has now 
 the evidence before him, and must judge for himself, 
 whether the claim of the Afghans is to be allowed or re- 
 jected. But, whatever be its fate, the prophecies respect- 
 ing the distinct restoration of Israel remain unaffected, 
 and Avill surely be accomplished. 
 
 Before I entirely quit this part of my subject, I shall 
 notice a coincidence, which is at least curious, if it de- 
 serve no better epithet. St. John tells us, that the sixth 
 vial of God's wrath will be poured upon the liver Eu- 
 phrates, the waters of which will in consequence of it be 
 dried up, in order that a way may be prepai'ed for the 
 kings "who are from the rising of the sun. Mr. Mede sup- 
 poses, and (arguing from the analogy of language used 
 in the Apocalypse) I think, incontrovertibly, that the ex- 
 haustion of the Euphrates means the subversion of the Ot- 
 toman empire : and he farther conjectures, that the kings y 
 for whom this event is to prepare a way, are the Jeivs. 
 Had he said the Israelites *, he would perhaps have ex- 
 pressed himself with greater accuracy : for, if the passage 
 do at all allude to the restoration of the house of Jacob, 
 it relates more probably to that of the ten tribes , than to 
 that of Judah. But why should either the Israelites or 
 the Jervs be styled kings ? Such a title accords very ill 
 with the present condition of the Jews, and still worse 
 with that of the Israelites, if they be so entirely lost and 
 swallowed up, as some have imagined. Mr. Mede does 
 not attempt to solve this difficulty. If however it should 
 eventually prove that the Afghans are really the remains 
 of the ten tribes, and if St. John speak of the restoration 
 of those ten tribes under the name oi kings from the east, 
 we shall immediately perceive the singularly exact pro- 
 priety with which he styles them kings. The whole race 
 of the Afghans, as we have seen from the preceding ac- 
 count of them, denominate themselves even to the pre- 
 
 * Mr. Mede does at first iiuleed say Israelites, but he ever after speaks only 
 oT yev:s (See Comment. Apoc. in loc.) I expressed myself with equal inac- 
 curacy, when treating of the same subject in the first edition of my Dissert, 
 on the 1260 year*. The fact was, I had at that time indolently acquiesced in 
 the commonly received opinion, as stated by Bp. Newton, that the ten tribes 
 would only be restored conjointly with and included in the tribe ofyudah. 
 
37 
 
 sent day, in their Chaldaic dialect, Melie^ or with the 
 plural termination Melchim, in English, kings. They 
 consider themselves as a royal nation ; and, according to 
 their own tradition, claim their title of Melic from a grant 
 of Mohammed whose religion they profess. If then they 
 be of Hebrew extraction, the drying up of the mystic Eu- 
 phrates, or the subversion of the Ottoman empire, would 
 undoubtedly prepare a way for them both naturally and 
 morally. A power would be removed, whose dominions 
 now stretch between Persia and Palestine ; and one great 
 branch of that false religion, by which the Afghans are at 
 present deluded, would be broken off. According to Mr. 
 Vansittart, the sects of the Afghans are very numerous ; 
 and they appear to be a nation formidable at once for its 
 population, and for its bravery. " Their character may 
 be collected from history. They have distinguished them- 
 selves by their courage, both singly and unitedly, as priur 
 cipals and auxiliaries. They have conquered for their 
 own princes and for foreigners, and have always been con- 
 sidered the main strength of the army in which they have 
 served*." 
 
 I have stated, that the restoratio?i of Judah will com- 
 mence at the close of the 1260 years, and have intimated 
 it to be probable that it will not be completely effected 
 till a period of 30 additional years shall likewise have ex- 
 
 * Besides these Mohammedan Israelites, if indeed the Afghans be Israel- 
 ites, it appears, that there are in the East many of the same ancient stock of 
 Jacob. " There is reason to believe," says Mr. Buchanan, "that scriptural 
 records, older than the apostolical, exist on the coast of Malabar. At Cochin 
 there is a colony of Jews, who retain the tradition that they arrived in India 
 soon after the Babylonian captivity. There are in that province two classes 
 of Jews, the white and the black Jews. The black Jews are those, who are 
 supposed to have arrived at that early period. The white Jews emigrated 
 from Europe in later ages. What seems to countenance the tradition of the 
 black Jews is, that they have copies of those books of the Old Testament 
 ■which were written previously to the captivity, but none of those whose 
 dates are subsequent to that event — The latest information respecting them 
 is contained in a letter lately received from a learned missionary in the sontli 
 of the peninsula, who had resided for some time in the vicinity of Cochin. 
 He states, that he had constantly been informed that the Jews at Cochin had 
 those books only of the Old Testament which were written before the Baby- 
 lonian captivity ; and that thence it is generally believed by the Christians of 
 the Decan, that they had come to India soon after that event. He adds, that 
 the M.S. was on a material resembling paper, in the form of a roll ; and that 
 the character had a strong resemblance to Hebrew, if not Hebrew." (Me- 
 moir of an eccles. establishment for British India, p. 117, 118.) Are we tn 
 esteem these people Jews, or a remnant of the ten tribes ? 
 
38 
 
 pired. This conjecture is founded upon a remarkable 
 chronological passage in the book of Daniel. The pro- 
 phet teaches us, that 75 yeai's \v ill intervene between the 
 expiration of the 1260 years and the coimnencemeiit of the 
 'millennium : and these 75 years he divides, without spe- 
 cifying any reason for such a division, into 30 years and 
 45 years. What particular event will happen at the era 
 of the division, we undoubtedly cannot determine with 
 any degree of certainty ; because Daniel has left it whol- 
 ly undetermined : but we must conclude, that the point of 
 the division will be marked by some signal event ; other- 
 wise how can we rationally account for such a division 
 having been made ? Now, when we find, by comparing 
 prophecy with prophecy, that the restoration of Judah will 
 precede the restoration of Israel, and that the restoration 
 of Israel will not even so much as commence till the res- 
 toration of at least the main body of Judah ^ is completed, 
 and till the power of Antichrist is broken : it is at least 
 highly probable, that the 30 years will be occupied in the 
 conversion and restoration of Judah, in the great earth- 
 quake or political convulsion that divides the Latin em- 
 pire into three parts, in the wars of Antichrist with the 
 kings of the north and the south, in his grand expedition 
 against Palestine and Egypt, and in the contemporary^ 
 naval expedition of the maritime power undertaken for the 
 pui'pose of bringing back the converted Jews ; that the 
 30 years will close with the complete overthrow of Anti- 
 christ in the Aalley of Megiddo, an event than which we 
 cannot conceive one better calculated to mark a signal 
 chronological epoch ; and that the 45 yea?'s will be em- 
 ployed in the wanderings of those who, escaping from the 
 xout of the Antichristian army, will carry eveiy where the 
 tidings of God's supernatural interference, and in the 
 subsequent conversion and restoration of the whole house 
 of Israel. I wish this to be understood only as conjec- 
 
 * It appears from the mention of ffo7?;e countries, into which ^(accordin^ to 
 Isaiah) the fiigUives from the Antichristian arviiy will wander, that several 
 scattered "Jeivs will be left behind in Europe both by the inaritivie power and 
 by Antichrist. These will be converted and hasten to join their brethren, both 
 in consequence of the report of the fugitives, and of their beholding- from 
 afar the glory of the Lord manifested over Jerusalem in tlie awful sign of tJie 
 Shechinah. See Isaiah Ixvi. 18, 19. 
 
ture ; for it would be folly to speak positively before the 
 event. 
 
 When the 45 years shall have expired, when the whole 
 family of Jacob shall have been converted and restored, 
 and when the stick of Jiidah shall have united itself for 
 ever with the stick of Joseph ; then will commence the 
 season of millennian blessedness *. We have reason to 
 suppose, that the ancient people of God, now converted to 
 the faith of Christ, will be greatly instrumental in spread- 
 ing the glad tidings of the Gospel among the heathen 
 nations, already prepared to receive it by so many super- 
 natural interpositions of Providence, and by beholding 
 with their own eyes the glory of the Lord permanently 
 manifested over Jerusalem. Accordina: to the united tes- 
 tiniony of many of the prophets, Israel, after his restora- 
 
 * what Mr. Mede has said upon the subject of these numbers is to me 
 alto.s^'ether unsatisfactory. He dates them from the prof anation of the temple 
 by Antiochus Epiphanes, thus making- the first number terminate about a. d. 
 112U, and the second about a. d. 1166 ; and he refers them altogether to the 
 suspicions, which then began to be entertained by many, that the Pope was 
 Antichrist fSee Mede's Work.s, B. iii P. 717 — 724.) But what great bless- 
 edness was there in living about the year 1166 ? Mr. Mede answers, that 
 then the Vv^'aldenses began to be persecuted, and the promise to be fulfilled 
 that '• blessed are tlic dead which die in the Lord." Such an answer, I must 
 confess, appears to me little better than a quibble. In fact, it can only be by 
 a very strained constri'ction tluit we can make these numbers relate to the 
 times when the xvise first beg-an to understand. According- to the general 
 context of the whole passage, tiiey obviously extend beyond the 1260 years, 
 and reach to the very end of the days, to the comtnenceniait of some period of 
 great blessedness. Bp. Newton, much more judiciously than Mr. Mede whom 
 he scruples not to pronounce mistaken, connects these numbers with the 
 126U)'eflri, making their overplus reach beyond tliem. At the close of ^Ae 
 1190 years, if I mistake not, he places the complete restoration of the yews, and 
 the destruction of Antichrist : at the close of the 1535 years, the full conversion 
 of the Gentiles, and the beginning of the Millennium. See Dissert, xvii. to- 
 wards the end. Mr. Wintle, like myself, inclines to prefer Bp. Newton*s 
 opinion to that of Mr. Mede. See Note on Dan. xii. 11., See also Mr. Lowth ia 
 loc. Mr. Fleming's opinion, though it differs from tliat of Mr. Mede in com- 
 puting the number 1290 from the final desolation of Jerusalem in the year 135, 
 and the number 1335 from the end of the number 1290, appears to me to be 
 equally objectionable ; or, I should rather say, much more objectionable, be- 
 cause it is founded upon an absolute error. By the accoTnplishing of the scat' 
 feriiig of the holy people (Dan. xii. 7.) he umlerstands the comme?icementtf their 
 complete scattering by Adrian in the year 135 ; whereas the expression means 
 tlie very reverse, namely the termination of their scattering or the beginning of 
 their restoration. In this sense accordingly it is understood both by Mede, 
 Newton, Lowth, and Wintle. Our common English translation indeed em- 
 ploys two different words, accomplish a.ndjinish ; but the self-same word in 
 the origiiial is used in both places, and in both alike ought to have been ren- 
 dered hy finish : — " when he shall have finished to scatter the power of the 
 4joly people, all these wonders shall be finished." Fleming's Apoc. Kej', 
 p. 74. 
 
40 
 
 tion, will be sown among the Gentiles ; and will thus h^ 
 made, in a wonderful manner, from first to last, the seed 
 of the Church. This preaching of the Gospel by the con- 
 vei'ted Israelites, unlike the preaching of it by that first 
 handful only of seed, the Hebrew Apostles of our Lord, 
 will, I apprehend, be totally unattended by persecution 
 or opposition : for all trials of that nature would be in- 
 compatible with the predicted peace and blessedness of 
 the millennian church. God will incline the heaits of the 
 Gentiles to receive the word a:ladlv. Great shall be the 
 day of Jezrael. For, if the fall of the Jews be the riches 
 of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of 
 the Gentiles ; how much more their fulness ? Nay, in- 
 stead of opposing or slighting the truth, so eager shall the 
 heathens be to receire it, that out of all the languages of 
 the nations ten men shall lay hold of the skirt of only one 
 Jew, declaring, with a holy vehemence, their full deter- 
 mination to go with him, inasmuch as they have heard 
 that God is with him of a truth. In short, the whole 
 world shall press eagerly to Jerusalem to behold the glo- 
 ry of the Lord, and to receive instruction from the lips 
 of his servants. All nations shall flow like a mighty tor- 
 rent to his holy mountain, assured that he will teach them 
 of his ways, and cause them to walk in his paths ; that 
 the law shall go forth out of Zion, and the -w^ord of the 
 Lord from Jerusalem. Wars and tumults shall be no 
 more ; and the whole earth will form, as it were, only one 
 great family of faithful worshippers. 
 
 It is not impossible, that some may feel a curiosity to 
 know what nation is intended' by the gi' eat maritime power 
 destined to take so conspicuous a part in the restoration of 
 Judah. On this point their curiosity cannot be gratified; 
 at least, not with any degree 'of precision.* Bp. Horsley 
 has studiously, as it were, enlarged the circle, within 
 which the power in question is to be sought for. " Its 
 situation," says he, " is not otherwise described in the 
 prophecy which peculiarly sets forth its office and actions*, 
 than by this circumstance ; that it is beyond the rivers of 
 Ciish, That is, fai' to the west of Judea, if these rivers of 
 
 * Isaiali xviii. * 
 
41 
 
 Cush are to be understood,* as they have been generally 
 understood, of the A'lle and other Ethiopian rivers ; far to 
 the east, if of the Tigris and Euphrates. The one^ or the 
 other ^ they must denote ; but rohich^ is uncertain : — inso- 
 much that we know not, in what quarter of the world to 
 look for the countr\^ intended, whether in the East Indies, 
 or in the western parts of Africa or Europe, or in Ame- 
 rica*." What his Lordship says on the subject is per- 
 fectly just : and, were there no other prophecies that 
 treated of the restoration of Judah except that which par- 
 ticularly describes the maritime power ^ we undoubtedly 
 could not even approximate to any certainty respecting 
 its precise situation. But there are other parallel predic- 
 tions, which, although they do not authorize us to say 
 that this state or that state is the maritime power intended 
 by Isaiah, seem nevertheless to give us some warrant verj' 
 considerabl}^ to contract at least the circle within which 
 it is to be sought. The isles of the Gentiles^ and the ships 
 ofTarshish^ are represented as bringing the sons ofJiidaJi 
 from afar unto the name of the Lord their God ■\ : and 
 the returning Jews themselves are exhorted, while they 
 ciy aloud from the sea or (as the original word may with 
 equal propriety be translated) the west, to glorify God in 
 the isles of the sea, that is, the isles of the westj^.. Now 
 it is well known, that the Jews were accustomed to call 
 the whole maritime region of Europe by the general name 
 of the isles of the Gentiles or the isles of the sea ; because 
 the Phenicians were unable to reach any part of that re- 
 gion, except by the. means of shipping §. And it is fur- 
 ther known, that perhaps the greatest part of the Jews, 
 properly so called, is scattered through the different na- 
 tions of Europe. These isles of the Gentiles then are des- 
 tined to the office of bringing back the Jexvs : but some 
 one nation among them, described as the Tyre of the day, 
 and whose ships are mystically styled the ships of Tarsh- 
 ish, is plainly to take the lead in bringing back at least 
 the converted Jews. Thus is the circle at once narrowed, 
 from the east and the west in general, to a particular part 
 
 * Bishop Horsley's Letter on Isaiah xviii. p. 90, 91. See also P. 37—41. 
 t Isaiah Ix. 8 — 11. t Isaiah xxiv. 14, 15. 
 
 ^ See Mede's "SVorks, B. i. P. 272, 27.^ 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 only of the west ; iiumel}^ the maritime region of Eirr ope ^ 
 and some mig-hty naval puxver ^\hich will then occupy 
 the same place in the modern world that Tyre did in the 
 ancient world. But the isles of the Gentiles, and the sliips 
 of Tarshish, are clearly described by Isaiah as restoring 
 the Jews in a converted state, and as undertaking that of- 
 fice upon religious motives : and he represents, with equal 
 plainness, both the great maritime power, and the Jews 
 under its protection, as beirig faithful and acceptable \A'or- 
 shippers of the Lord in piuit}- and truth. Yet we know, 
 that at this very period, the might g confederacy of Anti- 
 christ, which (we have i-eason to believe both from pro- 
 phecy and from the passing events of the day) will at 
 least comprehend the whole of the papal lioman empire j 
 will commence its expedition against Palestine, in direct 
 opposition, though perhaps not a\owed opposition, to the 
 purposes of the Most High. Here then, at the epoch of 
 the restoration of Jtidah, ■we have the isles of the Gentiles 
 divided into two parts : the o/?e' papal, and subject to the 
 tyrannical domination oi Antichrist ; the of/zcr protestant, 
 and under the influence of the maritime power described 
 as the ships of TarsJiish. Those isles of the Gejitiles 
 therefore, and the ships of Tarshish, which restore the 
 Jews in a converted state, and in order to glorify the name 
 of the Lord their God, certainly cannot be that part of 
 Europe which is subjugated by Antichrist : because their 
 views and principles are directlv opposite to the vie^vs 
 and principles of Antichrist. Hence it will follow, that 
 the nutrifime power must not only be sought for geneiriL 
 ly in the isles of the Gentiles or in Europe, but particu- 
 larly in the believing isles of the Gentiles or in protestant 
 Europe. Fm^ther than this we have no authority to ad- 
 ^ A'^ance, and therefore I shall not advance further : but I 
 shall content myself with resting in the conchision, that 
 the maritime porver will be that state of protestant Europe 
 which shall possess a decided navcd superiority at the time 
 when the 1260 years shall expire. This mighty maritime 
 power, and other smcdler maritime protestant powers its 
 allies, described by the prophet under the general name 
 of the isles of the Ge?itiles, will undoubtedly be the agents 
 in converting and restoring those Jews who ai'c not under 
 the influence of Antichrist. 
 
43 
 
 Such is all the positive knowledge, that we can now 
 attain to, respecting the great naval power, which wdll 
 act so conspicuous a part at the time of the efid. Every 
 person, who attends to the subject, will doubtless have 
 his own private conjectures : l3ut he is not, I think, 
 warranted in making his conjectures public ; because he 
 cannot have those clear grounds to go upon, which almost 
 indisputably attach to France the character of Daniel's 
 infidel kingdom, and more recently the additional charac- 
 ter of the Carlovingian head of the Boman beast, that is to 
 contrive and direct the Atitichristian expedition against 
 Palestine at the time of the end. We are at present very 
 manifestly living in the last days of blasphemous atheism 
 and infidelity ; and there is every reason to think, that we 
 cannot be very far distant from the close of the 1260 years, 
 from whatever precise period they ought to be dated. 
 Now we leam from concurring prophecies, that, at the 
 close of those years or at the time of the end, four miglity 
 powers will be the principal actors in the great drama of 
 nations : the Roman beast under his last or Cxirlovingian 
 head, a head which we can now scarcely avoid considering 
 as identified with/Ae infidel A-?;?^t/o7;?, although the governor 
 of that kingdom has not yet formally assumed the title of 
 Roman emperor; some great protestant maritime and 
 commercial state ; a king of the north ; and a king of the 
 south. If then, what can scarcely be doubted, we be now 
 rapidly approaching to tliat time of the end, Mhen all these 
 four powers will be in action ; -w'e may naturally expect 
 to behold some at least of the powers alread}^ in existence. 
 Accordingly, upon turning from prophecy to the present 
 state of things in Euro})e, we see a kingdom, which ex- 
 actly and in all points answers to the character of Danil 
 el's infidel kingdom, transferring from Germany to itself 
 ^the ancient imperial honours of the Carlovingian head, 
 and rapidly establishing a sort of federal empire, which 
 no less exactly answers to the character of the apocalyptic 
 confederacy of the Roman beast under his last head, the 
 false prophet, and the kings of the Latin earth*. We 
 
 * See Rev. svi. 13—16. and xix. 17 — 21. The confederacy will not begin to 
 be gathered to the battle of tlie great day of God Almighty, till after thp 
 -overthrow of the Ottoman empire ; but it will plainly be either foroned or foron- 
 
44 
 
 moreover see a mighty protestant maritime power, arriv- 
 ing with rapid strides at the most complete naval superi- 
 ority that ever was possessed by any modern nation ; and, 
 having singularly availed itself of the suggestion of one 
 Whose whole life has been spent upon land*, no longer 
 as formerly either fighting its enemies on equal terms or 
 gaining over them indecisive victories, but annihilating 
 whole fleets at a blow, esteeming what would once have 
 been deemed a victory as woilhy only of censure t» and 
 triumphing over all its opponents in all quaiters of the 
 globe. We further see a vast northern sovereignty^ the 
 chief of which may well be called by way of eminence 
 the king of the north, extending itself on e\'ery side, and 
 rising m the inconceivablv short space of little more than 
 a century from barbarous insignificance to immense po^v- 
 er and influence. As yet we behold indeed no state, 
 which, consistently with the general tenor of prophecy, 
 we can even guess to be the kingdom of the south : of this 
 however we may rest assured, that at the close of the 
 1260 years, some kingdom of the south will unite its arms 
 with the kingdom of the north in opposing the progress of 
 Antichrist ; • and that they will both fail in their attempt. 
 Yet, although they will fail, no intimation is given that 
 they will be totally destroyed by that t} rant : whence we 
 may perhaps venture to conclude, that they will be rather 
 baffled than subjugated :j: 
 
 ing, about or before that event takes jilace. The three demons are not repre- 
 sented as gatherhig ov forming tlie confederacy itself; but oidy as g'atliering 
 it, inhenforDicd, to tlie battle of the Lord. 
 
 * Jolm Clark, Esq. This g'entleman, who, so far from being' bred to the 
 sea, liad not even performed a sing-h:: voyage, first sugg'ested the present sys- 
 tem of naval tactics, the jirominent feature of which is to break the enemy's 
 line of battle. A long series of indecisive actions excited the attention of the 
 inquisitive mind of Mr. Clark. He became the inventor of an entirely new 
 system, wliicli was first acted upon by Lord Rodney. Since that time no en- 
 gagement has proved indecisive : but eacli succeeding victory has surpassed 
 its predecessor in completeness and in importance. Does not such a man 
 deserve psiblic honours from his country ? 
 
 f On the 22d of July 1805, Sir Robert Calder, with 15 sail of the line and 
 two frigates, fought the combined squadrons of France and Spain, consisting 
 of 20 sail of t!ie line, three ships of 50 guns, and five frig^ates. Without losing- 
 a single ship of his own fleet, he took from the enemy two sail of the line. 
 He returned home ; was tried by a court martial; and was severely repri- 
 manded for having done nothing more. 
 
 t So far indeed from the ?wrtkern kingdom being subjugated, we have some 
 reason from prophecy to believe, that it will be a tremendous instrument in 
 
45 
 
 Is then England the great maritime power, to which the 
 high office ol converting and restoring a large part of his 
 ancient people is reserved by the Almighty? To this ques- 
 tion, I am compelled to say, that we have no right posi- 
 tively to answer in the affirmative. England may, or 
 may not. The thing is certainly not improbable in 
 itself; and I will even add, that the present aspect of 
 affiiirs by no means contradicts the conjecture, that our 
 hitherto highly favoured country may be the protestant 
 European naval power intended by Isaiah : yet I must 
 likewise add, that such an opinion, should it be enter- 
 tained by any, can be considered in no other light than 
 that of a mere conjecture ; a conjecture authorized indeed, 
 as some may imagine, by existing circumstances and by 
 the high probability that we are not far removed from the 
 time of the end, but a conjecture, totally unauthorized by 
 the prophet himself. This however I may safely say, that, 
 the more true piety increases among us, the more likely 
 will it be that England is the great maritime power in 
 question. At the present awful period, wdien the judg- 
 ments of the Lord are so manifestly abroad in the earth, 
 the accession even of every individual to the cause of 
 vital religion and Christian holiness renders us more 
 strong and more secure ; and increases the probability 
 that the maritime power may be England, because it 
 makes us more fit for the task (a task meet only for the 
 sincerely pious) of converting and restoring the lost sheep 
 of the house of Judah. A wicked nation can be expect- 
 ed to furnish no very suitable missionaries. So great a 
 labour of love will require proportionable purity of heart 
 and conversation, and proportionable devotedness to the 
 service of God. If iniquity therefore increase, and right- 
 eousness decrease, among us ; I may say, without pre- 
 tending to the spirit of prophecy, that we certainly cannot 
 be that naval power, which the Lord will delight to ho- 
 nour by delegating to it the venerable office of carrying 
 the Gospel to his ancient people. 
 
 the hand of God to scourge the guilty inhabitants of the papal Roinan eonpire. 
 The irruption of the northern poixer into the south-western regions of Europe 
 will niost probably take place, unless I be mistaken in supposing such an 
 irruption to be predicted, during the absence of Antichrist in Palestine and 
 Egypt. More will be said on this subject hereafter. 
 
46 
 
 It will be proper for me now to make a few remarks 
 oil the mode of exposition, which will be adopted 
 throughout the following pages. 
 
 Between chronological prophecies and iinchronological 
 prophecies there is a striking difference, which ought 
 always to be kept in mind. A chronological prophecy., 
 that is to say, a prophecy consisting of a series of pre- 
 dictions which succeed each other in regular chronologi- 
 cal order like those of Daniel and St. John, is incapable 
 from its very nature of receiving a two-fold accomplish- 
 ment ; because eveiy link of such a prophecy is exclu- 
 sively confined to a particular period of histor} by the 
 links which both precede it and follow it, and therefore 
 can only be applied to a single event. In short, a chain 
 of chronological predictions is simply an anticipated his- 
 tory : and each link is just as incapable, and that for the 
 very same reason, of a double completion, as each fact 
 recorded in history is of a double meaning ^. But an 
 unchronological prophecy ^ that is to say, a prophecy which 
 only predicts certain future events without specifying the 
 precise time when those events will come to pass and 
 without so connecting them with any preceding series as 
 to compel us to assign them to some one particular era ex- 
 clusively, is not restricted in the same manner that a chro- 
 nological prophecy must necessarily be. Instead of being 
 incapable of a double accomplishment, we perpetually find 
 predictions of this nature evidently constructed Avith the 
 express design of receiving a double accomplishment. 
 They are first fulfilled in an incohoate manner, and after- 
 wards will be fulfilled more amply at a period to which they 
 ultimately and principally refer. This is remarkably the 
 case with prophecies, v/hich treat of the restoration of the 
 Jews, and the advent of the Messiah : insomuch that I be- 
 lieve Bp. Horsley not to have been guilty of the least exag- 
 geration, in asserting, " that a far greater proportion of the 
 prophecies, even of the Old Testament, than is generally 
 imagined, relate to the second advent of our Lord ; that few 
 comparatively relate to the first advent by itself, without 
 reference to the second ; and that of those, that have been 
 
 { * See this point discussed in the preface to my Dissert, on the 12^0 years. 
 
47 
 
 supposed to be accomplished in the first, many had in 
 that only an inchoate accomplishment, and have yet to 
 receive their full completion *." Such a mode of fore- 
 telling future events seems to have arisen from, or per- 
 haps rather to be a part of the grand scriptural system of 
 types and antitypes. The first advent is a type of the 
 second advent : hence they are both styled the great day 
 of the Lord ; and hence they are frequently predicted con- 
 jointly, certain matters which received their full accom- 
 plishment at the first advent being inserted (parentheti- 
 cally as it were) in a prophecy which strictly and principally 
 relates to the second advent. In a similar manner, the Ba- 
 bylonian captivity of the Jews is a type oi their subsequent 
 dispersion by the Romans ; hence many of those predic- 
 tions, which from the elevation of their style and from 
 other circumstances connected with them must ultimately 
 and indeed chiefly be referred to the yet future restoration 
 of the Jews, probably received a sort of inchoate accom- 
 plishment in their return from Babylon f. Some however 
 there are, w hich must be exclusively applied to the return 
 from Babylon ; because thej^ are connected with a specific 
 number of years, and therefore become chronological pro- 
 phecies incapable of any further completion 1^. And 
 
 * Letter on Isaiah xviii. P. 3. 
 
 f " It luis been concluded by judicious divines," says Archdeacon Wood- 
 house, "that tliose partial pi'ophecies and particular instances of the divine 
 vengeance, whose accomplishment we know to have taken place, are pre- 
 sented to us as t3pes, certain tokens and forerunners, of some greater events 
 which are also disclosed in them. To the dreadful time of universal ven.- 
 g-eance they all appear to look forward, beyond their first and more immedi- 
 ate object. Little indeed can we doubt that such is to be considered the 
 use and application of these prophecies, since we see them thus applied by 
 our Lord aTid his ajjostles. See IMait. i. 22, 23. xxvii.9,— John xv. .25. xix. 36, 
 37.— Acts ii. 20, 27. iii. 19, 22, 24.— Heb. iv. 7, 8. x. 27, 37.— Rom. ii. 5. Gal. 
 iv. 24.— Eph. V. 14.--2 Thess. ii. 3, &c. — 2 Pet. iii. 2—14 ; where the prophe- 
 cies of the Old Testament are applied in a more extended and spiritual sense, 
 than in their first and primary desig-nation." Apocalypse translated, p. 172, 
 173. 
 
 For obsen'ations on the double sense of divine prophecy, the Archdeacon 
 refers us to Bp. Lowth. Prxlect. xi. and note on Isaiah xl ; Mr. Lowth on 
 Isaiah vii. 15 ; Jortin's remarks on Eccles. Hist. p. 188—228 ; Serm. v. 1, 124; 
 Sir Isaac Newton on prophecy, ]). 251 ; Rp. Kurd's sermons on prophecy, 
 III. IV. V ; Bp. Sherlock on prophecy. Disc, ii ; Bp. Warburton's Divine Le- 
 g-ation, Book vi. 8 ; Bp. Horn's Preface to the Psalms ; Jones on the figura- 
 tive lang'uage of Scripture, Lect. viii ; and Archdeacon Nares's sermonSat 
 the Warburtonian lecture, 1805. 
 
 t See Jerem. xxv. 11, 12. xxix. 10. Dan. ix. 2. 
 
48 
 
 others again there are, and these constitute by far the 
 greatest proportion, which must be exckisively applied to 
 the yet future 7'estoration of Israel ; because they are 
 connected with such circumstances as prevent the possi- 
 bility of any other application. 
 
 This typical mode of foretelling future events verj' ma- 
 terially affects the phraseology of prophecy. At the era 
 of the restoration of Judah., some great confederacy of 
 God^s enemies will be destroyed. Such is the general 
 voice of prophecy ; while Daniel and St. John not only 
 teach us that a confederacy of that nature will be destroy- 
 ed, but intimate very unequivocally of rvhat persons it 
 will be composed. At least, recent events have rendered 
 their predictions, relative to this confederacy, far less equi- 
 vocal and difficult to be understood, than they once ne- 
 cessarily were ; and I doubt not, that every day will throw 
 an increasing light upon them. The confede?'acy in ques- 
 tion is by the other prophets variously pointed out under 
 the mystic names of various ancient enemies and oppres- 
 sors of the house of Israel. Sometimes, as in the parallel 
 language of the Apocalypse, it is styled Babylon, some- 
 times Nineveh, sometimes Tyre, but most frequently 
 Edo?n *. In prophecies of this nature, it is obvious, 
 that, where Babylon occurs, the destruction of the li- 
 teral Babylon at the era of the first restoration of the 
 Jews is primarily intended : but the same remark cannot 
 be applied to the other types of the Antichristian confede- 
 racy. Neither Nineveh, nor Tyre, nor Edom, were over- 
 thrown at the era of the first restoration ; and yet, since 
 they have all long since been overthrown, it is manifest, 
 that none of them can literally experience the vengeance 
 of heaven at the yet future era of the second restoration. 
 Nevertheless it is repeatedly declared, that they shall ex- 
 perience the vengeance of heaven at that very period : 
 hence it is plain, that some mystical Nineveh, Tyre, and 
 Edom, can only be intended. Such accordingly, as we 
 
 * It is excellently observed by Bp. Lowth, that, " by a figure very common 
 in the prophetical writings, a«v city or people, remarkably distinguished as ene- 
 mies oj the people and kingdom of God, is put for those enemies in gtneral. This 
 seems to be the case with Edom and Bozrah" Translat. of Isaiah, Notes 
 on Chap, xxxiv. xxxv. See also his Prsleot. Poet. P. 274. 
 
49 
 
 shall find in the sequel, at least in the case of Edom, is 
 the interpretation given by the Jews themselves. With 
 one consent their Rabbies declare, that Edom, when so 
 described, can only mean the foiii'th beast of Daniel, or 
 the Roman empire : and we, who are Christians, can add, 
 on the authority of St. John, that it must mean the Ro- 
 man empire in its very last state ; that is to say, the Roman 
 empire when organized into the grand confederacy of An- 
 tichristy noiv become the last head of the beast. The close 
 connection oithe overthrow of Nineveh^ Tyre^ and Edomy 
 with the restoration of the Jews will sufficiently guard a 
 commentator from the ilHisions of fancy. This single 
 circumstance will be enough to teach him, whether in. 
 any particular prophecy he ought to understand those 
 powers only literally ^ or whether he is warranted in look- 
 ing beyond their literal to their mystical import. 
 
so 
 
 PROPHECY I. 
 
 The dispersion of the Israelites— Their idolatry in their disper- 
 sion—Their future restoration. 
 
 Deuteronomy iv. 27. The Lord shall scatter you 
 among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number 
 among the peoples, whither the Lord shall lead you. 
 28. And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's 
 hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor 
 eat, nor smell. 
 
 29. But, if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy 
 God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy 
 heart and with, all thy soul. 30. When thou art in tri- 
 bulation, and all these things are come upon thee, in the 
 end of the days if thou wilt turn unto the Lord thy God 
 and wilt be obedient unto his voice, 31. (For the Lord 
 thy God is a merciful God) he will not forsake thee, n.either 
 destroy the-s ^ nor forget the covenant of thy fadiers which 
 he sware unto them. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 At the time when this prophecy was delivered, the 
 childrefi of Israel were on the point of taking possession 
 of the promised land ; and, humanly speaking, nothing 
 was less likely than that any such calamity, as Moses 
 here predicts, should befall them. Yet, agreeably to his 
 declaration, the ten tribes were first led aWay captive into 
 Assyria, and have ever since been given up to the delu- 
 sion of worshipping strange gods. Afterwards the txvo 
 tribes were carried from their own country to Babylon. 
 And at length the same two tribes were yet more effectu- 
 ally dispersed by the Romans ; and are, at the present 
 -day, wanderers over the face of the whole earth. In the 
 course of this their last captivity, they have been repeat- 
 edly compelled, as if that the prophecy might be com- 
 pletely fulfilled, to bow do^vn before the idols of Popery, 
 and to abjure their own religion *, 
 
 * See Bp. Newton's Dissert, vii. 
 
51 
 
 Nevertheless, although they he apparently forsalceiij 
 God still hath his eye upon them. As they were of old 
 brought back from Babylon ; so will they^ in due season 
 be converted from their long apostasy, and be gathered 
 together out of all nations. Nor will Judah alone be 
 restored : Israel likewise shall seek the Lord his God, 
 and be obedient unto his voice. Then shall the two rival 
 kingdoms be for ever united together, so as to forln only 
 ene people : for God hath declared, that he will not utter- 
 ly destroy them, nor ever forget the covenant wliich he 
 sw^are unto their fathers. 
 
 PROPHECY II. 
 
 The calamities of the siege of Jerusalem — The various circum* 
 stances attending the dispersion of the Jews — Their final con- 
 version and restoration. 
 
 Deuteronomy xxviii. 15. It shall come to pass, if 
 thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy 
 God, to observe to do all his commandments and his 
 statutes which I command thee this day ; that all these 
 curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee — 46. And 
 they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and 
 upon thy seed for ever. 47. Because thou servedst not 
 the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of 
 heart, for the abundance of all things; 48. Therefore 
 shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send 
 against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, 
 and in want of all things : and he shall put a yoke of iron 
 upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. 49. The 
 Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the 
 end of the earth, as the eagle flieth ; a nation, whose 
 tongue thou shalt not understand ; 50. A nation of fierce 
 countenance, which shall not regard the person of the 
 old, nor shew favour to the young : 51. And he shall eat 
 the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou 
 be destroyed : which also shall not leave thee either corn, 
 wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy 
 sheep, until he have destroyed thee : 52. And he shall 
 
52 
 
 besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced 
 walls come do^vn, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all 
 thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates 
 throughout all thy land which the Lord thy God hath 
 given thee. 53. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine 
 own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters 
 which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege 
 and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall dis- 
 tress thee — 56. The tender and delicate woman among 
 you, — her eye shall be evil — 57 — toward her young one 
 that Cometh out from between her feet, and toward her 
 children which she shall bear : for she shall eat them for 
 want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness 
 wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. 
 
 58. If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this 
 law that are written in this book, that thou may est fear 
 this glorious and fearful name, The Lord thy God ; 
 
 59. Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and 
 the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long 
 continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continu- 
 ance. — 63. And it shall come to pass, that, as the Lord 
 rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you ; 
 so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to 
 bring you to nought : and ye shall be plucked from the 
 land, whither thou goest to possess it. 64. And the 
 Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one 
 end of the earth even to the other ; and there thou shalt 
 serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have 
 known, even wood and stone. 65. And among these 
 nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of 
 thy foot have rest : but the Lord shall give thee there a 
 trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind : 
 66. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee : and 
 thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assur- 
 ance of thy life : — 37. And thou shalt become an aston- 
 ishment, a proverb, and a by-word, among all nations 
 whither the Lord shall lead thee — xxix. 22. So that the 
 generation to come of your children that shall rise up 
 after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far 
 land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, 
 and the sicknesses which the Lord hath laid upon it; 
 
53 
 
 23. And that the whole land thereof is brimstone and 
 salt and burning, that it is not so\vn, nor beareth, nor any 
 grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and 
 Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which the Lord over- 
 threw in his anger and in his wrath : 24. Even all nations 
 shall say. Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto 
 this land ? what meaneth the heat of this great anger ? 
 25. Then men shall say. Because they have forsaken 
 the covenant of the Lord God of their fadiers, which 
 he made with them when he brought them forth out the 
 land of Egypt : 26. For they went, and served other 
 gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, 
 and whom he had not given unto them : 27. And the 
 anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, to bring 
 upon it all the curses that are written in this book : 
 28. And the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger 
 and in wrath and in great indignation, and cast them into 
 another land, as it is this day. 
 
 29. The secret things belong unto the Lord our God ; 
 but those things, which are revealed, belong unto us and 
 unto our children for ever, that we may do all the words 
 of this law. 
 
 XXX. 1. And it shall come to pass, when all these 
 things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse 
 which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to 
 mind among all the nations whither the Lord thy God 
 hath driven thee, 2. And shalt return unto the Lord thy 
 God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I com- 
 mand thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine 
 heart and with all thy soul ; 3. That then the Lord thy 
 God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon 
 thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations 
 whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. 4. If any 
 of thine be driven out unto the utmost paits of heaven, 
 from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from 
 thence will he fetch thee : 5. And the Lord thy God will 
 bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and 
 thou shalt possess it : and he will do thee good, and mul- 
 tiply thee above thy fathers. 6. And the Lord thy God 
 will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to 
 
54 
 
 love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all 
 thy soul, that thou mayest live. 
 
 7. And the Lord thy God will put all these curses up- 
 on thine enemies, and on them that hate thet, which 
 persecuted thee. 
 
 8. And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the 
 Lord, and do all his commandments which 1 command 
 thee this day. 9. And the Lord thy God will make thee 
 plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy 
 body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy 
 land, for good : for the Lord will again rejoice over thee 
 for good, as he rejoiced over thy Fathers : 10. If thou 
 wilt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to keep 
 his commandments and his statutes which are written 
 in this book of the law, and if tliou turn unto the Lord 
 thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 This famous prophecy of Moses has been so full\ 
 and so well discussed by Bp. Newton*, that it is almost 
 superfluous for mc to offer any observations upon ; yet a 
 work like the present would certainly have been incom- 
 plete if I had omitted it. 
 
 After describing, as it were with the pen of an histo- 
 rian, the vcu'ious calamities which have since befallen the 
 Jews ; the capture of their city by the Romans, a nation 
 whose language \vas totally different both from their own 
 and from the collateral oriental dialects ; the circumstance 
 of the noble woman being reduced to eat the flesh of her 
 own child ; the dispersion of the Jews throughout all na- 
 tions ; their becoming a proverb and a by-word ; the com- 
 parative sterility, to which their once fruitful land is no^v 
 reduced ; the notice taken of that sterility by travellers, 
 and their comments upon it; the long continuance of these 
 calamities : in short, after delineating with wonderful mi- 
 nuteness and accuracy the future miseries of the Jewsy 
 even before they had taken possession of the land to which 
 the Lord was then miraculously conducting them, Moses 
 suddenly reverses the scene, and predicts their restoration 
 
 * Dissert, vii. viii. 
 
55 
 
 iyid conversion. He declares, that, when in the countries 
 of tlieir dispersion they shall call to mind the things which 
 have befallen them, and shall understand the true grounds 
 of those curses which have so long pursued them, then 
 the Lord will turn their captivity, and gather them out of 
 all the nations whither he had scattered them ; that he will 
 bring them back into the land of their fathers ; that he will 
 restore to it its former fertility ; that he will spiritually 
 circumcise their hearts ; and that he will cause both them 
 and their children to love the Lord their God with all 
 their heart and with all their soul. Nor does he onlypre- 
 diet the restoration and prosperity of Israel. He inti- 
 mates, that, at the same period, God will put all the cur- 
 ses, which he had once poured upon the Jews, upon' the 
 head of their enemies, and upon the head of those that 
 hated and persecuted them. From other parallel prophe- 
 cies, which treat more largely of the Judgtnents of the 
 Lord at the era of the restoration of the Jews, we cannot 
 doubt that this is an allusion to the overthrow of Anti- 
 ohrist and his confederacy. 
 
 It is deeply interesting to view, in connection with the 
 present prediction, the sentiments of ^Ae /^t;^ themselves. 
 " Soon after the establishment of Christiimity," says one 
 of their writers, " the Jewish nation, dispersed since the 
 second destruction of its temple, had totally disappeared. 
 By the light of the flames which devoured the monu- 
 ments of its ancient splendour, the conquerors beheld a 
 million of victims dead or expiring on their ruins. The 
 hatred of the enemies of that unfortunate nation raged 
 longer than the fire which had consumed its temple ; ac- 
 tive and relentless, it still pursues and oppresses them in 
 every part of the globe over which they are scattered* 
 Their persecutors delight in their torments too much to 
 seal their doom by a general decree of proscription, which 
 would at once put an end to their buithensome and pain- 
 ful existence. It seems as if they were allowed to sur- 
 vive the destruction of their country, only to see the most 
 odious and calumnious imputations laid to their charge, 
 to stand as the constant object of the grossest and most 
 shocking injustice, as a mark for the insulting finger of 
 scorn, as a sport to the most inveterate hatred ; it seems 
 
56 
 
 as if their doom was incessantly to suit all the dark and 
 bloody purposes, which can be suggested by human ma- 
 lignity supported by ignorance and fanaticism. Weighed 
 down by taxes, and forced to contribute more than Chris- 
 tians for the support of society, they had hardly any of 
 the rights Avhich it gives. If a destructive scourge hap- 
 pened to spread havock among the inhabitants of a coun- 
 try, the Jews had poisoned the springs ; or those men, 
 cursed by hea^'en, had, nevertheless, incensed it by their 
 prayers against the nation \\'hich they were supposed to 
 hate. Did so^'ereigns want pecuniary assistance to carry 
 on their wais? The Jews were compelled to give up 
 those riches in which they sought some consolation 
 against the oppressing sense of their abject condition : as 
 a rewai'd for their sacrifices, they were expelled from the 
 state which they had supported, and were afterwards re- 
 called to be stript again. Compelled to wear exteriorly 
 the badges of their abject state, they w^ere every where 
 exposed to the insults of the vilest populace. When from 
 his solitaiy retreat an enthusiastic hermit preached the 
 crusades to the nations of Europe, and a part of its inha- 
 bitants left their country to moisten with their blood the 
 plains of Palestine, the knell of promiscuous massacre 
 tolled before the alarm-bell of war. Millions of Jews 
 were then murdered to glut the pious rage of the cru- 
 saders. It was by tearing the entrails of their brethren 
 that these warriors sought to deserve the protection of 
 heaven. Skulls of men and bleeding hearts were offered 
 as holocausts on the altars of that God who has no plea- 
 sure even in the blood of the innocent lamb, and minis- 
 ters of peace were thrown into a holy enthusiasm by these 
 bloody sacrifices. It is thus, that Basil, Treves, Co- 
 blentz, and Cologn, became human shambles. It is thus, 
 that upwards of 400,000 victims of all ages and of both 
 sexes lost their lives at Cesarea and Alexandria — And is 
 it, after they have experienced such treatment, that they 
 are reproached with their vices ? Is it, after being for 
 eighteen centuries the sport of contempt, that they are 
 reproached with being no longer alive to it ? Is it, after 
 having so often glutted with their blood the thirst of their 
 persecutors, that they are held out as enemies to other 
 
57 
 
 nations ? Is it, when they have been bereft of all means^ 
 to mollify the hearts of their tyrants, that indignation is 
 roused, if now and then they cast a mournful look to- 
 wards the ruins of their temple, towards their country, 
 where formerly happiness crowned their peaceful days, 
 free from the cares of ambition and of riches ? — 
 
 " Since the light of philosophy began to dawn over Eu- 
 rope, our enemies have ceased to satisfy their revenge 
 with the sacrifice of our lives. Jews are no longer seen, 
 who, generously refusing to bend under the yoke of in- 
 tolerance, were led with solemn pomp to the fatal pile. 
 But, although the times of these barbarous executions 
 are past long ago, although the hearts of sovereigns are 
 now strangers to this cruelty, yet slavery itself and pre- 
 judices are still the same. By what crimes have we then 
 deserved this furious intolerance ? What is our o-uilt ? 
 Is it in that generous constancy which we have manifest- 
 ed in defending the laws of our fathers ? But this con- 
 stancy ought to have entitled us to the admiration of all 
 nations, and it has only sharpened against us the daggers 
 of persecution. Braving all kinds of torments, the pangs 
 of death, the still more terrible pangs of life, we alone 
 have withstood the impetuous torrent of time, sweep- 
 ing indiscriminately in its course nations, religions, and 
 countries. What is become of those celebrated empires, 
 whose very name still excites our admiration by the ideas 
 of splendid greatness attached to them, and whose power 
 embraced the whole surface of the known globe ? They 
 are only remembered as monuments of the vanity of hu- 
 man greatness. Rome and Greece are no more ; their de- 
 scendants, mixed with other nations, have lost even the 
 traces of their origin ; while a population of a few millions 
 of men, so often subjugated, stands the test of thirty re- 
 volving centuries, and the fiery ordeal of fifteen centuries 
 of persecution ! We still preserve laws, which were given 
 to us in the first days of the world, in the infancy of na- 
 ture ! The last followers of a religion which had embrac- 
 ed the universe have disappeared these fifteen centuries, 
 and our temples are still standing ! We alone have been 
 spared by the indiscriminating hand of time, like a co- 
 lumn left standing amidst the wreck of worlds and the 
 
58 
 
 ruins of nature. The history of this people connects pre- 
 sent times with the first ages of the world, by the testi- 
 mony which it bears of the existence of those early peri- 
 ods : it begins at the cradle of mankind, and its remnants 
 are likely to be preserved to the very day of universal 
 destruction. All men, whatever may be their opinions 
 and the party which they have adopted, \vhether they 
 suppose that the will of God is to maintain the people 
 which he has chosen ; wliether they consider that con- 
 stancy w4iich characterises the Jews as a reprehensible 
 obstinacy ; or if, lastly, they believe in a God, \\'ho, re- 
 garding all religions with equal complacency, needs no 
 other wonders to exemplify his greatness, but the inces- 
 sant and magnificent display of the beauties of nature : 
 all, if their minds are susceptible of appreciating virtue 
 and tried firmness, will not refuse their just admiration 
 to that unshaken constancy unparalleled in the annals of 
 any nation*." 
 
 How can we satisfactorily account for the wonderful 
 preservation of the dispersed Jews, M'ithout admitting, 
 w^hat is so repeatedly inculcated in prophecy, that their 
 concerns are under a Special superintendance of God's 
 providence f ? And for what puq^ose can we suppose 
 them to be thus preserved distinct among the nations, ex- 
 cept for that which is no less repeatedly declared in pro- 
 phecy, their restoration and conversion ? Assuredly the 
 time xvill arrive, when they shall be gathered out of all 
 the countries of their dispersion, and brought to the sav- 
 ing knowledge of the Gospel ; when Jews and Gentiles 
 shall jointly form only one flock ; and when the hallowed 
 name of Jesus the Messiah shall be great even to the very 
 ends of the earth. 
 
 * An appeal to the justice of iings and nations, cited in Transactions of the 
 Parisian Sanhedrim, p. 64. 
 
 •j- The Jews themselves seem to be conscious of this truth. One of thera 
 observesj that his nation, "scattered by the storm of adversity over the face 
 of the habitable globe, always unfortunate, always persecuted, always faith- 
 fully adhering^ to the religion of its ancestors in spite of tortures and of suf- 
 ferings, affords, to this very day, a striking phenomenon incomprehensible to 
 human reason." Trans^etions of the Parisian Sanliedrim, p. 165. 
 
59 
 
 PROPHECY III. 
 
 The millennian glory of Jerusalem — The rebuking of Antichrist. 
 
 Isaiah ii. 1. The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz 
 saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 
 
 2. And it shall come to pass in the end of days, that 
 the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in 
 the top of the mountains, and shalt be exalted above the 
 hills : and all nations shall flow unto it. 3. And many 
 people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to 
 the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of 
 Jacob : and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk 
 in his paths : for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and 
 the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4. And he shall 
 judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people*. 
 They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their 
 spears into pruning- hooks : nation shall not lift up sword 
 against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 
 5. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the 
 light of the Lord. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 The glories of the jmllejinian k'mgdo7n of Christy or the 
 kingdom of the mountain f, form the principal subject of 
 this prophecy. In the end of days^ or at the termination 
 of the great period of 1260 daijs^ the Jewish Church will 
 begin to be restored to her right of primogeniture. She 
 will join her younger sister, the Gentile Church ; and will 
 unite with her in receiving Jesus as the Messiah. Jeru- 
 salem will become a kind of spiritual metropolis of the 
 fifth great monarchy^ that of the Lamb : the glory of the 
 Lord will be in the midst of her : and she will be acknow- 
 ledged by all nations to be the joy of the whole earth. 
 
 * And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people."] " Both 
 by the power of his word, which is compared to a two-edged sword in Scrip- 
 ture ; and by the remarkable judgements which he will exercise upon those who 
 are incorrigible. See Luke xix. 27. Rev. six. 15. Psalm ex. 6." Mr. Lowth's 
 Comment, in loc. 
 
 t See Dan, ii. 35. 
 
The return of the converted Jews will however be op- 
 posed by the faction of Antichrist and his congregated 
 vassals. These the Lord will rebuke in his anger ; and, 
 after cutting off the irreclaimable part of the confederacy^ 
 will cause the rest to lay down their weapons of war, and 
 to humble themselves before Messiah the king. 
 
 PROPHECY IV. 
 
 The judicial blindness of the Jews — Their preservation from entire 
 
 destruction. 
 
 Isaiah vi. 8. And I heard the voice of the Lord, say- 
 ing, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us ? Then 
 said I, Here am I ; send me. 9. And he said ; Go, and 
 tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not ; and 
 see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10. Make gross the 
 heart of this people ; make their ears dull, and close up 
 their eyes ; lest they see with their eyes, and heai' with 
 their ears, and understand with their heart, and be con- 
 verted, and I should heal them. 11. And I said, Lord, 
 how long ? And he answered : Until the cities be laid 
 waste, so that there be no inhabitant ; and the houses, so 
 that there be no man ; and the land be utterly desolate ; 
 
 12. And the Lord have removed men far away ; and 
 there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. 
 
 13. And, though there be a tenth part remaining in it, 
 even this shall undergo a repeated destruction : yet, as 
 the ilex, and the oak, though cut down, hath its stock 
 remaining, so shall a holy seed be the stock of the nation. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 The remarkable judicial blindness of the Jews^ with re- 
 spect to the promised Messiah^ is here very clearly pre- 
 dicted : and, accordingly, the prophecy is so applied both 
 by our Lord himself, and by his apostles St. John and 
 St, Paul *. This blindness is to continue during the 
 
 * Matt. xiii. 14. John xli. 40. Acts xxviii. 26. 
 
01 
 
 whole time of the dispersion : and so accurately has the 
 prediction been fulfilled, that now, at the end of seven- 
 teen centuries from the sacking of Jerusalem by Titus, 
 we still behold the Jews removed far away from the land 
 of their fathers, and labouring under the same astonish- 
 ing infatuation that prompted their ancestors to crucify 
 the Lord of life. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding the general dispersion and ruin of 
 the people, a tenth part was to remain in the land ; but 
 even this scanty remnant was to undergo a repeated de- 
 struction. Nevertheless the nation itself was to be pre- 
 served in the midst of its calamities ; and, although fre- 
 quently undergoing an almost total excision, was still to 
 shoot forth again like young twigs from the stump of an 
 oak that has been cut down. The passage, in which this 
 part of the prediction is contained, " though somewhat 
 obscure, and variously explained by various interpreters, 
 yet, I think, has been made so clear by the accomplish- 
 ment of the prophecy, that there remains little room to 
 doubt of the sense of it. When Nebuchadnezzer had 
 carried away the greater and better part of the people in- 
 to captivity, there was yet a tenth remaining in the land, 
 the poorer sort, left to be vine dressers and husbandmen 
 under Gedaliah* ; and the dispersed Jews gathered them- 
 selves together, and returned to himf : yet even these, 
 fleeing into Egypt after the death of Gedaliah, contrar}^ 
 to the warning of God given by the prophet Jeremiah, 
 miserably perished there. Again, in the subsequent and 
 more remarkable completion of the prophecy in the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem and the dissolution of the common- 
 wealth by the Romans, when the Jews^ after the loss of 
 above a million of men, had increased from the scanty re- 
 sidue that w^as left of them, and had become very nume- 
 rous again in their country ; Hadrian, provoked by their 
 rebellious behaviour, slew above half a million more of 
 them, and a second time almost extirpated the nation. 
 Yet, after these signal and almost universal destructions 
 of that nation, and after so many other repeated exter- 
 mmations and massacres of them, in different times and 
 
 * 2 Kings XXV. 12, 22. \ Jer. xl. 12. 
 
m 
 
 on various occasions since, we yet see, with astonish- 
 ment, that the stock still remains, from which God, ac- 
 cording to his promise frequently given by his prophets, 
 will cause his people to shoot forth again and to flourish*." 
 
 PROPHECY V. 
 
 The birth of Christ — His second advent — The blessings of his mil- 
 lennian kingdom — The restoration and conversion of Israel — The 
 exhaustion of the mystic Euphrates and Nile — The overthrow of 
 the Antichristian sovereign of the mystic Babylon in the land of 
 Palestine- 
 Isaiah xi. 1. And there shall come forth a rod out of 
 the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his 
 roots : 2. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, 
 the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spiiit of 
 counsel and might, the Spirit of Knowledge and of the 
 fear of the Lord ; 3. And shall make him of quick un- 
 derstanding in the fear of the Lord : and he shall not 
 judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after 
 the hearing of his ears : 4. But with righteousness shall 
 he judge the poor, and with equity shall he work con- 
 viction in the meek of the eaith : and he shall smite the 
 earth with the blast of his mouth, and with the breath of 
 his lips he shall slay the wicked one. 5. And righteous- 
 ness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the 
 girdle of his reins. 6. The wolf also shall dwell with the 
 Iamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid : and 
 the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together ; 
 and a little child shall lead them. 7. And the cow and 
 the bear shall feed together ; their young ones shall lie 
 down together ; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 
 8. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the 
 asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cock- 
 
 * Bp. Lowtli's Isaiah in loc. See also IMr. Lowtli in loc. *• We ought," says 
 one of the orators in the Jewish Sanhedrim at Paris, " to return our thanks 
 to Providence, who has not suffered that the aged tree should be torn up by 
 the roots, though it has often permitted that its branches should severely suf- 
 fer." Trans, of Paris. Sanhed. p. 165. 
 
63 
 
 atrice den. 9. Tliey shall not hurt, nor destroy, in all 
 my holy mountain ; for the earth shall be full of the know- 
 ledge of the Lord, as the waters that cover the depths of 
 the sea. 
 
 10. And it shall come to pass in that day, the root of 
 Jesse, which standeth for an ensign to the peoples, unto 
 him shall the nations repair, and his resting-place shall be 
 glorious. 11. And it shall come to pass in that day, that 
 the Lord will again put forth his hand the second time, 
 to recover the remnant of his people diat remaineth, from 
 Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from 
 Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Ha- 
 math, and from the isles of the west. 12. And he shall 
 lift up a signal to the nations, and shall assemble the out- 
 easts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judali 
 from the four corners of the earth. 13. And the jealousy 
 of Ephraim shall cease ; and the enmity of Judah shall 
 be no more : Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah ; and 
 Judah shall not be at enmity with Ephraim. 14. But 
 they shall invade the borders of the Philistines westward; 
 together shall they spoil the children of the east: on Edom 
 and Moab they shall lay their hand ; and the children of 
 Amnion shall obey them. 15. And the Lord shall smite 
 with a drought the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and he 
 shall shake his hand over the river with his vehement 
 wind : and he shall smite it into seven streams, and make 
 men go over dry-shod. 16. And there shall be a high- 
 way for the remnant of his people which shall be left from 
 Assyria ; as it was to Israel in the day that he came up 
 out of the land of Egypt. 
 
 xii. 1. And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will 
 praise thee, though thou wast angry with me, thine 
 anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. 2. Be- 
 hold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be 
 afraid : for my strength, and my song, is Jehovah ; and 
 he is become unto me salvation. 3. And, when ye shall 
 draw waters with joy from the fountains of salvation ; 
 4. In that day ye shall say. Praise the Lord, call upon 
 his name, declare his doings among the people, make 
 mention that his name is exalted. 5. Sing ye unto the 
 Lord; for he hath wrought a stupendous M'ork : this is 
 
64 
 
 made manifest in all the earth. 6. Cry aloud, and shout 
 for joy, O inhabitress of Zion ; for great in the midst of 
 thee is the Holy One of Israel. 
 
 xiii. 1. The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son 
 of Amoz did see. 2. Lift ye up a banner upon the high 
 mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that 
 they may go into the gates of the nobles. 3. I have 
 given a charge to mine enrolled warriors ; I have even call- 
 ed my strong ones to" execute my wrath ; those that ex- 
 ult in my greatness. 4. A sound of a multitude in the 
 mountains, as of a great people ! A sound of the tumult 
 of kingdoms, of nations gathered together ! The Lord of 
 hosts mustereth the host for the battle. 5. They come 
 from a distant land, from the end of the heavens ; the 
 Lord, and the instruments of his wrath to destroy the 
 whole land. 6. Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at 
 hand : it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 
 7. Therefore shall all hands be slackened ; and every 
 man's heart shall melt ; and they shall be afraid. 8. Pangs 
 and sorrows shall take hold of them ; they shall be in 
 pain as a woman that travaileth : they shall look one upon 
 another with astonishment ; their countenances shall be 
 like flames of fire. 9. Behold, the day of the Lord 
 Cometh, inexorable ; even indignation, and burning 
 wrath : to make the land a desolation ; and her sinners 
 he shall destroy out of her. 10. Yea, the stars of hea- 
 ven, and the constellations thereof, shall not send forth 
 their light : the sun is dai'kened at his going forth, and 
 the moon shall not cause her light to shine. 11. And 
 I will visit the world for its evil, and the wicked for their 
 iniquity : and I will put an end to the arrogance of the 
 proud ; and I will bring down the haughtiness of the ter- 
 rible— 19. And Babylon shall become, she that was the 
 beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chal- 
 deans, as the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, by the 
 hand of God. 20. It shall not be inhabited for ever ; nor 
 shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation : neither 
 shall the Arabian pitch his tent there : neither shall the 
 shepherds make their folds there. 21. But there shall 
 the wild beasts of the deserts lodge ; and howling mon- 
 sters shall fill their houses : and there shall the daughters 
 
65 
 
 of the ostrich dwell ; and there shall the satyrs hold their 
 revels. 22. And wolves shall howl to one another in 
 their palaces ; and dragons in their voluptuous pavilions. 
 And her time is near to come ; and her days shall not be 
 prolonged. 
 
 xiv. 1. For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob, 
 and will yet choose Israel. And he shall give them rest 
 upon their own land : and the stranger shall be joined unto 
 them, and shall cleave unto the house of Jacob. 2. And 
 the nations shall take them, and bring them into their 
 own place ; and the house of Israel shall possess them in 
 the land of the Lord, as servants, and as handmaids : 
 and they shall take them captive, whose captives they 
 were ; and they shall rule over their oppressors. 
 
 3. And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord 
 shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, 
 and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to 
 serve ; 4. That thou shalt take up this parable against the 
 king of Babylon, and shalt say ; 
 
 How hath the oppressor ceased ! the exactress of gold 
 ceased ! 5- The Lord hath broken the staff of the wick- 
 ed, the sceptre of the rulers. 6. He, that smote the peo- 
 ples in wrath, with a stroke unremitted ; he, that ruled 
 the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. 
 7. The whole earth is at rest, is quiet ; they burst forth 
 into a joyful shout. 8. Even the fir-trees rejoice over 
 thee, the cedars of Libanus : Since thou art fallen, no 
 feller is come up against us. 9. Hades from beneath 
 is moved because of thee, to meet thee at thy coming : 
 he rouseth for thee the mighty dead, all the great chiefs 
 of the earth ; he maketh to rise up from their thrones all 
 the kings of the nations. 10. All of them shall accost 
 thee, and say unto thee : Art thou, even thou too, be- 
 come weak as we ? Art thou made like unto us? 11. Is 
 then thy pride brought down to the grave ; the sound of 
 thy sprightly instruments? Is the vermin become thy 
 couch,, and the earth-worm thy covering ? 12. How art 
 thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning ! 
 art cut down to the earth, thou that didst subdue the na- 
 tions ! 13. For thou didst say in thy heart : I will ascend 
 the heavens ; above the stars of God I will exalt my 
 9 
 
66 
 
 throne ; and I will sit upon the mount of the divine pre- 
 sence, on the sides of the north : 14. I will ascend above 
 the heights of the clouds ; I will be like the most High. 
 15. But thou shalt be brought down to the grave, to the 
 sides of the pit. 16. Those, that see thee, shall look atten- 
 tively at thee ; they shall well consider thee : Is this the 
 man, that made the earth to tremble ; that shook the 
 kingdoms? 17. That made the world like a desert ; that 
 destroyed the cities ? that never dismissed his captives to 
 their own home ? 18. All the kings of the nations, all of 
 them, lie down in glory, each in his own sepulchre : 19. 
 But thou art cast out of the grave, as the tree abominated ; 
 clothed with the slain, with the pierced by the sword, 
 Avith them that go down to the stones of the pit ; as a 
 trodden carcase. 20. Thou shalt not be joined unto them 
 in burial ; because thou hast destroyed thy countrj^, tliou 
 hast slain thy people : the seed of evil doers shall never 
 be renowned. 21. Prepare ye slaughter for his children, 
 for the iniquity of their fathers ; lest they rise, and possess 
 the earth ; and fill the face of the world with cities. 22. 
 For I will arise against them, saith the Lord of hosts ; and 
 I will cut oft' from Babylon the name, and the remnant, 
 and the son, and the son's son, saith the Lord ; 23. And 
 I will make it an inheritance for the porcupine, and pools 
 of water ; and I will plunge it in the mirj^ gulph of de- 
 struction, saith the Lord of hosts. 24. The Lord of hosts 
 hath sworn, saying : Surely, as I have devised, so shall 
 it be ; and, as I have purposed, that thing shall stand : 
 25. To crush the Assyrian in my land, and to trample 
 him on my mountains. Then shall his yoke depart from 
 off them ; and his burthen shall be removed from off" 
 their shoulder. 
 
 26. This is the decree, Vvdiich is determined on the 
 whole earth ; and this is the hand, which is stretched out 
 over the nations. 27. For the Lord of hosts hath de- 
 creed ; and who shall disannul it ? And it is his hand, 
 that is stretched out ; and who shall turn it back ? 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 This prediction affords one of the most remarkable 
 examples of double prophecy, that is to be met with in the 
 
67 
 
 whole of the sacred vohime. The first advent of Christ 
 is here connected with his second advent ; and the de- 
 struction of the literal Babylon^ with the overthrow of the 
 mystical Babylon, For, unless the two-fold mode of in- 
 terpretation be adopted, we shall find it impossible to 
 produce any consistent exposition of the whole prophecy. 
 
 Isaiah begins with foretelling the birth of Christ from 
 the depressed and impoverished royal house of David. 
 He thence proceeds to describe his character; and in- 
 troduces as one particular of it, a circumstance, which 
 will not be accomplished till the times of the second 
 advent. Our Lord is not only to judge tlie poor with 
 righteousness and to convince the meek with equity ; 
 but he is likewise to smite the earth with the rod of his 
 mouth, and Avith the breath of his lips to slay the wicked 
 one. This exactly accords with the prediction of St. 
 John, that he shall smite with a sharp sword, that goeth 
 out of his mouth, the congi'cgated vassals of Antichrist, 
 the kings of the Latin earth *" ; and with the parallel pre- 
 diction of St. Paul, that he shall consume that wicked 
 one, the papal man of sin, with the spirit of his mouth, 
 and destroy him with the brightness of his coming f. 
 
 Havmg described the character of the Messiah, Isaiah 
 next pourtrays in glowing colours the blessings of his 
 kingdom. The wild beasts are to lie down with the tame, 
 and are to divest themselves of their savage natures. The 
 ox is fearlessly to graze by the side of the lion, and the 
 leopard is to dandle the kid. Beautiful as is the imagery 
 of this celebrated passage J, I cannot consider it in the 
 
 * Rev. xix. 15, 19. 
 
 •}• 2 Thessal. ii. 8. It is remarkable that the j^eivs themselves understand 
 this prophecy of Isaiah to relate to the final downfal of the Ro'inan evipirCf 
 at which period they rig^htly believe that their restoration will take place. 
 " How much soever the man of sin may be exalted, and how long' soever he 
 may reign, yet at last the Lord shall consume htm with the spirit of his inoutk^ 
 and shall destroy him ivith the brightness of his coming. This is partly taken, 
 from the prophet Isaiah (xi. 4.), and 'with the breath of his lips shall he slay 
 the wicked one : where the jfews, as Lightfoot observes, put an emphasis upon 
 that word in the prophet the wicked one, as it appeareth by the Chaldee para- 
 phrast, who hath uttered it He shall destroy the wicked Roman" Bp. New- 
 ton's Dissert, xxit. 3. See also Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 + Independent of those ancient poets, Theocritus, Virgil, and Horace, and 
 of some of the Arabian and Persian poets, whom Bp. Lowth has noticed as 
 depicting with similar imagery the golden age, two at least, who have writ- 
 ten since the Christian era, have attempted to copy the beautiful strains of 
 
6% 
 
 light of a mere poetical description of a golden age. In 
 the shadoAvy dispensation of the Mosaical law, a distinc- 
 tion was made between clean and unclean meats. Of the 
 one the Jews were permitted to eat : from the other they 
 were required to abstain. Now it will be found upon ex- 
 amination, that the animals, whose flesh they were forbid- 
 den to taste, were usually typical of some vices practised 
 by the idolatrous ; and, pursuant to the type, they care- 
 fully withdrew from the fellowship and company of the 
 antitype, the heathen nations. Thus, not to notice other 
 prohibited animals, liofjSy wolves, bears, and leopards, 
 were fit emblems of rapacity, cruelty, and persecution. 
 Hence their flesh was forbidden in the Mosaical law ; and 
 hence Daniel uses some of them to symbolize the perse- 
 cuting and idolatrous empires of the Gentiles*. On the 
 other hand, the kinds of food, which the Jews were allow- 
 ed to eat, were generally the flesh of certain animals 
 emblematical of some virtue ; as the ox, oi patience and 
 industry ; the sheep, of meekness and hmocence. Conse- 
 quently, as ivild and ravenous beasts were typical of the 
 Gentiles, so tame and domestic animals were considered 
 as proper symbols of the Church of God, at that time 
 confined to the Jews\. Nor is this the mere fancy of a 
 visionary commentator : we have the express warrant of 
 inspired authority for adoi)ting such an opinion. When 
 God was about to send St. Peter to the devout Roman 
 centurion Cornelius, foreseeing his scruples, he conde- 
 scended to remove them by a vision, manifestly explana- 
 
 the Hebrew bard ; Nonnus, and Pope. The Messiah of the latter is well 
 known ; the classical reader will find the passage of tiie former, to which I 
 allude, in the 4lst book of his Dionysiacs. The following is a traiislation 
 of it: 
 
 The tawny lion for a wliile forg;ot 
 
 His nature, and with wanton gambols play'd 
 
 Around tlie fearless ox ; tlje jjenerous steed 
 
 In •jraceftil cur\-ets testified his joy; 
 
 The spotted panther froliek'd near the have; 
 
 Anil close beside the wolf, the blithsome kid 
 
 Rejoic'd secure, and gaily play'd at will 
 
 His wayward fancies. 
 
 . * See Dan. vli. 
 
 I For the reasons of the seeming' exception in Dan. viii, where two cleaft 
 animals, the ram and the goat, are used to symbolize the Persian and il/rtrf»- 
 (Ionian empires. See Bp. Newton's Dissert, xv. 
 
69 
 
 tory of this very prophecy of Isaiah. The Apostle beheld 
 a great sheet descending from heaven full of all manner 
 of animals, both wild beasts and tame beasts, both rep- 
 tiles and birds : and, while he was thus looking upon 
 objects which must have been an abomination to a pious 
 Jew, he suddenly heard a voice commanding him to kill 
 and. eat. To this command he objected, on the plea that 
 he had never eaten any thing forbidden by the law, and 
 therefore accounted profane and unclean : but he was 
 charged in return not to presume to call that unclean, 
 which God had cleansed. Now in this vision of St. Peter, 
 no mention whatsoever is made either of the Je:ws or of 
 the Gentiles, except under their types, the clean and un- 
 clean animals : and yet he found no difficulty in under- 
 standing its meaning. He conceived it to import, as it 
 undoubtedly does import, that henceforth the Jews and 
 the Gentiles were to form only one Church : and accord- 
 ingly baptized Cornelius without any further hesitation. 
 Precisely the same is the meaning of this prophecy of 
 Isaiah. It began to be fulfilled in the day of the first 
 advent, when the converted Gentiles were added to the 
 Apostles and to such other of the Jexvs as had embraced 
 Chistianity. But this is only its inchoate and imperfect 
 accomplishment : nor will it be altogether fulfilled, till 
 the Gentiles shall have ceased to destroy throughout the 
 whole of God's holy mountain,* till both Judah and Israel 
 shall be restored and converted, and till the earth shall be 
 full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover 
 the sea *. 
 
 Accordingly the prophet goes on to inform us, that in. 
 that day the root of Jesse shall be an ensign unto the peo- 
 
 * The reader will find tins point very fully and excellently discussed in the 
 third lecture on the figurative lavguage of the HoU Scriptures by the late Rev. 
 W. Jones. It is woi'thy of notice, that the Law itself, no less than the Gos- 
 pel, teaches us that the distinction befween clean and unclean meats was allusive 
 to the distinction befuieen the ye'ws and the Gentiles. " Ye sh: 11 not walk in the 
 manners of the nations wliich 1 cast out before you — 1 am fhe Lord your God, 
 which have separated you from other people ; ye shall therefore put a differ- 
 ence between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean. 
 — and ye shall be holy unto me ; for I, the Lord, am holy, and have severed 
 you from other people that ye should be mine." (Levit. xx. 23.) Mr. Jones 
 justly remarks, that "this passage puts the moral intention of the distinction 
 of meats out of dispute, and is indeed a direct affirmation of it : the people of 
 God were to avoid unclean meats, as a sign that he had separated them from 
 unclean Gentiles to be holy unto himself." 
 
70 
 
 pies, tfiat the nations shall repair unto him, and that his 
 resting-place shall be glorious. Whether by this ensign 
 we are to understand the manifestatioii of the Shechinah 
 immediately before the destruction of Antichrist, to w hich 
 distant nations will humbly repair, bringing along with 
 them the dispersion of Israel; or the metaphorical unfurl- 
 ing of the banner of the cross, may perhaps admit of a 
 doubt. The last idea however, namely that of a general 
 dijfusiofi of Christianity, is necessarily involved in the 
 former. To this ensign both Je^vs and Gentiles will ulti- 
 mately seek : for the whole Israel of God, Ephraim as 
 well as Judah, will be converted and restored ; and the 
 whole Gentile world, after the overthrow of the Antichris- 
 tian faction, will embrace the profession of pure and vi- 
 tal religion*. In order as it were, that we may not mis- 
 take the restoration here predicted for the restoration from 
 the literal Babylon, Isaiah carefully teaches us, that the 
 Lord shall put forth his hand a second time to recover the 
 remnant of his peoplef ; and that, not merely from As- 
 syria and other eastern regions, but likewise from the 
 isles of the west, or the maritime regions of Europe. He 
 moreover teaches us that Ephraim and Judah shall both 
 be restored ; that their former enmity shall be done away ; 
 and that henceforth they shall jointly form only one na- 
 tion. And he adds certain circumstances peculiar to the 
 final resto7-ation of Israel. Edom, Moab, and Ammon, 
 which had escaped out of the hand of AntichristX, are to 
 become subject, both temporally and spiritually, I appre- 
 
 * " Wlien the ten tribes made a separation from yuda/i, Ephraim was look- 
 ed upon as the principal tribe of that separation, and is often put iov Israel, as 
 that was a distinct kingdom from yudah. Thus the word is taken here ; and 
 the verse imports, that the quarrels and dissentions which used to be be- 
 t.ween those two rival kingdoms shall be quite at an end, and they shall both 
 be governed by one king, the Messiah. We may further observe, that in 
 most of the prophecies, when the general restoration of */ie ye^us is foretold, 
 Israel msH judah are joined together, as equally sharers in the blessing." 
 Lowth's Comment, on Isaiah xi. 13. 
 
 f •« I take tliis part of the chapter," says Mr. Lowth very justly, "from the 
 tenth verse en ward, to foretell those glorious times of the Church which shall 
 be ushered in by the restoration of the ^eivish nation ,- when they shall em- 
 "brace the Gospel, and be restored to their own country from the several dis- 
 persions where they are scattered. This remarkable scene of Providence is 
 plainly foretold by most of the prophets of the Old Testament, and by St. 
 Paul in the New." Comment, on Isaiah :xi. 11- 
 
 tJDan. xi.41. 
 
71 
 
 hend, to the house of Jacob * : the tongue of the Egyptian 
 sea, or the widely overflowifig Nile, is to be dried upf: and 
 the river of Assyria, or the great river Euphrates, is to 
 be smitten into seven streams, so that the ancient people 
 of the Lord may pass over it dry-shod. In the symboli- 
 cal language of prophecy, rivers denote bodies politic : 
 whence the drying up of rivers signifies the overthrow of 
 those bodies politic xvhich they typify. Accordingly, in the 
 parallel passage of Zechariah, this exhaustion of the mys- 
 tical Nile and Euphrates is so explained J. We are 
 taught, that these two political rivers are to be dried up, 
 in order that there may be a highway for the relnnant of 
 Israel out of the land of Assyria : but, whether they will 
 be dried up precisely at the same time, does not appear 
 either from Isaiah or Zechariah. We may gather how- 
 ever from other prophecies which treat of the same sub- 
 ject, that the exhaustion of the Euphrates will precede 
 the exhaustion of the Nile : though, how great an inter- 
 val there will be between the two events, is no where de- 
 finitely said. St. John informs us, that the Euphrates 
 will be dried up under the sixth vial, that a way may 
 be prepared for the kings from the rising of the sun : and 
 he places the expedition and destruction of Antichrist sub- 
 sequent to it, under the seventh vial, yet without making 
 any mention of Egypt or the Nile. Daniel, on the other 
 
 * It is possible however that these nations ought to be understood mysti- 
 cally, as typifying" the various members of the Ant i christian confederacy. Such 
 an interpretation of the passage is preferred by Mr. Lowth ; and it accords 
 no doubt with various prophecies that foretell the restoration of the yews. 
 " These people," says he, " were all boi-derers upon Palestine, and took all 
 occasions to shew their spite and 111 will against the yenxs. Upon which 
 account, in the prophetical dialect, tliey are often used in a general sense foi' 
 the enemies of God's truth and people. The meaning therefore of the place 
 is, that God's people should have a complete victory over their enemies; 
 whether they be the associates oi Antichrist, or of whatsoever other denomi- 
 nation." Comment, on Isaiah xi. 14. 
 
 t Roth here, and in a succeeding prophecy (Isaiah xix. 5.), the Egyptian sea 
 appears to mean the Nile, whether literal or symbolical, which, at the period 
 of its overflowing, covers the country like a sea. (See Mr. Lowth in Loc.) 
 This language is probably borrowed from the phraseology of the Egyptians 
 themselves, who were wont, as we are informed by Diodorus Sicidus,- to 
 style their river the Ocean. '0/ yu^ AtyvTrliot vanci^na-iv Qxexvov eivxi rev 
 7rx^' xvleig velx/Mv N«Aoy. (Blbl. Hist. L. 1. p. 12.) It is observable how- 
 ever, that Jeremiah in a similar manner calls the Euphrates the sea, when 
 predicting the future state of Babylon in consequence of the mannerin w^ich 
 it was taken by Cyrus. Compare Jerem, li, 42. with Bp. Newton's Dissert, x. 
 vol. I. p. 298, 309. 
 
 -. Zechar.x. 11. 
 
72 
 
 hand, does not take any notice of the exliaustion of the 
 Euphrates ; but he gives a very minute account of the 
 expedition of Antichrist^ and represents his conquest of 
 E^ypt as being one of his very latest exploits. Hence it 
 is plain, that, since the Euphrates is to be dried up pre- 
 vious to the expedition of Antichrist^ and since Egypt is 
 to fall into his hands during the cowse of that expedition, 
 the two events, which Isaiah and Zechariah connect to- 
 gether, are not contemporary ; though, how long the one 
 will precede the other, can only be determined by the 
 event. 
 
 As for the great river Euphrates, it symbolizes, as 
 we may conclude very unequivocally from the Apoca- 
 lypse, the Ottoman empire, of which Assyria w^as the cra- 
 dle, and of which it still remains a principal province : 
 and, by comparing the prophecy of St. John respecting 
 its exhaustion with the parallel prophecies of Isaiah and 
 Zechariah respecting the same circumstance, we may de- 
 termine, whh perhaps as much certainty as matters of 
 this nature are capable of, that the kings from the east 
 mean the dispersed of Israel. St. John informs us, that 
 the great river Euphrates will be dried up previous to 
 the expedition of Antichrist, in order to prepare a way 
 for the kings from the east : Isaiah and Zechariah concur 
 in declaring, that both the Egyptian sea or the A' He, and 
 the river by which name the Jeivs w^ere AAont simply and 
 by way of eminence to s|7eak of the Euphrates, will be 
 dried up, in order that there may be a highway for the 
 remnant of God's people from Egypt and from Assyria. 
 Since then this exhaustion of the Euphrates, predicted 
 alike by Isaiah, Zechariah, and St. John, is manifestly to 
 take place in the last days, or during the tyrannical reign 
 of Atitichrist ; and since it is equally to prepare a way 
 for the kings from the east, and for the remnant of Israel 
 from the eastern region of .Assyria : we seem to be com- 
 pelled, as it were, to adopt the conclusion, that the kings 
 from the east are the remnant of Israel. 
 
 That the river spoken of by Isaiah and Zechariah, is 
 in those passages, no less than in many others ^, the Eu- 
 
 * See 1 Kin^s Iv. 21— Psalm Ixxii. 8.— Psalm Ixxx. 11. in which three pas- 
 sag'es, the dominions of Solomon are characterized, as extending from the 
 '■iiifr, that is the river Euphrates, to the sea and the uttermost parts of tlie 
 
73 
 
 phrates and not the Nile, is abundantly evident from the 
 context. Zechariah explains the smiting of the river, 
 and the sea, by the bringing doivn the pride of Assyria, 
 and by causing the sceptre of Egypt to depart away. And 
 both he and Isaiah alike represent this exhaustion as be- 
 ing preparatory to the return of Israel out of Assyria and 
 Egypt. Now it is obvious, since the smiting of the sea 
 and the river denotes literally the humbling of Egypt and 
 Assyria, that the sea must mean the Nile, and that the 
 river must mean the Euphrates. And the matter will be 
 yet more evident, when we consider the consequences of 
 the smiting. It was to prepai'e a way for Israel, not only 
 out of Egypt, but likewise out of Assyria. But how 
 could the S7niting of the Nile, or, in other words, the 
 overthrow of the Egyptian government, prepare a way 
 for Israel to come out of Assyria ? Hence it is plain, that 
 the sea means one thing, and the river another : and hence 
 the Chaldee Paraphrast very sensibly explains what is 
 simply, termed the river by the river Euphrates^'. The 
 purport therefore of the prophecy is this : that, by the 
 overthrow of the Ottoman empire, and by the disso- 
 lution of the then existhig go^^ernment of Egypt (pro- 
 bably the Mamaluc government), a way will be pre- 
 pared for the return of the lost ten tribes. By what power 
 the Ottoman empire will be subverted, we are not posi- 
 tively told ; but we learn from Daniel, that the govern- 
 ment of Egypt will be overturned by Antichrist after h^ 
 has overrun Palestine. 
 
 Whether the division of the jnystic Euphrates into ss-^ 
 ven streams denotes some septipartite divisioji of the Tur- 
 kish empire at the period of its overthrow , or whether 
 
 earth. I think there are passag'es in Scripture, which afford ns some war- 
 rant for believing, that these will likewise be the limits of Israel after the 
 final restoration. Compare Psalm Ixxii. 8. with Zechar. ix. 9, 10. — Isaiah xi. 14. 
 — xlix. 19, 20. — and Gen. xv. 18. The extensive dotnlnions of Solomon seem to 
 be typical of the same extensive doTninions of Israel, when fully restored, and 
 united imder one king the IMessiah, of whom Solomon was only a shadow. 
 
 * " Elevabit plagam fortitudinis suse super Euphratem." Wolf>i;-ang Mii^- 
 culus adopts the same interpretation : ♦' Super fluvium, id est, Euphratem." 
 (Wolfgang. Muse. Comment, in Isaiam in loc.) INIr. Lowth thinks that the 
 Nile is intended by the river. Yet he allows, that the drying up of this river 
 imports the same as the exhaustion of the Euphrates in the Apocalypse. If 
 such then be the case, I see not how it is possible for the river to be any 
 •other than the Euphrates. Comment, on Isaiah si. 1.5, 16. 
 
 10 
 
74 
 
 tlie expression is only to be generally understood as ex- 
 hibiting to us the manner in Avhich a large river may be 
 rendered insignifictmt and shallow by conducting its wa- 
 ters along six or more additional artificial channels*, it 
 would be in vain at present to attempt to determine. 
 That the overthrow of the Ottoman monarchy will in the 
 hand of Providence be instrumental in bringing about 
 the restoration of the ten tribes^ cannot however, as it ap- 
 pears to me, be reasonably doubted. 
 
 It may be worth our while to consider, whether this 
 prophecy, respecting the drijing up of the Euphrates, 
 may not receive a literal, no less than a symbolical, ac- 
 complishment. I doubt whether we have any right to in- 
 terpret the prediction of St. John in such a manner, be- 
 cause he appears altogether to confine himself to the lan- 
 guage of symbols! ; but a greater latitude of exposition 
 may perhaps be allowable in discussing a prophecy of 
 Isaiah or Zechariah. Now we know, that, \a hene\'er the 
 Israelites shall return into tlieir own land from Assyria 
 and other more eastern regions, they niust necessarily 
 cross the literal Euphrates : and it is very remarkable, 
 that Isaiah expressly compares their restoration from As- 
 syria with their ancient exodus from Egypt, and attaches 
 this comparison to a prediction respecting the drying up 
 of the grea- river. A question therefore naturally arises, 
 How will the yet future restoration of the Israelites from 
 Assyria resemble their ancient exodus from Egypt, unless 
 lliey then miraculously pass through the Euphrates, as 
 they heretofore miraculously passed through the Red sea 
 iind the river Jordan? I can discover nothing absurd, 
 either in adopting the opinion that at the destruction of 
 Antichrist there will be a preternatural manifestation of 
 God's glory, or in thinking it not improbable that they 
 ma}- be led by the arm of the Lord through the very 
 midst of the Euphrates. 
 
 Having now conducted the whole house of Israel, 
 Ephraim as well as Judah, into their own land, the pro- 
 
 * See Herod. L i. C. 189. 
 
 f 1 of course except a few passages in the Apocalypse, whicli appear to 
 be avowedly descriptive, and which according-ly have been so understood by 
 most commentators. 
 
75 
 
 phet puts into their mouth a solemn hymn of praise and 
 victory. He represents them, as giving thanks unto the 
 Lord for having turned away his anger from them, and 
 for having comforted them ; as joyfully drawing living 
 waters from the fountains of salvation ; as celebrating the 
 stupendous work of their conversion and restoration, a 
 work made manifest in all the earth ; and as exulting in 
 the glorious appearance of the Holy One in the midst of 
 Jerusalem. Such we may conceive will be the songs of 
 the ancient people of God, when brought to the know- 
 ledge of the crucified Redeemer, and when forming the 
 eldest branch of the triumphant millennian Church *. 
 
 The part of the prophecy, which I have hitherto ex- 
 amined, may by itself be considered as a perfect whole ; 
 inasmuch as it predicts the restoration ofJadah and Israel, 
 points out the mode in which a way will be prepared for 
 that restoration, hints at the overthrow of Ajitichrist, and 
 describes the glory and happiness oftheMUlenmum. Isaiah 
 however, in a manner not unusual with the ancient pro- 
 phets, of which we shall hereafter see many instances, 
 resumes, in the loth and lA-th chapters, a division of his 
 subject, conceming which he had as yet spoken but 
 slightly ; I mean the overthrow of the Antwhistian con- 
 federacy. This confederacy he exhibits to us under t|ie 
 mystic name of Babylon, a name used for the same pur- 
 pose by St. John in the Revelation. There is a diflfer- 
 ence nevertheless in the mamief wherein the two pro- 
 phets apply the name. St. John, writing after the down- 
 fal of the literal Babylon, uses the appellation mystically 
 alone ; and describes under that title the papal Boman 
 empire, both temporal and spiritual, as is manifest from 
 the compound symbol of the woman riding uponthe ten- 
 horned beast, and (I may add) from the general context 
 of the Apocalypse. Whereas Isaiah, writing before the 
 downfal of the literal Babylon, uses the appellation both 
 literally and mystically : and thus predicts the overthrow 
 both of the literal and the mystical Babylon. Yet, so far 
 as the arrangement of his prophecy is concerned, he seems 
 
 * " This chapter (Isaiah xii.) is arhymn of praise proper to be used in that 
 triumphant state of the Church described in the foregoing' chapter." ArgUr 
 jnent to Lowtli's Comment, on Isaiah xii. 
 
76 
 
 to devote the 13 th chapter principally J:o the one, and the 
 14th to the other ; though, I beheve, without excluding 
 a double meaning from either chapter. 
 
 But it may naturally be asked, What is my authority 
 for adopting this double mode of interpretation? Why may 
 not the whole prophecy be applied to the literal Babylon? 
 And why should it be supposed to have any connection 
 with the prophecy, which may not improperly be thought 
 to conclude with the 12th chapter. 
 
 I answer, that my author it} , even independent of cer- 
 tain remarkable passages contained in the prophecy of 
 the burden of Babylon^ y for adopting this double mode 
 of interpretation is the opening of the 14th chapter. It is 
 there predicted, that the Lord will have compassion on 
 Jacobs and will yet choose Israel ; that he will give them 
 rest in their own land ; that the stranger shall be joined 
 linto them, and shall cleave unto the house of Jacob; that 
 the nations sliall take them, and bring them into their own 
 place ; that the house of Israel shall possess them, as ser- 
 vants and as handmaids, in the land of the Lord ; that 
 they shall take those captive, whose captives they were ; 
 and that they shall rule over their oppressors. No^v, when 
 all these matters are accomplished ; when the Lord has 
 given them rest from their affliction, from their d)squiet, 
 and from their hard servitude : in that day^ they are to 
 take up a pai'able against their fallen enemy, the king of 
 Babylon. These matters however can by no means be 
 said to have been accomplished merely by the restora- 
 tion of Judah from the Babylonian captivity\. Here the 
 whole house of Jacob is to be brought back : tJien Judah 
 alone returned ; for it is little better than a quibble, as 
 Bp. Horsley justly observes, to interpret the prophecies 
 respecting the general restoration of Israelis accomplish- 
 ed in the return of a few scattered individuals of the ten 
 tribes with Judah. Here the stranger is to be joined unto 
 them, an august prediction of the gathering in of the 
 Gentiles to the millennian Churchy the eldest branch of 
 which will be the converted of Israel : then, if the pro- 
 phecy be applied to the restoration of Judah from Baby- 
 
 * These will presently be noticed and commented upon. 
 t See Mr. Lowth's Comment, on Isaiah xiv. 1, ?. 
 
77 
 
 Ion, a single proselyte was occasionally converted to the 
 law ; and latterly at least, as our Lord assures us, the 
 conversion of such proselytes served only to make them, 
 two-fold more children of hell than their Pharisaical con- 
 verters*. Here the nations are to take them, and to bring 
 them into their own place : then the Jews were restored 
 by the instrumentality of the Medo- Persians only. Here 
 the house of Israel is to possess those nations that restored 
 them, as servants and as handmaids ; by which, I sup- 
 pose, we are to understand, that they shall acknowledge 
 the primogeniture of the Levitical Church, and both tem- 
 porally and spiritually minister to its restoration and sup- 
 port ■\ : then the Jews did not possess their restorers the 
 Persians, as servants and as handmaids, in ani/ sense that 
 the words are capable of. Here they aie to take those 
 captive, whose captives they were, and are to rule over 
 their oppressors : then the Jews neither took any of the 
 Babylonians captive, nor exercised any authority over the 
 nation that had oppressed them. In short, if we admit 
 this part of the prophecy to have been at all accomplished 
 at the return of Judah from Babylon, we can only admit it 
 in a very lax and vague manner, in a merely inchoate 
 and imperfect sense. Every member of it compels us to 
 look forward to the yet future restoration of the whole 
 house of Israel ; and every member of it will admit of a 
 most easy and natural interpretation, if we do thus look 
 forward. Accordingly Bp. Lowth, induced (I appre- 
 hend) by such a train of reasoning as I have here drawn 
 out at length, observes very justly, that " the name of 
 Jacob and Israel, used apparently with design in this 
 place, each of which names includes the twelve tribes ; 
 and other circumstances, mentioned in the two first verses 
 of the \A>th chapter, which did not in any complete sense 
 accompany the return from the captivity of Babylon ; 
 seem to intimate, that this whole prophecy extends its 
 views beyond that event J." And, if it do extend its 
 
 * Matt, xxiii. 15. 
 
 t See Isaiah ii. 1— 5— xlix.22, 23— Ix— Ixvi. 12, 19, 20— Rom. xi. 11—36, 
 
 4 Mr. Lowth, like myself, supposes Isaiah xi. xii. xiii. and xiv. to form one 
 
 continued prophecy ; nay he even extends it somewhat unwarrantably, I 
 
 think, to the end of chap, xxvii. He very justly maintains, that the Babylon 
 
 of this prediction must unavoidably be understood in a double sense. " Aftei* 
 
78 
 
 vicAvs beyond that event, to what can it extend them ex* 
 cept the final atid general restoration of the house of Jacob? 
 And, if it extend its views to this final restoration^ as it 
 plainly must do, then both Babylon and her king must 
 be understood mystically. For it is said, that, in the day 
 of that very 7'estoration and deliverance which the prophet 
 had been so fully describing, the people of the Lord shall 
 take up their parable against the king of Babylon. But 
 the literal Babylon has long since been blotted out of the 
 list of nations. Therefore the Babylon^ which is to be 
 destroyed at the era of the yet future 7'estoration of Isreal, 
 can only be a mystical Babylon : and consequently its 
 king can only be a mystical king of Babylon"^. 
 
 The accurate completion of the prophecy, particularly 
 that part of it Aviiich is contained in the loth chapter, in 
 the doxvnfal and present state of the literal Babylon, I 
 shall pass over as being foreign to my subject : observ- 
 ing only, that the day of its overthrow is styled the 
 day of the Lord, as being typical of the great day of the 
 second advent ; that is represented as being attended with 
 signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, the usual pro- 
 phetic imagery to describe political revolutions f ; and 
 that the prediction, respecting the present desolate state 
 of Babylon, has been manifestly copied and transferred 
 by St. John to the future state of tJie mystical Babylon. %, 
 
 the description of those glorious times which sliould come to pass in the lat- 
 ter days, the propliet foretells the destruction of God's enemies, and begins 
 with Babylon, whither God's people were to he carried captive, and tlierefore 
 was a t} pe or figure of Antiduist the great oppressor of God's Church in 
 after times. And wlioever carefdly considers se\ erul particulars in this and 
 the next chapter (Isaiah xiii xiv.)) and compares them with tlie foi-mer part 
 of chap. x.\i. with chap xlvii. and Jerem. 1. and li. which treat of the same 
 subject, will easily find that these prophecies have an aspect bcNond the \.ak- 
 ins; of Bab,'lo7i by Cyrus, inasmuch as the prophets describe this judgment as 
 a decisive stroke, that sliould tlioroughly vindicate the cause of oppressed 
 Irutli and innocence, and put a final period to idolatr} and to all tlie miseries 
 and oppressions of God's people." Argument to Comment, on Isaiah xiii." 
 
 * ]Mr. Lowth remarks, that Isaiah xiv. is " a continuation of the same sub- 
 ject" as that treated of in the three preceding chapters, " containing a pre- 
 diction of tlie utter downfal of the Babylonian empire and extirpation of the 
 royal family there, under which description is fig-uratively represented the 
 destruction of the powers of Antichrist ; tlie consequence of which would be 
 the deliverance and restoration of the Jewish nation in particular, and of the 
 Churcii in general." Argument to Comment, on Isaiah xiv. 
 
 f See Mr. I^owtli on Isaiah xiii. 10. 
 
 + Compare Isaiah xiii 15— C2 with Rev. xviii. 2, 22, 23. Mr. Lowth re- 
 marks, tiiat from the tenor of ver. 19, "we may conclude that this prophecy 
 
79 
 
 I have observed, that the mystical Babylon is the tbhole 
 papal Roman empire^ both temporal and spiritual ; whieh, 
 at the era of the final restoi-ation ofJudah^ will have coa- 
 lesced into a g7-aiid confederacy of the beast under his last 
 or Carlovingian head^ the false prophet or the Eomish 
 hierarchy^ and the vassal federal kings of the Latin earth. 
 Such being the case, it may be a matter of some doubt, 
 whether by the king of Babylon we are to understand the 
 temporal J or the spiritual^ chief of the Roman empire ; the 
 Carlovingian head (which recent events apparently teach 
 us to identity with the infdel ylntichristian king J ^ or the 
 false prophet. There are certainly many points of resem- 
 blance in the predicted character of this mystical king of 
 Babylon, which mig'ht lead us to conceive him to be the 
 apostate bishop of Rome ; and there is undoubtedly no 
 small similarity between his character and that of the 
 prince of Tyre^ as exhibited to us by Ezekiel, who teach- 
 es us like Isaiah to refer the overthrow of this prince to 
 the days of the final restoration of Israel"^. Now the 
 prince of Tyre^ as I shall hereafter shew at large, can on- 
 i}', from the description which is given of him, be the 
 papal man of sin : whence we might suppose, that the 
 king of Babylon, who is to perish at the very same era 
 with the mystical prince of Tyre, must be the papal ma7i 
 of sin likewise, or the spiritual sovereign of the Roma?i 
 empire. This however, I apprehend, is not the case ; for 
 there is a sufficient degree of difference between the two 
 portraits to shew that they cannot both have been intend- 
 ed for the same person. 
 
 The prince of Tyre is represented as having once been 
 perfect, and as afterwards corrupting himself; as having 
 lo7ig been in the holy mountain of God, whence he is at 
 length cast out on account of his sins ; and as defiling 
 his sanctuaries hy the iniquity of his traffic. Whereas 
 the king of Babylon is depicted as having been uniformly 
 corrupt ; as oppressing the nations with armed violence, 
 
 looks further to anothei" 5«Z>y/oH, mentioned in the Revelation. This isi 
 preg'nunt instanoe among' many others, that the mystical sense of several pro- 
 phecies, that is, the sense which is more remotely intended, comes nearer to 
 the letter of the prophecies than that which some call the literal sense, and 
 think to have been immediately designed by the prophet." 
 * See Ezek. xxviii. 
 
80 
 
 rather than seducing them by iniquitous blandishments ; 
 and as meditating, only at the time of the completio?i of 
 the prophecy^ to sit upon the mount of the divine pre- 
 sence, on the sides of the north. In other respects there 
 is a considerable resemblance between their characters. 
 There is in short much the same difference and much the 
 same resemblance between them, that there is between 
 Daniel's infidel king and St. Paul's man of sin : and I am 
 strongly inclined to believe, that the two portraits are al- 
 together distinct, and were drawTi by Isaiah and Ezekiel 
 for the ttvo sovereigns^ temporal and spiritual^ of the La- 
 tin empire ; in other words, the Carlovingian head of the 
 beast when wilted with Antichrist^ and the false Romish 
 prophet. 
 
 But let us examine, how far the character of the mys- 
 tical king of Babylon will answer to that of the infidel 
 king. 
 
 They are both to be oppressors : they are both to be no- 
 torious exactors of gold : they are both to smite the peo- 
 ples with unremitting strokes, and to rule the nations in 
 their fuiy. If the king of Babylon is to sit in the mount 
 of the divine presence ; the infidel king is to pitch the 
 curtains of his pavilions in the glorious holy mountain 
 between the seas : and, if the king of Babylon is to be 
 crushed in the land of God, and to be trampled down in 
 his mountains ; the infidel king is, in the very same re- 
 gion and at the very period, namely that of the final re- 
 storation of Judah^ to come to his end, none being able 
 to help him*. The prince of Tyre indeed is said to be 
 cast out of the holy mountain : but, in his case, the holy 
 mountain must be understood, not of the literal mount 
 Zion, but of the Christian Church ; because he is de- 
 jscribed as having long been in it, even durhig his perfect 
 or uncorrupted statef. Whereas, in the case of the king 
 cf Babylon^ the mount of the divine presence must, like 
 the holy mountain betiveen the seas mentioned by Daniel, 
 be understood literally : both because the king is not saicj^ 
 
 * Mr Lowth, like myself, supposes Isaiah xiv. 13. and Dan. xi. 45 to be 
 parallel passages. Comment, on Dan. xi. 45 
 
 t Compare Isaiah xiv. 13. with Ezek. xxviii. 14, 15, 16. The whole con- 
 text of this latter passage shews, that it can only be understood figuratively. 
 But it will be discussed at large hereafter in its proper place. 
 
like the prince of Tyre, to have sat there in a perfect state, 
 but only in the course of those events which terminate in 
 his destruction ; and because it is afterwards laterally pre- 
 dicted that his overthrow shall take place in Palestine. 
 Hence w^e must, I think, as in the parallel prophecy of 
 Daniel, understand the k'mg''s sitt'mg in the mountain of 
 tJie divine presence, and liis afterumrds perishing in the 
 holy land, as absolutely literal matters of tact. And here 
 I may remark, that the region, assigned for the destruc- 
 tion of the king of Babylon, namely, Palestine*, suffici- 
 ently shews, that Isaiali meant to describe a mystical cha- 
 racter, and not to confine his prophecy merely to the lite- 
 ral king of Babylon. The literal sovereigii of Assyria 
 was assuredly never crushed in the mountain of God''s 
 land ; but his empire, as it is well known, was broken by 
 the Medo- Persians in the very midst of his capital city. 
 Bp. Lowth accordingly observes, that " the circumstance 
 of this judgment's being to be executed on God^s moiin- 
 tains is of importance f." He refers us indeed primarily 
 to the destruction of Sennacherib'' s army near Jerusalem ; 
 but supposes that the prophecy may have a still further 
 view to the overthrow of Gog and Magog, as predicted 
 l^y Ezekiel :L. In thus stating the matter, I certainly think 
 him altogether mistaken, except in his opinion that the 
 prophecy yet remains to be fulfilled : for the destruction 
 of Sennacherib was not at all connected even m ith the 
 return of Judah from the Babylonian captivity ; and the 
 overthrow of Gog and Magog, as we shall hereafter see, 
 will not take place at the era of the final restoi'ation of 
 Israel, but at the close of the Millemiium. 
 
 If in some points the character of the mystical king of 
 Babylon resemble that of the infdel king, in others it no 
 less resen:ibles that of the Roman beast under his Carlo- 
 vingian head, when organizing a confederacy of vassal 
 
 * " Surely, as I have devised, so shall it be ; and, as I have purposed, that 
 thing shall stand : to crush the Assyrian in my land, and to trample him on 
 my mountains." Isaiali xiv. 24, 25. 
 
 ■)" Mr. Lowth has much tlie same observation. " To make this part of the 
 verse (ver. 25.) agree better with what follows, then shall the yoke depart 
 frovi thy neck, which words imply the final deliverance of God's people ; I 
 am apt to think, that by the Assyrian may be meant some remarkable enemies 
 of God^s Church." Comment, in loc. 
 
 4 Ezek, xxxix. 4. 
 
 11 
 
82 
 
 kings, and planning an expedition against Palestine. In 
 the symbolical language of prophecy, he is styled the 
 bright 7no7'mng stai\ pre-eminent in lustre above all the 
 other stars or sovereign princes of the political firma- 
 ment : and he is represented, as proudly saying in his 
 heart, / xuill ascend the heavens ; my empire shall be an 
 universal one, extending over the whole heaven of royalty ; 
 above the stars of God, above all the anointed vice-gerents 
 of the Lord, I will exalt my throne ; subject to my fede- 
 ral infuence, and owing their very existence to me, they 
 shall be mere vassals of my empire ; I will be a king of 
 kings ; 1 7vill be the sole effective head of a vast body po- 
 litic ; I xvill ascend above tJie heights of the clouds ; I 
 will be like the Most High. Do we not in this descrip- 
 tion recognize the beast under his last head, aiming at 
 universal empire, possessing an unbounded sway over 
 many vassal princes, and daring in the last stage of his 
 mad impiety to contend even with God himself? 
 
 The sum of the whole matter is this. We have here 
 exhibited to us, under the mystic name of the king of 
 Babylon, a power destined to perish, at the yet future era 
 o^the restoration ofJudah, in the land of Palestine ; after 
 it has exercised a most merciless tyrannj^ o\'er the sur- 
 rounding nations, and after it has seated itself in the mount 
 of the divine presence. We learn from Daniel, that a 
 certain poxver, which should begin to manifest itself sub- 
 sequent to the reformation, and which for reasons both cir- 
 cumstantial and chronological can only be infidel France-^, 
 will perform the very same actions, and will afterwards 
 perish, at the very same time, and in the very same coun- 
 try. We further learn from St. John, that the power, 
 which is to do and sufi'er all this, will be the last head of 
 the Roman beast, contri\'ing and infliiencing a confederacy 
 of the Pope and the Popish sovereigns of the Latin em- 
 pire^. Now, upon turning from prophecy to facts, we 
 find all these predictions, at once harmonizing together, 
 and wonderfully according with existing circumstances. 
 The republic of France, after running the mad career by 
 which the first stage of the infidel king^s existence is so 
 
 * See my Dissertation on tie 1260 days, Chap. 6. 
 
 t See my Dissert, on the 1260 daj's. Vol. ii. p. 363 (2d edit. p. 404.) 
 
strongly tnarked, is become a military despotism. Recent 
 events have made the chief of that despotism the undoubt- 
 ed representative of Charlemagne, by whose very name 
 indeed his servile flatterers deliglit to call him ; and con- 
 sequently have made him the last or Carlovingia?! head of 
 the beast. And scarcely has he acquired this long covet- 
 ed pre-eminence, ere he ht^ms to ^orm. a conspiracy of 
 federal kings as himself indeed scruples not to call them ; 
 a conspiracy^ the rise of which we are taught by St. John 
 to expect about this very period, and which, under the 
 sixth apocalyptic vial, after the Ottoman empire shall have 
 been overthrown, will begin to be g-athered by secret di- 
 abolical influence to Megiddo in Palestine *. The end of 
 the monster few perhaps of the present generation M'ill 
 behold : yet that end is unanimously predicted by the in- 
 spired prophets who treat of the restoration of Judah ; 
 and, from the accuracy with which all that they have fore- 
 told respecting this impious tyranny has been hitherto 
 accomplished, we cannot doubt that all which they have 
 declared respecting its end will be no less accurately ac- 
 complished. 
 
 Let any person, with these views of the subject, care- 
 fully peruse the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah, and, I think, 
 he cannot but be struck with its wonderful exactness of 
 description. Judah and Israel, now restored to their own 
 country, exult over the downfal of a mystic king of Ba- 
 bylon; M'hose empire is characterized as a rapacious ex- 
 actress of gold, and himself as a merciless oppressor of 
 the nations. The Lord hath broken the staff" of the wick- 
 ed, the sceptre of the rulers ; the sceptre of him that smote 
 the peoples in his wrath, that ruled the nations in his an- 
 ger. By his fall the whole earth is at rest : and all, that 
 behold it, exclaim ; "Is this the man that made the earth 
 to tremble; that shook tlie kingdoms; that made the world 
 like a desert ; that destroyed the cities ? How art thou 
 fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning ! How 
 
 * It is a curious circumstance, that in one of the speeches, detailed by the 
 Moniteur as delivered to the legislative body, the political system, which we 
 now behold rapidly advancing to maturity, is styled a confederacy and a pious 
 league. 
 
84 
 
 Ttrt tliou cut down to the earth, thou thjit didst subdue 
 the nations ! Thou didst say in th\^ heart : I will ascend 
 the heavens ; above the stars of God I will exalt my 
 tlirone ; I will sit upon the mount of the divine presence, 
 on the sides of the north ; I will ascend above the heights 
 of the clouds ; I will be like the Most High. But thou 
 shalt be brought down to the gra^'e, to the sides of the 
 pit. Thou shalt be crushed in the land of the Lord ; thou 
 shalt be trampled upon in his mountains. Thy yoke shall 
 depart from oft' Judah ; thy burden shall be removed from 
 oft' their shoulder *." 
 
 Such will be the destruction of Ajitichrist : but the 
 prophet, by " one of the boldest prosopo^Doeias that ever 
 was attempted in poetry," cai-ries us yet beyond his de- 
 
 • Vitringa supposes, that this prophecy respecting' the king of Babylon will 
 receive its ultimate accomplisliment in the downful of the Papacy. Thougli I 
 think that the cliaracter of this mystic sovereign corresponds much better witli 
 the iiifidel tyrant than the Pope, the interpretation of Vitringa is nevertheless 
 important, as it shews his decided opinion, like that of tlie two Lowths, te 
 have been, that we must look beyo7id the literal king of Babylon for the com- 
 plete fnlfilment of the prediction. 
 
 "Imperii vero Babylonici, ad quod Joannes in Apocalypsl alludit, quo 
 modo in hac prophetia describitur, hi sunt cliaracteres. a.- Est imperium 
 magnum et vastum. ^. Cuius metropolis est urbs magna, ampla, spleudida, 
 regnorum deciis, excellcntia sua superbiens (Cap. xiii. ly.). 7. Quae captivum 
 tenet populum Dei olim et longum temjius liberum, cumque duro premit jug» 
 servitutis (^Cap. xiv. 1, 2, 3, 4.) cT. Qui prieest Pex sive Peges violent i,\.\r3inn\ 
 crudeles, exactores, populis violenter et inclementer imperantes. (Cap. xiii. 
 11. xiv. 6, \2.) t. Tanto fastu se supra humana omnia eflferentes, ut se Dee 
 sequent, etsummamcuni eo partiri guudeantgloriam (Vs. 1,3, 14.), sedentes ia 
 templo Dei, tanquam Deus, et quidem ad latera Aquilonis. ^. Turbantes 
 totum orbem, bellorumque inter gentes jacientes semina (Cap. xiv. 16.). 
 ■H. Qui Rex, complexe sumptus, vi tandem dejiciendus sit de throno imperii, 
 et detrudendus ad inferos (Cap. xiv. 15.). 6. Cum admirationeomnium popu- 
 lorumet gentium, qujecrediderant imperium ejus fore aternum (Cap. xiv. 6.) 
 I. Abolita simul omni hujus imperii successione (Vs. 21, 22.). x,. Interitu 
 autem suo involvet plenarium excidium Babelis, ita destruendae, ut nunquam 
 postea habitetur (Cap. xiii. 20, 21. xiv. 23.) k. Cujus judicii administri essent 
 maximam partem gentes truces, crudeles, bcllicoss, Habeli septentrionales, 
 Ron parsurae incolis Babelis (Cap. xiii. 17.) fA. EfTectus autem esset liberati* 
 ecclesiae a jugo, ciuohactenus pressafuerat, ejusque jubilum cum depraedica- 
 tione divinae justitix et gratiie (Cap. xiv. 1, 2.) Hsec nunc applica, sodes, ad 
 Romam, persecutricem sanctorum, etmysticos tanti imperii reges, et nullibi 
 haerebis, exceptis iis, quorum implementum adhuc expectaraus." Comment, 
 in Jesaiam in loc. 
 
 It is a remarkable circumstance, that, as the literal Babylon was destroyed 
 by the instrumentality of nations which lay /wrthward of it, so we have some 
 reason to believe from prophecy that a great northern nation will be employed 
 to punish the Roinan Babylon while Antichrist is engaged in his expedition 
 against Palestine. This point vvill be discussed hereafter, when I treat of the 
 predictions of Daniel and St. John. 
 
85 
 
 struction. " The regions of the dead are laid open, and 
 Hades is represented as rousing up the shades of the de- 
 parted monarchs. They rise from their thrones to meet 
 the king of Babylon at his comings and insult him on his 
 being reduced to the same low estate of impotence and 
 dissolution with themselves. The image of the state of 
 the dead, or the Infernum poeticum of the Hebrews, is 
 taken from their custom of burying those at least of the 
 higher rank, in large sepulchral vaults hewn in the rock. 
 Of this kind of sepulchres there are remains at Jerusalem 
 now extant ; and some that are said to be the sepulchres 
 of the kings of Judah. You are to form to yourself the 
 idea of an immense subterraneous vault, a vast gloomy 
 cavern, all round the sides of which there are cells to re- 
 ceive the dead bodies. Here the deceased monarchs lie 
 in a distinguished sort of state, suitable to their former 
 rank, each on his own couch, with his arms beside him, 
 his sword at his head, and the bodies of his chiefs and 
 companions round about him. These illustrious shades 
 rise at once from their couches, as from their thrones ; 
 and advance to the entrance of the cavern to meet the king 
 of Babylon, and to receive him with insults on his fall. 
 
 " I believe it may with truth be aJBirmed, that there 
 is no poem of its kind extant in any language, in which 
 the subject is so well laid out, and so happily conducted, 
 with such a richness of invention, with such a variety of 
 images, persons, and distinct actions, with such rapidity 
 and ease of transition, in so small a compass, as in this 
 ode of Isaiah. For beauty of disposition, strength of 
 colouring, greatness of sentiment, brevity, perspicuity, 
 and force of expression, it stands among all the monu- 
 ments of antiquity unrivalled*." 
 
 • See Bp. Lowth's elegant and classical elucidation of this -ode, in the 
 notes to tlii^ translatiaa of Isaiah. 
 
86 
 
 PROPHECY VI. 
 
 The dispersion of the Jews — The irruption of Antichrist at the 
 time of their restoration — The character of some maritime na- 
 tion destined to restore the converted Jews — The occupation of 
 mount Zion by Antichrist — Hi^ invasion of Egypt — The state of 
 Egypt at this period — The religious connection of Assyria, Israel, 
 and Egypt. 
 
 Isaiah xvii. 1. The burden of Damascus. Behold, 
 Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall 
 be a ruinous heap. 2. The cities of Aroer are forsaken : 
 they shall be for flocks which shall lie down, and none 
 shall make them afraid. 3. The fortress also shall cease 
 from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus and the 
 remnant of Syria : they shall be as the glory of the chil- 
 dren of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts. 4. For in that 
 day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be 
 made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. 
 5. And it shall be, as when the harvest man gathereth the 
 corn, and his arm reapeth the ears ; and it shall be as he 
 that gathereth cars in the valley of Rephaim. 6. Yet glean- 
 ing grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive- 
 tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost 
 bough, four or five in the outmost branches of its fruit- 
 fulness, saith the Lord God of Israel. 7. At that day 
 shall each man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have 
 respect to the Holy One of Israel. 8. And he shall not 
 look unto the altars, the work of his hands ; and what his 
 fingers made he shall not regard, even the groves, and the 
 images. 9. In that day, the cities of his strength shall 
 be as the leaving of a ploughed field* and a branch, 
 w^hich they have left before the face of the children of 
 Israel : and there shall be desolation. 10. Because thou 
 
 * The leaving of a ploughed field."] I entirely agree with Mr. Parkhurst in 
 this translation of the passag'e. The words contain a manifest allusion to 
 the Mosaic laws relative to the not gleaning of their ploughed fields, vine- 
 yards, and olive-yards, but leaving somewhat of the fruits for the poor of the 
 land (Compare Levit ix. 9, 10. and Deut. xxiv. 19 — 21. in the Hebrew). The 
 idea here designed to be conveyed, is the same as that in Ver. 6. an idea of 
 desolation so extreme, as to leave in the land nothing more than the bare 
 gleanings of the people. See Parkhurst's Heb, IjCX. Vox cnp. 
 
87 
 
 hast forgotten the God of thy sah^ation, and the rock of 
 thy strength thou hast not remembered ; therefore thou 
 shah plant desirable plants, and a twig as a stranger shalt 
 thou sow it. 11. In the day thou shalt vehemently la- 
 bour to make thy plant grow ; even in the early morning 
 shalt thou cause thy seed to flourish : nevertheless the 
 heap of the harvest-man shall be in a day of grief and 
 heavy trouble. 
 
 12. Ho ! multitude of many people ; as the tumultu- 
 ous noise of the sea they roar tumultuously : and the ve- 
 hement noise of the nations, as the noise of mighty wa- 
 ters they vociferate ! 13. The nations shall roar indeed as 
 the roaring of many waters : yet he shall rebuke them, and 
 they shall flee far off" ; and they shall be chased as the 
 chaff" of the mountains before the wind, and as a rolling 
 thing before the whirlwind. 14. In the time of the even- 
 ing, and behold destruction ! before morning, and they 
 are not. This is the portion of them that trouble us, and 
 the lot of them that spoil us. 
 
 xviii. 1. Ho ! land spreading wide the shadow of thy 
 wings*, which art beyond the rivers of Cush. 2. Accus- 
 tomed to send messengersf by sea, even in bulrush ves- 
 selsj, upon the surface of the waters ! Go, swift messen- 
 
 * Shadow of thy wings.'\ " The shadow of wings is a very usual image iii 
 prophetic language for the protection afforded by the stronger to the weak. God's 
 protection of his sei-vants is described by their being safe under the shadow 
 of his wings. And, in this passage, the broad shadowing wings may be intend- 
 ed to characterize some great people, who should be famous for the protec- 
 tion they should give to those whom they received into their alliance ; and 1 
 cannot but think this the most simple and natural exposition of the expres- 
 sion" (Bp. Ilorsley's Letter on Isaiah xviii.). It is not impossible however, 
 and certainly not incongruous witli tlie figurative language of prophecy, that, 
 since the messengers described in this prediction are plainly a maritime na- 
 tion, tlie shadowy wings here spoken of may mean the sails of their ships. In- 
 deed the learned prelate, to whom I am so much, or rather so wholly, indebt- 
 ed for all the succeeding remarks on this chapter, seems himself to allow, 
 that sometliing like this may be insinuated in the imagery of the first verse. 
 
 \ Acacstonied to send messengers.'} "Tlie form of the expression in the 
 original signifies, not a single act of sending once, but the habit of sending per- 
 petually. I'he word oiiis may be taken for persons employed between nation 
 and nation, for the purposes either of negociation or commerce." Letter on 
 Isaiah xviii. 
 
 t Bulrush •vessels.'} "This is a figurative expression ; descriptive of skill 
 -in navigation, and of the safety and expedition with which the inhabitants of 
 the land called to are supposed to perform distant voyages. Navigable ves- 
 sels are certainly meant. If the country spoken to be distant from Egypt, 
 "vessels of bulrush are only used as an apt image, on account of their levity, for 
 .^quick.sailing vessels of any material^ Letter on Isaiah xviili^ 
 
gers, unto a nation dragged away and plucked, unto a 
 jDeople wonderful from their beginning hitherto, a nation 
 expecting, expecting, and trampled under foot, whose land 
 rivers have spoiled. 3. All the inhabitants ot the worlds 
 and dwellers upon earth, shall see the lifting up, as it were, 
 of a banner upon the mountains, and shall hear the sound- 
 ing, as it were, of a trumpet. 4. For thus saith the Lord 
 unto me : I will sit still (but I will keep my eye upon my 
 prepared habitation), as the parching heat just before 
 lightning, as the dewy cloud in the heat of harvest. 5. For 
 afore the harvest, when the bud is coming to perfection, 
 and the blossom is become a juicy berry, he will cut off 
 the useless shoots with pruning hooks, and the bill shall 
 take away the luxuriant brandies. 6. They shall be left 
 together to the bird of prey of the mountains, and to the 
 beasts of the earth. And upon it shall the bird of prey 
 summer, and all the beasts of the earth upon it shall win- 
 ter. 7. At that season a present shall be led to the l^ord 
 of hosts, a people dragged away and plucked, even of a 
 people wonderful from their beginning hitherto ; a nation 
 expectjp.g, expecting, and trampled under foot, whose 
 land rivers have spoiled, unto the place of the name of 
 the Lord of hosts, mount Sion. 
 
 xix. 1. The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord 
 rideth upon a swift cloud, and cometh unto P^gypt: 
 and the idols of Egypt are moved at his presence, and 
 the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. 2. And 
 I will cover in tents * the Egyptians against the Eg}'-p- 
 tians : and they shall fight, every one against his brother, 
 and ever}' one against his neighbour ; city against city, 
 and kingdom against kingdom. 3. And the spirit of 
 Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy 
 the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and 
 to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, 
 and to the v/izai-ds. 4. And the Egyptians will I give 
 
 * I will cover in tents.'] So I have ventured to render ^nsaaa- attributing- to 
 the primitive the sense of one of its derivatives. The cor.text shews, that 
 it cannot mean I luiU protect. Tlie Vulgate reads conciirrere Jaciam ; the 
 Lxx, {T«^«ofl;!<rovTs«/ A/^t/TTfs/ s;r' A/^vTT/Kc ; the Chaldee Paraphrast, concur- 
 rcre fnciain ; the Syriac, concitalo ; and the Arabic, irruent JEgvptii in JEgyp- 
 tios. All these con\ey the very same idea of the .Egyptians being in a state of 
 civil liiar Huith the Egyptians. 
 
89 
 
 over into the hand of cruel lords ; and a fierce king shall 
 rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts. 5. And 
 the waters shall fail from the sea, even the river shall be 
 wasted and dried up, 6. And the rivers shall be remov- 
 ed, away ; and the streams of defence shall be emptied 
 and dried up : the reeds and flags shall wither. 7. The 
 plants by the streams, by the mouth of the streams, and 
 every thing sown by the streams, shall wither, be driven 
 away, and be no more. 8. The fishers also shall mourn; 
 even all they, that cast the hook into the streams, shall 
 lament ; and they, that spread nets upon the waters, shall 
 languish. 9. Moreover they that work in yellow flax, 
 and they that weave nets*, shall be confounded. 10. And 
 their toils f shall be broken, even all they that earn wa- 
 ges J at the fish-pools. 11. Surely the princes of Zoan 
 are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh ^ 
 is become brutish : how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the 
 son of the wise, the son of ancient kings ! 12. Where 
 are thy wise men ? and let them tell thee now, and let 
 them know what the Lord of hosts hath counselled against 
 Egypt. 13. The princes of Zoan are become fools, the 
 princes of Noph are deceived, and the comer stones of its 
 tribes have seduced Egypt. 14. The Lord hath mingled 
 a perverse spirit in the midst thereof : and they have caus- 
 ed Egypt to stagger in all its works, as a drunken man 
 staggereth in his vomit. 15. Neither shall there be any 
 work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, 
 may do. 16. In that day shall Egypt be like unto wo- 
 men : and it shall be afraid and fear, because of the shak- 
 ing of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shaketh 
 over it. 17. And the land of Judah shall be a terror un- 
 to Egypt : every one, that maketh mention thereof, shall 
 be afraid in himself; because of the counsel of the Lord 
 
 * They that 'voork in yellovijlax, and they that weave jiefj.] Bp. Lowth translates 
 this passage, They that work the fine fiax shall be confounded, and they that weave 
 net-work. But the context seems to shew, that not fine fiax fit for the pur- 
 poses of weaving ornamental net-work is here intended, but coarse fiax for the 
 making oifishing-nets. \ 
 
 . -j- Their toils.'] So I render nipPB'. See Parkhurst's Heb. Lex. Vox if n- 
 
 + Earn ivages.'] So I render njiy ^cp- 
 
 § The wise counsellors of Pharaoh.'] Isaiah describes the future state of 
 Egypt in terms, strictly applicable only to his own times ; as, in verses 19, 
 20, 21, he represents the worship of future times, according^ to the rites and 
 ceremonies of his own. 
 
 12 
 
90 
 
 of hosts, which he hath determined against it. 18. In 
 that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the 
 religious confession of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of 
 hosts : one shall be called the city of Heres *. 19. In 
 that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst 
 of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to 
 the Lord. 20. And it shall be for a sign and for a wit- 
 ness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt : for 
 they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors^ 
 and he shall send them a saviour and a great one, and he 
 shall deliver them. 21. And the Lord shall be known 
 to Egypt, and the Eg}'ptians shall know the Lord in that 
 day, and shall minister sacrifice and oblation; yea, they 
 shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it. 22. And 
 the Lord shall smite Egypt ; he shall smite, and heal it : 
 and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be 
 intreated of them, and shall heal them. 23. In that day^ 
 there shall be a high-way out of Egypt to Assyria ; and 
 the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into 
 Assyria ; and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyri- 
 ans. 24. In that day shall Israel be third with Egypt and 
 with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land. 
 25. Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying. Blessed 
 be Eg}'pt my people, and Assyria the w ork of my hands, 
 and Israel mine inheritance. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 I am inclined to consider these three chapters as form- 
 ing jointly a single prophecy^ and as containing only a 
 more full and ample account of the matters foretold in 
 the former part of the preceding prophecy \. The order 
 observed in both is nearly the same ; and both equally 
 harmonize with the collateral prediction of Daniel % in 
 closely connecting the fate of Egypt with the restoration 
 of Jiidah. 
 
 The prophecy now under consideration commences, 
 with matter not indeed immediately relating to the prin- 
 
 * The city of Heres.'] Heres or Ares was an oriental name of the Sun. The 
 city of Heres accordingly was called by the Greeks HeliopoUs. See my 
 Dissert, on the Cabiri. Vol. i. p. 104. 
 
 t Isaiah si. 10—16. ^ Dan. si. 41, 42, 43, 45. xii. 1. 
 
91 
 
 cipal subject of it, yet affording an opportunity of a suf- 
 ficiently easy digression. " 7%^ burden of Damascus, open- 
 ed at the beginning of the 17th chapter, naturally brings 
 the prophet to speak of the subversion of the kingdom of 
 Israel, in those days in alliance with the Syrians : and to 
 be overthrown by the same enemy at the same time. 
 The prediction of the subversion of the kingdom of Israel 
 leads the prophet to warn the Jewish people in general of 
 the judgments which await them, with manifest allusion 
 in the Wth verse, as Casaubon has observed, to the final 
 dispersion of the nation by the Romans. And the -allusion 
 to this fijial dispersioji leads, as it almost always does, to 
 a prediction of the final restoration. This is delivered 
 generally in the \2th, I3th, and lith verses of the 17 th 
 chapter*.'''* 
 
 In foretelling the d'lspers'ion of the Jews, and its various 
 concoinitant circumstances, Isaiah is wonderfully particu- 
 lar. He declares, that they should be cut Aown and car- 
 ried away from the country of their fathers, in the same 
 manner as a husbandman reaps his com and conveys it 
 from the fields where it had grown ; and yet that a few 
 stragglers, the wreck of a once mighty people, should re- 
 main, like gleanings, in the landf — Great however as 
 
 • Bp. Horsley's Letter on Isaiah xviii. p. 100. 
 
 •}■ The figures here used by the prophet are peculiarly apposite. The yeius 
 should not only be cut down, as in the ordinary calamities of war; but the 
 whole nation sliould be utterly taken away from their own land, as a reaper 
 g'athers the ears of corn. Yet, notwithstanding' tlieir general dispersion, a 
 remnant should be left, strangers and pilgrims, in the land of their fathers, 
 like the few grapes that remain at the gathering in of the vintage, or the few 
 olive-berries tliat are overlooked in the season of making oil. As the pro- 
 phecy was, such has been the event. •• When the emperor Adrian had sub- 
 dued the rebellious ^e-xs, he published an edict, forbidding theni upon pain of 
 death to set foot in Jerusalem, or even to approach the country round about 
 it. TertuUian and Jerome say, that they were prohibited from entering into 
 Judea. From that time to this their country hath been in the possession of 
 foreign lords and masters, few of the yetus dwelling in it, and those only of 
 a low servile condition. Benjamin of Tudela in Spain, a celebrated Jew of 
 the 12th century, travelled into all parts to visit those of his own nation, and 
 to learn an exact state of their affairs : and he hath reported, that Jerusalem 
 was almost entirely abandoned by the yews. He found there not above two 
 hundred persons, who were for the most part dyers of wool, and who every 
 year purchased the privilege of the monopoly of that trade. They lived all 
 together under David's tower, and made thfere a very little figure. If Jeru- 
 salem had so few Jews in it, the rest of the holy land was still more depopu- 
 late. He found two of them in one city, twenty in another ; most whereof 
 were dyers. In other places there were more persons ; but in upper Galilee, 
 where the nation was in the greatest repute after the ruin of Jerusalem, he 
 
92 
 
 their sins and their calamities should be, during the whole 
 time of their dispersion they at least should keep them- 
 selves from their former besetting crime, an infatuated 
 attachment to the idolatrous vanities of the Gentiles *. 
 Nevertheless their worship, though free from idolatry, 
 should not be pleasing unto God. In consequence of 
 their forgetting the God of their salvation, and disregard- 
 ing the rock of their strength, their strong cities should 
 be forsaken ; there should be a great desolation in the 
 land ; and they themselves, while strangers in foreign 
 countries, should be given up to the folly of painfully 
 accumulating riches and never deriving any benefit from 
 them f. 
 
 Here " the prophet, by a sudden exclamation of sur- 
 prize (ill rendered in our common English version TFoe 
 to J, gives notice, that a new scene suddenly breaks upon 
 him. He sees the armies of Antichrist rushing on in the 
 full tide of conquest, and pouring like a deluge over the 
 
 found hardly any Jews at all. A very accurate and faithful traveller of our 
 own nation (Sandys) wlio was liimself also in the holy land, saith, that it is 
 for the most part now inhabited by Moors and Arabians ; those possessing- 
 the vallics, and these the mountains. Turks thej-e be few ; but many Greeks, 
 ■with other Christians of all sects and nations, such as impute to the place an 
 inherent holiness. Here be also some Jews : yet inherit the\' no part of the 
 land, but in tlieir own country do live as aliens." Bp. Newton's Dissert, viii. 
 
 * It is almost superfluous to observe, that, during the whole period of their 
 present dispersion, tlie ^eivs liave been as remarkable for their detestation of 
 idolatry, as they were heretofore notoriously prone to it. Although some 
 of them may have been constrained by the tortures of the inquisition to wor- 
 ship the images of the Papists, force and the fear of death have alone com- 
 pelled them to violate what they justly esteem the fundamental precept of 
 the Law. Thus have prophecies, apparently contradictory to each other, 
 been minutely fulfilled. Some declare, that the ^e=v.'s should never, during 
 their dispersion, relapse into idolatry ; others, that they should serve gods, 
 the v)ork of men's hands. Accordingly, they have never voluntarily and nation- 
 ally become idolaters, since the destruction of their polity by the Romans ; 
 although many individuals among them liave been constrained by the Papists 
 to bow down bei'ore the idols of the Latin church. 'N'ide supra Commentary 
 on Prophecy I. and infra on Propliecy XVIL 
 
 f The idea of the passage seems to be, that the ^eivs, in consequence of 
 their rejecting the Messiah, should be judicially given up to the most sordid 
 avarice. Ever laboin-ingto accumulate riches in foreign lands ; rising early 
 in the morning, and late taking rest, and eating the bread of carefulness ; they 
 should still reap no harvest f-om their toil, but the day of their expected 
 enjoyment should be a day of grief and heavy trouble. The various oppres- 
 sions, which this sordid people (most unjustly no doubt) have suffered, are 
 almost endless. " What frequent seizures have been made of their effects 
 in almost all countries ! How often have they been fined and fleeced by 
 almost all governments ! How often have they been forced to redeem their 
 lives with what is almost as dear as their lives, their treasure I Instances are 
 
93 
 
 land of God's people *. He no sooner sees them, than 
 he declares that God shall rebuke them ; that they shall . 
 flee with precipitation and in dismay ; and shall he chased^ 
 as the chaff of the mountams before the xuind, and as a 
 rolling thing before the xvhirhvind\. Elated with this 
 glorious scene the total rout of the apostate confederacy y 
 he addresses his countrymen, in words of exultation imd 
 triumph : This is the portion of them that spoil us, and 
 the lot of the?n that rob us^- 
 
 " Having thus, in general terms, predicted the final 
 success and happiness of his natio?r, he proceeds, in the 
 18th chapter, to the description of visions, more parti- 
 cularly declarative of the manner, and of the time, of their 
 deliverance^.''^ 
 
 And first the vision of the armies of Antichrist, at the 
 close of the 17th chapter, is succeeded by a vision of the 
 people who are destined to take the lead in converting and 
 restoring one great division ofJudah. Isaiah beholds their 
 fleets rapidly approaching from far distant regions to Pa- 
 lestine ; and describes them as possessing a powerful 
 navy, as sailing with ease and expedition to remote parts 
 of the world, and as being faithful worshippers of God : 
 in. short, they appear to be some great maritime nation, 
 
 innumerable. We will only cite an historian of our own, who says that 
 Henry iii. always polled the yeivs at every low ebb of his fortunes. One 
 Abraham, who was found delinquent, was forced to pay 700 marks for his 
 redemption. Aaron, another Jew, protested that the king had taken from 
 him at times, 30,000 marks of silver, besides 200 marks of gold, which he 
 had presented to the queen. And in like manner he used many other of the 
 •yews. When they were banished in the reign of Edward i, their estates 
 were confiscated, and immense sums thereby accrued to the crown." Bp. 
 Nevi'ton's Dissert, vii. 
 
 * Isaiah xvii. 12. f Ver. 13. 
 
 ^ Ver. 14. Bp. Lowth confines all the first part of this prophecy to the tak- 
 ing of Damascus by Tiglath-Pileser, his overrunning a great part of Israel, and 
 the conquest of that kingdom and the captivity of the people effected a few years 
 after by Shalmaneser. Hence he is led to pronounce, that the three last verses 
 oi the \7th chapter have no relation to those which precede them, and have as 
 little connection with what follows ; but that they are to be referred solely 
 to the invasion und overthrow of Sennacherib. But let only the first part of the 
 prophecy be supposed to treat ultimately and indeed chiefly of the dipersion of 
 the yews by the Rom,ans, and we shall immediately perceive the close con- 
 nection of the whole. From the dispersion of the yews, Isaiah rapidly passes 
 to the overthrow of their last enemy Antichrist, and to their restoration by som,e 
 great oyiaritime power. In short, so far from these different predictions being 
 wholly unconnected, they appear to me to be inseparably connected. 
 
 § Bp. Horsley's Letter on Isaiah xviii. p. 100. 
 
94 
 
 that shall possess the empire of the sea at the time when 
 the 1260 years shall expire, and when the Jews shall be- 
 gin to return into their own land. To this distant nation 
 the prophet calls aloud, and summons them to receive 
 their high commission from the Lord. 
 
 Go, swift messengers^ unto a nation long appareritly 
 Jbrsaken by God; a nation dragged away from their orvfi 
 country, and plucked; a nation wonderful from their be- 
 ginning hitherto ; a nation perpetually expecting their 
 promised Messiah, and yet trampled U7ider foot ; a jiation 
 whose land the symbolical rivers of foreign invaders have 
 for ages spoiled*. 
 
 " We have now heard messengers summoned. We 
 have heard a command given to them, to go swiftly with 
 the message. We have heard the people described, to 
 whom the message was to be carried. It might be ex- 
 pected we should next hear the message given to the 
 messengers in precise terms. But in })rophecy, the cur- 
 tain (if the expression maybe allowed) is often suddenly 
 dropped upon the action that is going on, before it is 
 finished ; and the subject is continued in a shifted scene, 
 as it were, of vision. This I take to be a natural conse- 
 quence of the manner, in which futurity was represented, 
 in emblematical pictures, to the imagination of the pro- 
 phet : and the breaks and transitions are more or less 
 sudden, according to the natural turn of the writer's mind. 
 In Isaiah, the transitions are remarkably sudden and bold; 
 and yet this suddenness and boldness of transition is sel- 
 dom, I think, if ever, in him a cause of obscurity. In 
 the present instance, the scene of messengers, sent upon a 
 message, is suddenly closed with this second verse, before 
 the messejigers set out, before even the message is given 
 
 * " Go swift messengers : you, who by your skill in navigation and your ex- 
 tensive commerce and alliances, are so qualified to be caniers of a messag-e 
 to people in the remotest countries, g'o with God's message unto a nation 
 dragged aicay, to the dispersed Jews ; a nation drag-ged away from its proper 
 seat, and plucked of its wealth and power ; a people wonderful from the be- 
 ginning- to this very time for the special providence, wiiich lias ever attended 
 them and directed their fortunes; a nation still lingering in expectation of 
 the Messiah, who so long since came and was rejected by them, and now is 
 coming again in glory; a nation universally trampled vmder foot; whose 
 land, rivers, armies of foreign invaders, the Assyrians, Babylonians, Syro- 
 Macedonians, Romans, Saracens, and Turks, have overrun and depopulated " 
 Letter on Isaiah xvlii. 
 
95 
 
 to them. But the new objects, which are immediately 
 brought in view, evidently represent, under the usual 
 emblems of sacred prophecy, other parts of the same en- 
 tire action ; and declare, with the greatest perspicuity, 
 the purport, the season, and the eftect, of the message. 
 An ensign, or standard, is lifted up on the mountains — 
 a trumpet is blown on the hills — the standard of the cross 
 of Christ — the trumpet of the Gospel*. The resort to 
 the standard, the effect of the summons in the end, will 
 be universal. A pruning of the vine shall take place, af- 
 ter a long suspension of visible interpositions of^rovi- 
 dencef, just before the season of the gatheriii^ of the 
 fruits. A vbie, in the prophetic language, is an^age of 
 the chwcli of God ; the branches of the vine are the mem- 
 bers of the church ; and the useless shoots, and unfruitful 
 luxuriant branches, are the insincere nominal members of 
 the church. And the pruning of such shoots and branches 
 
 * "The banner of the cross, to be lifted up more conspicuously than ever 
 before ; the trumpet of the Gospel, to be sounded more loudly, than ever 
 before, in the latter ajjes." Letter on Isaiah xviii. 
 
 \ " Tliis verse (Isaiah xviii. 4.) represents along' cessation of visible inter- 
 positions of Providence, under the image of God's sitting still ; the stillness 
 of that awful pause, under the imag'e of that torpid state of the atmosphere 
 in hot weather, when not a gleam of sunshine breaks for a moment through 
 tiie sullen gloom ; not a breath stirs ; not a leaf wags ; not a blade of grass is 
 sliaken ,- no ripling wave curls upon the sleeping surface of the waters ; the 
 black ponderous cloud, coverijig the whole sky, seems to hang fixed and 
 motionless as an arch of stone ; nature seems benumbed in all her operations. 
 The vigilance nevertheless of God's silent providence is represented under 
 the image of his keeping his eye, while he thus sits still, upon his prepared 
 habitation. The sudden eruption of judgment, threatened in the next verse, 
 after this total cessation, just before the final call to Jew and Gentile, an- 
 swers to the storms of thunder and lightning, which, in the suffocating heats 
 of the latter end of summer, succeed that perfect stillness and stagnation of 
 the atmosphere. And, as the natural thunder, at such seasons, is the wel- 
 come harbinger of refreshing and copious showers ; so, it appears, the thun- 
 der of God's judgments will usher in the long desired season of the consum- 
 mation of mercy. So accurate is the allusion in all its parts." Letter on IsaialA 
 xviii. 
 
 It may here be observed, how exactly Scripture corresponds with Scrip- 
 ture. The long cessation of the visible interpositions of Pi'ovidence has led 
 the members of Antichrist to deny that such interpositions ever took place : 
 yet in this very denial they have unwittingly accomplished the prophecies. 
 In the last days were to arise scoffers, walking after their own lusts, con- 
 temptuously asking luhere is the 'promise of God's comi?ig, denying that the 
 earth was ever overwhelmed by the deluge, and asserting that all thing* 
 continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. The Lord how- 
 ever hath already begun to shake both the political heavens and the political 
 earth ; and, ere long perhaps. Infidelity may be constrained with unwilling 
 eyes to behold the restoration of Israel amidst such signs and wonders, as 
 she can neither contradict nov oppose. 
 
96 
 
 of the vine is the excision of such hypocritical profes- 
 sorSj at least the separation of them from the church by 
 God'^s judgments. This verse therefore and the following 
 clearly predict a judgment to fall upoji the church for its 
 purification, and the utter destruction of hypocritical pro- 
 fessors of the truth*. The purification of the Christian 
 church, by the awful visitations predicted in this passage, 
 seems to be the proper preparative for the renewal of the 
 call, to them that are near, the Jews ; and to them that 
 are yet afar off, the Gentile tribes not yet converted. Im- 
 mediately after this purgation of the church, at the very 
 time when the bird of prey with all the beasts of the 
 earth, Antichrist -with his rebel rout^ shall have fixed his 
 seat between the seas, in the holy mountainf, a present 
 shall be brought to the Lord of hosts; the nation, described 
 in ver. 2. as those to whom the swift messengers are sent, 
 after their long infidelity, shall be bro jght as a present unto 
 Jehovah. They shall be converted to an acknowledgment 
 of the truth ; and they shall be brought to the place . of 
 the name of Jehovah, to mount Sion : they shall be set- 
 tled in peace and prosperity, in the land of their original 
 inheritance J. 
 
 " This then is the sum of this prophecy, and the sub- 
 stance of the message, sent to the people dragged about 
 and plucked. That in the latter ages, after a long sus- 
 pension of the visible interpositions of Providence, God, 
 who all the while regards that dwelling place which he 
 never will abandon, and is at all times directing the events 
 of the world to the accomplishment of his own purposes 
 of Avisdom and mercy ; immediately before the final 
 
 * " God, in the latter ages, will purify liis Church with sore but whole- 
 some judgments. Compare John XV. 1, 2." (Letter on Isaiah xviii.) These 
 judgments will probably be the troubles occasioned by incessant war. 
 
 I " It was a prevailing opinion among the early fathers, that Antichrist is 
 to possess himself of the Holy Land, and that there he is to perish." (Let- 
 ter on Isaiah xviii.) This opinion was manifestly founded on Dan. xi. 41, 45, 
 not to mention other parallel prophecies. 
 
 i " AVhen the present offered consists of persons, the offered, as well as 
 the offerers, must be worshippers. For to be offered is to be inade a luorship' 
 per ; or, in some instances to be devoted to some particular service in tnhich the 
 general character of a worshipper is previously implied, both in the person who 
 hath authority so to devote, and in the devoted, as in the instances of Jeph- 
 thah's daughter and the child Samuel. The people therefore, brought as a 
 present to Jehovah to mount Zion, will bg brought thither in a converted 
 etate." Letter on Isaiah xviii. 
 
97 
 
 "gathering of his elect from the four winds of heaven, will 
 purify his church by such signal judgments, as shall rouse 
 the attention of the whole world, and, in the end, strike 
 all nations with religious awe. At this period, the apos- 
 tate faction will occupy the holy land. This faction will 
 certainly be an instrument of those judgments, by which 
 the church will be purified. That purification therefore 
 is not at all inconsistent with the seeming prosperity of 
 the affairs of the atheistical confederacy. But, after such 
 duration, as God shall see fit to allow to the plenitude of 
 its power, the Jexvs^ converted to the faith of Christ, will 
 be unexpectedly restored to their ancient possessions. 
 The swift messengers will certainly have a considerable 
 share, as instruments in the hand of God, in the restora- 
 tion of the chosen people. Otherwise, to what purpose 
 are they called upon (Ver. 1.) to receive their commis- 
 sion from the prophet ? It will perhaps be some part of 
 their business to afford the Jews the assistance and pro- 
 tection of their fleets. This seems to be insinuated in 
 the imagery of the first verse. But the principal part, 
 they will have to act, will be that of the carriers of GocPs 
 message to his people. This character seems to describe 
 some Christian country, where the prophecies, relating 
 to the latter ages, will meet with particular attention ; 
 where the literal sense of those, which promise the re- 
 storation of the Jexvish people^ will be strenuously up- 
 held ; and where these will be so successfully expounded, 
 as to be the principal means, by God's blessing, of remov- 
 ing the veil from the hearts of the Israelites — 
 
 " In what people of the earth, of the eastern or the 
 western world, the characters of the messenger people may 
 be found, when the time shall come for the accomplish- 
 ment of the prophecy, is hitherto uncertain in that de- 
 gree, that we are hardly at liberty, in my judgment to 
 conjecture. But I cannot but say, that it seems in the 
 highest degree improbable, that the atheistical democracy 
 of France should be the people, for whom the honour of 
 that office is intended. The French democracy^ from its 
 infancy to the present moment, has been a conspicuous 
 and principal branch at least of the western Antichrist. 
 The messenger people is certainly to be a Christian peo- 
 ple. For I think it cannot be doubted, that the messenger 
 13 
 
people J and the leaders of the present to Jehovah to mount 
 Sion, art the same people. And the act of leading a pre- 
 sent to Jehovah to mount Sion must be an act of wor- 
 shippers of Jehovah ; for it is an act of worship. They 
 therefore who lead the present will be true worshippers, 
 performing that service from religious motives. Those, 
 who shall thus be instruments in this blessed work, may 
 well be described, in the figured language of prophecy, 
 as the carriers of God's message to his people. The si* 
 tuation of the country, destined to so high an office, is 
 not otherwise described in the prophecy, than by this cir- 
 cumstance ; that it is to be beyond the rivers of Cush : 
 that is, far to the west of Judea, if these rivers of Cush 
 are to be understood, as they have been generally under- 
 stood, of the Nile and other Ethiopian rivers ; far to the 
 east, if of the Tigris and the Euphrates. The one, or 
 the other, they must denote ; but AAhich, is uncertain — 
 
 " My notion of the proi:)het's geographical language is, 
 that it is the language of the Phenician voyagers of his 
 time. And, in those times, the most distant voyages be- 
 ing made along the coasts, the Phenician mariners would 
 speak of every place which lay to the west of the mouths 
 of the Nile, as beyond the Nile, that is, in the poetical 
 language of the prophet, beyond the rivers of Cush ; be- 
 cause, keeping always along the coast, they would pass 
 within sight of the mouth of the Nile, before they reached 
 that western place. According to this nautical phraseo- 
 logy of the voyagers of those times, the circumstance of 
 being beyond the rivers of Cush was alike applicable to 
 France, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, Ireland, Den- 
 mark, in short any part of Europe without the streights. 
 Not more to any part of Europe, than to any part of 
 Africa, without the streights. Not more to any part 
 of Europe or Africa, than to the whole eastern coast of 
 North and South America. The particular situation 
 of the country therefore is by no means ascertained by this 
 circumstance*." Yet, however indefinite the present 
 prophecy may be in fixing the precise quarter of the 
 globe M^here we are to look for the messenger people, 
 others, which will be discussed hereafter in their proper 
 place, give us sufficient reason to believe that they will 
 
 * Letter on Isaiah xviii 
 
99 
 
 be some European nation. TFhat European nation in- 
 deed, is wholly uncertain ; but their character, as de- 
 scribed by Isaiah, necessarily leads us to conclude, that 
 they will be a maritime nation of faithful worshippers. 
 
 The prophet has now foretold the chief matters rela- 
 tive to the restoration of the converted Jews; such as their 
 being opposed unsuccessfully by the army of Antichrist, 
 and their being assisted in their return to their own coun- 
 try by a great maritime nation of faithful worshippers : 
 he proceeds therefore next to detail certain collateral 
 events, which will be closely connected with their resto- 
 ration. He had already foretold in a former prophecy*, 
 that the Lord should smite with a drought the tongue of 
 the Egyption sea, and that he should shake his hand over, 
 the great river of Assyria with a vehement wind ; in order 
 that there might be a high- way for the remnant of his 
 people, and that they might return, as they did of old out 
 of the land of Egypt. He now enters more diffusely upon 
 the subject, connecting it, as before, both with the ex- 
 ploits of Antichrist, and with the restoration of the Jews. 
 In a strain of awful sublimity, he represents the Almighty 
 as riding upon a swift cloud, and as confounding the coun- 
 sels of Egypt; as sowing discord among her governors, 
 and as giving her over into the hand of cruel lords and a 
 fierce king. The tyrant and his inferior lords, here des- 
 cribed, I take to be Antichrist and his vassal kings, during 
 the period of his temporary success. In a parallel prophecy 
 of Daniel, his character is largely set forth : and it is inti- 
 mated, that, at the epoch of the resto?'atio?i of the Jews, 
 the land of Egypt shall not escape him ; but that he shall 
 have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and 
 over all the precious things of Egypt ; and that the Liby- 
 ans and Cushim shall be at his stepsf. Hence Isaiah, in 
 perfect accordance with Daniel, predicts, that, at this 
 very epoch, Egypt shall be delivered into the hand of a 
 fierce king : for, that the conquest of Egypt by the fierce: 
 king is to be referred to this epoch, will be manifest to 
 any one, who compares the language used by Isaiah in his 
 former prophecy with that which he uses at the close of 
 the present prophecy. In the former, he foretells, that 
 
 * Isaiah XI. 15, 16. I Dan. xi. 41.— xii. I. 
 
loa 
 
 there shall be a high-way for tlie remnant of his people 
 that shall be left from Assyria : in the present, he simi- 
 larly foretells, that, notwithstanding the success oithe An- 
 tichristian tyrant, God m ill deliver Egypt by the hand of 
 a mighty Saviour, convert it to the profession of real re- 
 ligion, and cause a high- way to be made between it and 
 Assyria tlirough the land of Israel, so that there shall be 
 a free religious intercourse between the three countries. 
 And this, according to both prophecies, is to be effected 
 by the drying up of the mystical Nile ; and, according to 
 the Jbrmer prophecy, by the drying up both of the Eu- 
 phrates and the Nilc^. 
 
 As for tlie manner in which Isaiah describes the reli- 
 gious state of Egypt at the period when it will be invad- 
 ed by Antichrist, he seems in this, as in other instancesf, 
 to exhibit it to us, rather according to what it was in his 
 own days, than what it probably will be in the age of the 
 accomplishment of the prophecy : yet it is worthy of no- 
 tice, that the prophecy is not incapable of receiving even 
 a literal accomplishment. By the intermixture of the cor- 
 rupt Christians of the Greek church with the professors 
 of Mohammedism, much idolatr)' still prevails in Egypt ; 
 which we cannot conceive to be more acceptable to God, 
 than either its kindred papal idolatry, or the ancient pagan 
 idolatry ; and it is worthy of notice, that even some of the 
 Mohammedans themselves, according to Niebuhr, ai"e 
 tainted w ith the superstitious veneration of images, which 
 disgraces the worship of their Christian fcllo w- citizens f. 
 
 * Let the reader compare together Isaiah xi. 15, 16, and Isaiah six. 5, 23, 
 24 ; and he must, I think, be convinced that both these predictions relate to 
 the same events. In this case, since Isaiah xi. 15, 16, must plainly be refer- 
 red to the era of tlie restoration of jfudah, tlie whole of Isaiah xix must like- 
 wise be referred to the same era. Tlie propriety of such a conclusion will be 
 the more evident, if he further compare both tliese prophecies with Zechar. 
 X. 10, 11, 12 ; which, hke Isaiah xi. 15, 16, will clearly not be accomplished 
 till the ^«y« are brought back into the land of their fathers. 
 
 •j^ Such an instance occurs indeed even in the course of the very prophecy 
 concerning wliich I am now treating. " And tiie Lord shall be known to 
 Egypt ; and the Egyptians sliall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sa- 
 crifice and oblation ; yea, they o.iallvow a vow unto the Lord, and perform 
 it." (Isaiah xix. 21.) Upon which Bp. Newton justly remarks, that "the 
 prophet describes the worsliip of future times, according to the rites and ce- 
 remonies of his own time." Dissert, xii. 3. 
 
 i See Niebuhr's Travels, Vol. 1. pp. 35, 47, 103, 195. In Skinner's Eccles. 
 Hist of Scotland, Vol. 11. p. 6o4~639, there is a curious account of an at- 
 
iOl 
 
 But 1 am more inclined to adopt the other interpretation 
 of this part of the prophecy, and to suppose that Isaiah 
 describes Egypt agreeably to what it was in his own age. 
 
 The exhaustion of the river ^ which he dwells upon with 
 so much minuteness, is plainly, according to the usual 
 phraseology of Symbols, nothing more than the overthrow 
 of the Egyptian government with its concomitants. These 
 concomitants^ as in the case of the exhaustion of the great 
 river Euphrates under the sixth apocalyptic vial^, seem 
 to be a diminutioji of the population ofEgypt^ and an emi- 
 gration of its inhabitants ; for such is the most natural 
 exposition that can be given of the drying up of its river ^ 
 and the diversion of its streams into other channels. 
 
 It is worthy of notice, that the population of Egypt has 
 already begun to diminish, much in the same manner as 
 the population of Turkey, which must, almost undoubt- 
 edly I think, be considered as symbolized by the mysti- 
 cal Euphrates of the siopth vial. 
 
 " Alexandria," says Mr. Niebuhr, *' has fallen by de- 
 grees from its grandeur, population, and wealth — This 
 city might be in a more flourishing condition, did not 
 disadvantages of all sorts concur to depress it. Its inha- 
 bitants appear to have a natural genius for commerce, 
 were it not checked by the malignant influence of the 
 government — The trade of Alexandria is notwithstand- 
 ing verj^ trifling ; although almost all the nations of Egyptf 
 have consuls herej — Ancient historians and geographers 
 enumerate such a multitude of cities in Egypt, that it 
 seems to be at present quite a desert in comparison, with 
 what it was in the day of antiquity. New cities have 
 indeed arisen, but these are mere trifles, compared with 
 the number, the extent, and the magnificence, of the 
 
 tempt that was made, between the years 1716 and 1725, to effect an union 
 between the non-juring' prelates and those of the Greek church. The at- 
 tempt failed from the resolute adherence of the Orientals to image-worship 
 *nd other superstitious vanities. 
 
 * See my Dissert, on the 1260 years, Vol. 11. p. 345—349. (2d Edit. p. 
 383—387.) 
 
 f So the passage stands in my edition of Niebuhr, and therefore I have not 
 ventured to alter it ; but for Egypt 1 think we ought surely to read Europe. 
 As this variation is not noticed in the errata, it is possible that this little mis- 
 take (for so I cannot help considering it) may be an uncorrected oversight of 
 the author himself. 
 
 t Travels, Vol. i.p. 36, 37- 
 
102 
 
 ancient. All the remains of monuments, referable to the 
 most remote antiquity, bespealc the hand of a numerous 
 and opulent people, who have entirely disappeared. When 
 however we reflect on the re\'olutions which this countr\' 
 has undergone, and the length of time during which it 
 has been under the dominion of strangers, we can no 
 longer be surprized at the decline of its wealth and po- 
 pulation. It has been successively subdued by the Per- 
 sians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabians, and the 
 Turks ; has enjoyed no interval of tranquillity and free- 
 dom ; but has been constantly oppressed and pillaged by 
 the lieutenants of a distant lord. Those usurpers and 
 their servants, having no other views but to draw as large 
 a revenue as possible from an opulent province, scarce 
 left the people bare means of subsistence. Agriculture 
 was ruined by the miseries of the husbandman ; and the 
 cities decayed with its decline. Even at present, the 
 population is decreasing ; and the peasant, although in a 
 fertile country, is miserably poor : for the exactions of 
 government and its officers leave him nothing to lay out 
 in the improvement and culture of his lands ; while the 
 cities are falling into ruins, because the same unhappy 
 restraints render it impossible for the citizens to engage 
 in any lucrative undertaking*^ — If an ancient origin and 
 illustrious ancestors could confer merit, the Copts would 
 be a highly estimable people. They are descended from 
 the ancient Egyptians ; and the Turks, upon this account, 
 call them, in derision, the posterity of Pharaoh. But 
 their uncouth figure, their stupidity, ignorance, and 
 wretchedness, do little credit to the sovereigns of ancient 
 Egypt. They have lived for 2000 years under the do. 
 minion of different foreign conquerors, and have experi- 
 enced many vicissitudes of fortune. They have lost 
 their manners, their language, their religion, and almost 
 their existence. They are reduced to a small number 
 in comparison to the Arabs, who have poured like a flood 
 over this country. Of the diminution of the numbers 
 of the Copts some idea may be formed from the reduc- 
 tion of the number of their bishops. They were seventy 
 
 ' Travels, Vol. I. p. 51, 52. - 
 
103 
 
 in number, at the period of the Arabian conquest. They 
 are now only twelve, and most of these settled in upper 
 Egypt, to which the ancient inhabitants seem to have 
 retired from the centre of the conquest *." 
 
 The prophet declares in a most pointed manner, that, 
 previous to the conquest of Egypt by the Jierce king, it 
 should be torn to pieces by internal dissention and civil 
 discord. Here again we may, as it were with our own 
 eyes, begin to see this prediction receive its accomplish- 
 ment. " The Turks," says Mr. Niebuhr, " as is gene- 
 rally known, conquered Egypt, in the beginning of the 
 sixteenth century, from the Mamelukes ; a mercenary 
 militia, who had, for some centuries, usurped the go- 
 vernment of this province, which they administered by 
 an elective chief, with the title of Sultan. This species 
 of government seems still to subsist, just as much as be- 
 fore the Turkish conquest ; and, with all their despotic 
 pride, they have never attempted to change it. A form of 
 government, that has prevailed so long, and which a 
 haughty and powerful conqueror durst not abolish, must 
 have within itself some principle of stability to maintain 
 it against revolution. It might deserve to be better known 
 and explained by some intelligent person, who should 
 study it in a long residence in the country. A traveller 
 like me, who has had only a transient view of these ob- 
 jects, can neither discern nor describe all the parts of so 
 complete a machine. I have learned enough however to 
 enable me to distinguish, that this government is at pre- 
 sent an aristocracy, partly civil, partly military, but chiefly 
 military. Under the protection, rather than under the 
 authority, of the Sultan of Constantinople, a divan, or 
 sovereign council, exercises the supreme authority, both 
 executive and legislative. Even the revenue of the Sul- 
 tan is rather a tribute paid to a protector, than a tax levied 
 by a sovereign — Such a government must be frequently 
 disturbed by factious insurrections. Caii'o is constantly 
 convulsed by cruel dissention ; parties are continually 
 jarring ; and the great retain troops to decide their differ- 
 ences by force of arms. The mutual jealousies of the 
 
 * Travels, Vol. 1. P. 103, 104. 
 
104 
 
 chiefs seem to be the only causes, which still preserve to 
 the Porte the shadow of authority over this countr}-. The 
 members of the aristocracy are all afraid of losing their 
 influence under a residing sovereign ; and therefore agree 
 in opposing the elvation of any of their own body to the 
 supreme dignity. In our o\\t;i days, ^/z-^^-y has found 
 how difficult it is to ascend the throne of Egypt, or to 
 jnaintan one's self upon it. The grand signior sends al- 
 ways a pacha of three tails to exercise his precarious au- 
 thority in Egypt, in the character of governor. But the 
 pacha of Cairo, far from enjoying the same authority as 
 the other pachas of the Turkish empire, is entirely de- 
 pendent on the Egyptian divan. That aristocratical body, 
 regarding the pacha as their tyrant, frequently depose 
 him, unless he have the address to support himself by 
 provoking and fomenting the contentions of the different 
 parties, favouring each by turns. During my stay at 
 Alexandria, the inhabitants of Cairo expelled their pacha. 
 Miistapha pacha wsis at ihe same time in Egypt, who had 
 been already twice grand vizir, and rose afterwards a 
 third time to that dignity. Having been sent by the Sul- 
 tan to Djklda, he had remained in Egypt, on pretence of 
 illness. The inhabitants chose Mustapha their pacha, 
 and found means to oblige the Sultan, however dissatis- 
 fied with the electors and the person ^vhom they had 
 elected, to confirm their choice. But the new pacha 
 kept his place only seven months, and wiis then obliged 
 to yield it to another from Constantinople. The latter 
 died suddenly, upon the arrival of a Kapigi-Bachi, who 
 was sent after him by the Sultan. Thus, in the short 
 time while I was in Eg)'pt, three governors succeeded 
 each other rapidly in the government of that province* — 
 In a city, like Cairo, inhabited by a number of petty 
 tyrants, w ho are ever at variance among themsd^'es, and 
 seeking each other's ruin, and who often proceed to open 
 violence in determining their quarrels, private persons 
 can never consider themselves as in absolute securit}-. 
 The narrowness of the streets, and the crowds which 
 are constantly pressing through them, are fa^ ourable to 
 
 * Travels, Vol. i. P. ^3— 76 
 
105 
 
 disorder. Yet fewer instances of robber}'-, theft, and 
 murder, are heard of here than in the great cities of Eu- 
 rope — The magistrates contribute to the public security 
 by very prompt administration of justice — All the streets 
 of Cairo have gates, which are shut at night ; but a por- 
 ter waits to open to those, who can allege satisfactory 
 reason for passing from one street to another, and ap- 
 proach with a light in their hands. The man, for a 
 small acknowledgment, opens the gate, but stops every 
 suspected person. This regulation prevents nocturnal 
 assemblies and tumults among the people. It at the 
 same time so entirely separates the several quarters of 
 the city, tliat the Beys often contend with open violence, 
 while the other inhabitants know nothing of the matter* 
 — The Bedouins^ or wandering Arabs, being free, almost 
 independent, and rather tributary allies than subjects of 
 the Egyptian government, are the most remarkable branch 
 of the nation. They are divided into tribes, governed by 
 hereditary chiefs called Schieclis^ and these subordinate 
 to a great Schiech, who has authority over several tribes. 
 Upon paying a certain tribute to government, the Bedou- 
 ins are permitted to feed their flocks tlirough the rich 
 pasturage grounds of Egypt. But they frequently abuse 
 this permission, and pillage without distinction as well the 
 husbandmen in the districts in which they encamp, as 
 those tra\^ellers who have the misfortune to fall into their 
 hands. They are ready too to take part in the dissen- 
 tions, which frequently arise in this military republic. 
 When government attempts to punish them or to con- 
 strain them to their duty, they either defend themselves 
 by force, or retire into the deserts till their misdemea- 
 nours be forgotten f." 
 
 Such is the government of Egypt ; a government, 
 which evidently is impregnated, by the very nature of its 
 constitution, with the seeds of eternal discord. Such 
 were the effects, which naturally resulted from it in the 
 year 1761, when Mr. Niebuhr had an opportunity of 
 observing them. Such likewise were its effects at a yet 
 later period, as manifested since the year 1798 in similar 
 
 * Travels, Vol. x. p. 9G— 8K. f ^^id. p. 1G8. 
 
 14 
 
106 
 
 violent contentions among the rival Beys. And such, 
 though in a much more violent degree, will, I doubt not, 
 be its effects immediately before the final conquest of 
 Egypt by the fierce king of Isaiah, or the wilful king of 
 Daniel. 
 
 It is highly worthy of notice, that, as we draw near to 
 the time of the c-zzJandthe accomplishment of those pro- 
 phecies M"hich relate to the restoration of the Je^vs^ the 
 attention of the great political world has been in a remaka- 
 ble manner turned towards Palestine and Egypt. An at- 
 tempt has been already made by Antichrist to establish 
 himself in those regions : and it failed of success only, I 
 believe, because it was prematurely undertaken. The 
 following extract from an intercepted letter, written by 
 an £tat Major in Buonaparte's army, and dated Gi'and 
 Cairo, July 28, 1798, sufficiently proves, that an estab- 
 lishment in Egypt and Syria was the object of this ma- 
 rauding expedition, with an ultimate view to the English 
 settlements in India. " The government have turned their 
 eyes towards Egypt and Syria ; countries, which, by their 
 climate, goodness, and fertility of soil, may become the 
 granaries of tlie French commerce, her magazine of 
 abundance, and in course of time the depositor}^ of the 
 riches of India. It is most indubitable, that, when pos- 
 sessed of, and regularly organized in, these countries, we 
 may throw our views still farther ; and, in the end, destroy 
 the English commerce in the Indies, turn it to our own 
 profit, and render ourselves the sovereigns also of that of 
 Africa and Asia. All these considerations united have 
 induced our government to attempt the expedition to 
 Egypt. That part of the Roman power has been govern- 
 ed, for many ages, by a species of men called Mamalucs^ 
 \\\\o have Beys at the head of each district. These deny 
 the authority of the Grand Siguier, governing themselves 
 tyrannically and despotically a people and a c6untry, 
 which, in the hands of a polished nation, would become 
 a source of wealth and profit*." The manner, in which 
 this scheme was conducted, was by an attempt to sow 
 discord between the Beys and the Egyptians ; the very 
 
 * eited bj- Kett, Hist, the Interp. Vol ir, p. 2^8-. 
 
107 
 
 manner, in short, in which, we have reason to believe 
 from prophecy, the yet future project of Antichrist will be 
 conducted. The apostate miscreant, who then com- 
 manded the French army, and who now disgraces the im- 
 perial title, thus addressed by proclamation the natives of 
 Egypt. " In the name of God, gracious and merciful. 
 There is no God, but God ; he has no Son or associate 
 in his kingdom. The present moment, which is destin- 
 ed for the punishment of the Beys, has been long anxi- 
 ously expected. The Beys, coming from the mountains 
 of Georgia and Bajars^ have desolated this beautiful coun- 
 try. Buonaparte, the general of the French republic, ac- 
 cording to the principles of liberty, is now arrived ; and 
 the Almighty, the Lord of both worlds, has sealed the 
 destruction of the Beys. Inhabitants of Egypt ! when 
 the Beys tell you the French are come to destroy your 
 religion, believe them not : it is an absolute falshood. 
 Answer those deceivers, that they are only come to rescue 
 the rights of the poor from the hands of their tyrants, and 
 that the French adore the Supreme Being, and honour 
 the Prophet and his holy Koran. All men are equal in 
 the eyes of God : understanding, ingenuity, and science, 
 alone make a difference between them : as the Beys there- 
 fore do not possess any of these qualities, they cannot be 
 worthy to govern the country — The Supreme Being, who 
 is just and merciful towards all mankind, wills, that in 
 future none of the inhabitants of Egypt shall be prevented 
 from attaining to the first employments and the highest 
 honours. The administration, which shall be conducted 
 by persons of mtelligence, talents, and foresight, will be 
 productive of happiness and security. The tyranny and 
 avarice of the Beys have laid waste Egypt, which was 
 formerly so populous and well cultivated. The French 
 are true Mussulmans — They have at all times been the 
 true and sincere friends of the Ottoman Emperors, and 
 the enemies of their enemies. May the empire of the 
 Sultan therefore be eternal ; but may the Beys of Egypt, 
 our opposers, whose insatiable avarice has continually ex- 
 cited disobedience and insubordination, be trodden in th© 
 dust and annihilated ! Our friendship shall be extended 
 to those of the inhabitants of Eg}^pt who shall join us, as 
 
also to those who shall remain in their dwellingis and ob- 
 serve a strict neutrality, and when they have seen our 
 conduct with then- own eyes hasten to submit to us ; but 
 the dreadful punishment of death awaits those, who shall 
 take up arms for the Beys and against us. For them 
 there shall be no deli\Trance, nor shall any trace of them 
 remain — All the inhabitants of Egypt shall offer up thanks 
 to the Supreme Being, and put up public prayers for the 
 destruction of the Beys. May the Supreme God make 
 the glory of the Sultan of the Ottomans eternal, pour 
 forth his Avrath on the Mamalucs, and render glorious the 
 destiny of the Egyptian nation*.'' 
 
 This man, this tender respecter of the rights of na- 
 tions and individuals, has since become Emperor of the 
 French; and, yet more recently, like Charlemagne, the 
 uncontrolled Emperor of the West. There is no reason 
 to suppose, that success will render him less ambitious ; 
 or that his conquests in Europe will induce him to give 
 up his schemes against Palestine and Egypt. We may 
 frequently observe a sort of undecided coincidence in the 
 inspired w riters, and in no instance perhaps more than in 
 the present. It is predicted, that, at the time of the end, 
 Antichrist and his vassals shall invade the East, and op- 
 pose the return of tJie converted Jews ; but that some 
 mighty maritime nation^ evidently hostile to Antichrist^ 
 shall be the earners of God's message to them, and the 
 appointed instruments of bringing them as a present to the 
 Lord of hosts. Now Joel styles the army of Antichrist 
 the northern army\ ; by vrhich, I think, we can only un- 
 derstand, that to a person in the holy land it should ap- 
 pear as coming from the north. Such being the case, the 
 route of Antichrist will be through Greece and Asia 
 Minor ; unless indeed, what is not very probable, we 
 suppose him to circuit the Euxine. Accordingly Daniel 
 represents his progress as being by land, and not by sea ; 
 as being an expedition, in which he should enter into the 
 countries and overjloiv and pass over., previous to his en- 
 tering also into the glorious land., and previous to the land 
 tf Egypt not escaping him\. But why should this expe- 
 
 » Cited by Rett, Hist, the Interp. Vol. ii. p. 258— 26J. 
 •J Joel ii. 20. i D*n. xi. 40—45. 
 
10^ 
 
 dition be undertaken by land, rather than by sea ? The 
 answer is afforded us by Isaiah, in the course of the pro- 
 phecy now under consideration : a mighty maritime power 
 shall be friendly to the converted Jews^ and therefore hos- 
 tile to Antichrist ; consequently the same fleets, which will 
 assist in the restoration of the former, will be an effectual 
 obstacle to any maritime expedition upon a large scale 
 undertaken by the latter. It is worthy of notice, that, as 
 the prophets exactly coincide with each other respecting 
 the route of Antichrist being by land and not by sea, so 
 the existing posture of affairs exactly coincides with the 
 declarations of the prophets. In the first edition of my 
 Dissertation on the 1260 days^ I had not an opportunity 
 of noticing the direful conclusion of the war between 
 France and Austria ; a war undertaken with every rea- 
 sonable human prospect of success, yet a war which has 
 given to a foreign usurper the sceptre of Charlemagne : I 
 could only then observe in general terms, that, without 
 presuming to foretell its issue, the Christian could not 
 reasonably doubt that the hand of God is now stretched 
 forth over the earth in a peculiar and remarkable manner ; 
 and that all things would assuredly work together to ful- 
 fil those prophecies which yet remain unaccomplished, 
 and to prepare a way for the last tremendous manifesta- 
 tions of God's wrath*. The battle of Austerlitz has since 
 decided the fate oi the Roman Emperor\^ and has opened 
 to Buonaparte a free passage into the very heart of the 
 Turkish dominions : nor can he surely be deemed guilty 
 of any very great presumption, who is inclined to believe, 
 that the late signal humiliation of Austria, and her con- 
 strained cession to France of Istria, Friuli, and Dalmatia, 
 serve only to pave the way for the last tremendous enter- 
 prize of the infidel king. The doxvnfal of the Ottoman 
 empire^ predicted under the sixth vial, is placed by St. 
 John previous to the expedition of the beast and the false 
 prophet into Palestine, and is apparently represented by 
 him as being preparatory to it. What length of time in- 
 deed may be occupied in the preparations for this expe-^ 
 
 * Postscript to Preface, 1st Edit. 
 
 f Subsequent to my writing- this, the chief of the house of Austria has 
 formally a'.xlicated the title of Emperor of the Romans, and has been constrain- 
 ed to dissolve officially the Germanic eonstitution. August 1806. 
 
110 
 
 ditton, the Apostle does not determine ; tliat a/considera- . 
 ble length of time will be necessary for the complete or- 
 ganization of the great confederacy ^ seems only reasona- 
 ble to imagine ; but that the fall of the Ottoman empire 
 will pave the way for it, appears to be almost asserted by 
 St. John. 
 
 The tenor both of the present and the preceding pro- 
 phecy necessarily leads us to conclude, that, at the period 
 of their accomplishment, the Jews will abound in the land 
 of Egypt. Mr. Niebuhr accordingly informs us, that 
 " the Jews are the most numerous class in Ciaro, next 
 after the Mohammedans and the Copts. Some Phari- 
 sees or Talmudists reside here, as well as Karaites ; who, 
 though not numerous, have a synagogue of their own. 
 The Talmudists are numerous and powerful. They 
 have long farmed all the customs ; an undertaking, which 
 brings them both wealth and credit. In the republican 
 government of Egypt they find it easier to gain steady 
 protectors, than in the other provinces of Turkey, where 
 all depends upon the caprice of a Pacha who knows not 
 how soon he niay lose his place, or of the superintendant 
 of the customs who resides in Constantinople. One' 
 proof of the consequence, which the Jexvs enjoy under 
 the aristocracy of Cairo, is, that the offices of the cus- 
 toms are shut u]3on their sabbath, and no goods can pass 
 on that day, although belonging to Christians or Mus- 
 sulmans*." 
 
 The prophet, having now foretold the temporary" cala- 
 mities which the Egyptians should experience from the 
 mvasion of Antichrist, proceeds to announce their conver- 
 sion to genuine Christianity. In the midst of their trou- 
 bles, when they cry unto the Lord because of their op- 
 pressors, he shall send them a Saviour and a Great One, 
 and he shall deliver them. In consequence of this happ}- 
 change in their circumstances, the Lord shall be kno^^'n 
 to Egypt ; and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that 
 day, and shall minister sacrifice and oblation : Assyria 
 likewise shall paitake of the blessing, and join with Israel 
 and Egypt in praising God. Now, since this knowledge 
 of the Lord is the evident result of a Saviour and a Great 
 
 * Travels, Vol. i. p. 102. 
 
Ill 
 
 0?ie being sent to the Egyptians^ I know not what person 
 Ave can reasonably understand by the Saviour, except 
 the Messiah. 
 
 What precise^t'e cities are alluded to, as adopting the 
 religious confession of Canaan, and as swearing by the 
 Lord of hosts, can only be satisfactorily determined by 
 the event. The most natural explanation seems to be, 
 that the five prijicipal cities of Eg} pt are considered as 
 including all the rest ; and that this phraseology is only a 
 varied method of declaring, what the prophet in the 
 course of the same prediction more explicitly declares, 
 that the whole land of Egypt should be converted to the 
 profession of the true faith. It perhaps may not be 
 altogether unworthy of notice, that D'iVnville, in his map of 
 Egypt, assigns to the Delta precisely five principal cities, 
 the names of which he writes in capitals : Alexandria^ 
 Hashid, Damiat, Eouah, and Mahalle Kebir. He likewise 
 divides the Delta into exactly five provinces : Bahire^ 
 Garble^ Dakelie^ Sharkie^ and Menujie. As for Cairo, 
 it is situated at the head of the Delta^ somewhat higher 
 than the grand division of the Nile. In one of these pro- 
 \ inces stood, I believe, the ancient Heliopolis, or city of 
 tJie Sun *. 
 
 At the conclusion of the present prophecy, Isaiah pre" 
 diets, as he had already done at the conclusion of his 
 former prophcQy, that there should be a close intercourse 
 and religious connection between Assyria, Israel, and 
 Egypt. They should be united together, as the differ- 
 ent parts of a single kingdom are, by a common high- 
 way ; and they should jointly experience the benefit of 
 being the blessed of the Lord of hosts f. 
 
 In the interpretation, which I have here given of the 
 19 th chapter of Isaiah, I am conscious that I have most 
 materially differed from Bp. Newton and his precursor 
 Vitringa ij:. The Bishop conceives, that the cruel lords 
 and the fierce king primarily mean Nebuchadnezzar and 
 the Babylonians ; but principally Cambyses, Ochus^ and 
 
 * See the Map prefixed to the report of Citizen Rjpaud. 
 \ Compare Isaiah xi. 15, 16. with xix. 5, 23, 24, 25. 
 4: Ep Lowth follows Bp. Newtou m bi^ QpiniQn respecting the accojnplish- 
 ■rnient of this prppU^cy. 
 
112 
 
 the Persians : tliat what is said, respecting the exhaus- 
 t:on and diversion of the river ^ alludes to the consequences 
 of the subjection and slaveiy to which Egypt was reduc- 
 ed by the Persians, her poverty and want, her mourning 
 and lamentation, her confusion and misery : that the 
 saviour and the mighty one, who delivered the Egyptians, 
 is Alexajider the great* rthsX their conversion is the par- 
 tial diffusion of religious knowledge by the instrumentality 
 of the Jeivs, who are thence represented as the medium 
 of religious connection between Egypt and Assyria : that 
 the five cities were Heliopolis^ mentioned by the prophet 
 himself, and four others spoken of by Jeremiah as being 
 the places of the residence of the Jews ; namely, Migdoly 
 TahpanheSy Noph, and some other in the country of 
 Pathros, the name of which is not particularized : and 
 that the building of the altar in the midst of the land of 
 Egypt alludes to the building of a Jewish temple by Onias 
 i?i the prefecture of Heliopolis \ . 
 
 The w hole of this interpretation appears to me to fall 
 very far short of the most natural and obvious meaning 
 of the original. The immediate connection of the \9th 
 chapter with its two predecessors certainly leads one pri- 
 ma facie to conclude, that its subject is the same : because 
 we find Egypt and Assyria similarly, almost indeed in 
 the very same words, connected with the restoration of 
 the Jews by Isaiah himself in his Wth chapter ; because 
 Zechariah again, still almost in the same words, unites the 
 restoration of Israel with die fates of Egypt and Assy ria^; 
 and because Daniel exactly in the same manner predicts, 
 that at the era of tlie restoration of the Jews Egypt should 
 be conquered by Antichrist}. But, if the 19th chapter of 
 Isaiah be connected with the restoration, as the general 
 harmony of prophecy seems to requiie, and as its situa- 
 tion immediately after the 17 th and 18 th chapters natur- 
 ally suggests, I know not now it can have any relation to 
 events long since past. What the Bishop says respecting 
 
 * His Lordship seems to think, tliatnot only Alexander may be intended 
 by the Saviour and the great one, but also his immediate successor in Eg-ypt, 
 Ptolemy, who like himself was styled the great, and Ptolemy Soter or the Sa- 
 •oiour. This play upon words would have better become a less grave com- 
 mentator than the excellent Newton, t Dissert, xii. 
 + Zechar. x. 10—12. § Dan. xi. 42, 43, xii. U 
 
113 
 
 tiie cxiiaiistion of the river seems scarcely allowable on 
 the common principles of symbolical interpretation. If 
 the Nile is here to be understood figuratively, the drying 
 up a?jd diversion of its streams can with difficulty be con- 
 ceived to mean the introdnctioii of poverty^ lamentation., 
 and confusion, among the Egyptians : it would rather typi- 
 fy, as I have already stated, the subversion of their polity 
 and their gradual depopulation and emigration. As for the 
 Saviour and the great one, the evident connection, in 
 which that person is placed with a s^eneral diffusion of 
 real religion throughout Egypt, will not allow us, with- 
 out a singular degree of harshness, to suppose him to be 
 Alexander the great. Whatever increase of religion there 
 mi2;ht be in Es-ypt durintr his rei[rn and those of his sue- 
 cessors, the Egyptians, as a nation, were undoubtedly 
 idolaters. The same remark applies with equal force to 
 the Assyrians. Hence I cannot but think the introduc- 
 tion of comparatively a fexv Jews into those countries a 
 most imperfect and unsatisfactory solution oi the predict- 
 ed religious unity of Egypt, Israel, and Assyria. Is it 
 reasonable to believe, that the Lord of hosts would esteem 
 Israel the third with Egypt and Assyria, even a blessing 
 in the midst of the land ; and that he should be repre- 
 sented as saying. Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assy- 
 ria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance ; 
 merely because Nebuchadnezzar carried the Jexvs captive 
 to Babylon, and because many of the same people had 
 emigrated to Eg}'pt in the days of Alexander and the 
 Ptolemies ? How then will our doubt respecting the pro- 
 priety of this interpretation be increased, when we find 
 Bp. Newton himself confessing, that the Egyptian Jews 
 *' WQY^ generally \e.Yy wicked \ntn, and disobedient to the 
 word of the Lord, and that upon that account the prophet 
 Jeremiah denounced the heaviest judgments against 
 them." His Lordship adds indeed, as if with a view to 
 anticipate the objection which so naturally arises out of 
 his own statement, that " some good men might be ming- 
 led among them, who jnight open his prophecies to the 
 Egyptians, and they themselves when they saw them ful- 
 filled might embrace the Jewish religion." But in the 
 case of a prophecy, which is said to be already accora* 
 15 
 
114 
 
 plished, we can scarcely allow a series of conjectures to 
 be a sufficient exposition. After all, even granting the 
 conjectures to be well-founded, still the exposition will 
 be incomplete^ Isaiah manifestly speaks of a general con- 
 version of the whole land of Egypt, and that not merely 
 to nominal but to real religion : hence, when he peculi- 
 arly mentions^re^ cities^ we must not understand him as 
 contradicting and limiting the rest of his prediction, but 
 simply as alluding to five principal cities which he consi- 
 ders as subincluding all the rest*. But Bp. Newton in 
 ti great measure confines the conversion to the Jive cities ; 
 and even in those j^i;c cities to a part only of their inha- 
 bitants, the Jexvs and their Egyptian proselytes. Onias 
 ' might very possibly suppose tlie prophecy to have been 
 accomplished in liis day ; or rather, with a view to what 
 lie conceived would be the accomplishment of it, he might 
 allege this veiy prophecy to the king and queen of Egypt, 
 in order to induce them to permit him to build a temple 
 to God in the prefecture of Heliopolis^ or the city of the 
 Sun : yet, although he succeeded in his plan, it is not 
 thereby so much pro^ ed that the prediction was then re- 
 ally accomplished, as that he was willing to believe it to 
 have been then accomplished!. In fine, Bp. Newton 
 himself does not seem perfectly satisfied with his own 
 interpretation : he allows, that the prophecy will be more 
 amply fulfilled hereafter. " Thus," says he, " by the 
 means of the Jews and proselytes dwelling in Egypt and 
 Syria, Israel, Egypt and Syria were in some measure 
 imitcd in the same worship. But this was viore fully ac- 
 complished, when these countries became Christian, and 
 so were made members of the same body in Christ Jesus. 
 And we piously hope and believe, that it will still receive 
 its most perfect completion in the latter days, when Mo- 
 hammedism shall be rooted out and Christianity shall 
 again flourish in these countries, when the fulness of the 
 Gentiles shall come in and all Israel shall be saved." To 
 this last event, I, on the contrarj^, caimot refrain from 
 
 * Compare Tsaiah xix. 18. with vcr. 21 — 25. 
 
 •}• Bp. Lowth, although he adopts in the main Bp. Newton's interpretation 
 of this prophecy, objects much in the same manner with myself to the appIL- 
 •ation of thatpai't ofit-, which speaks of f/ie city of the sun, to Onias. 
 
115 
 
 thinking that the prophecy ought to be altogether con-^ 
 fined, for reasons which have ah'eady been sufficiently 
 stated. 
 
 PROPHECY VII. 
 
 Tlie dispersion of the Jews — Their restoration from the west — 
 The lamentation of Judah on account of the treachery of Anti- 
 christ — His restoration in the midst of great political troubles — 
 The overthi'ow of Antichrist — The triumph of the restored Jews 
 — iThe certainty of their restoration and of the overthrow of Anti- 
 christ — The exhaustion of the Euphrates and the Nile. 
 
 Isaiah xxiv. 1. Behold, the Lord maketh the land 
 empty, and layeth it waste, and turneth it upside down, 
 and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. 2. And 
 it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest ; as with 
 the servant, so with his master ; as with the maid, so with 
 her mistress ; as with tlie buyer, so with tlie seller ; as 
 with the lender, so with the borrower ; as with the taker 
 of usurj^ so with the giver of usury to him. 3. The 
 land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled : for the 
 Lord hath spoken this word. 4. The land mourneth, 
 nnd fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, 
 the haughty people of the land do languish. 5. The 
 land also is defiled beneath' the inhabitants thereof : be- 
 cause they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordi- 
 nance, broken the everlasting covenant ; 6. Therefore 
 hath a curse devoured the land, and they that dwell there- 
 in are desolate ; therefore the inhabitants of the land ai'C 
 burned, and few men left- 7. The new w ine mourneth, the 
 vine languisheth, all the merry-hearted do sigh. 8. The 
 mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice 
 endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. 9. They shall not 
 drink wine with a song ; strong drink shall be bitter to 
 them that drink it. 10. The city is broken down ; it is 
 become a confused heap ; every house is shut up, so that 
 no man may come in. 11. There is a crying for wine 
 in the streets ; all joy is darkened ; the mirth of the land 
 is gone. 12. In the city is left desolation ; aad the gate 
 
116 
 
 IS smitten with destruction. 13. For thus it shall be in 
 the inmost parts of the land, in the midst of the people ; 
 H shall be as the gleaning of an olive tree, as the strag- 
 gling grapes that remain v\ hen the vintage is done. 
 
 14. Yet they shall lift up their voice ; they shall exult 
 in the majesty of the Lord ; they shall shout from the 
 sea*. 15. Wherefore glorify ye the Lord by Urim, 
 the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the 
 sea. 16. From the uttermost parts of the earth ■\ have 
 we heard songs, even glory to the righteous one. But 
 I said, ?vly leanness, my leanness, wo unto me ! the 
 treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously ; yea, the 
 treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. 
 
 17. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, 
 O inhabitant of the earth. 18. And it shall come to pass, 
 that he, who fleeth from the noise of the fear, shall fall 
 into the pit ; and he, that cometh up out of the midst of 
 the pit, shall be taken in the snare : for the fissures on 
 high are open, and the foimdations of the earth do shake. 
 19. The earth is utterly broken down, the eaith is clean 
 dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. 20. The 
 earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be 
 removed like a cottage ; and the transgression thereof 
 shall be heavy upon it ; and it shall fall, and not rise 
 again. 
 
 21. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the 
 Lord sliall send his visitation upon the host of the high 
 
 * They shall shout from, the sea.'\ " Or from the isles of the sea, as it is ex- 
 pressed in tlie following verse ; i. c. from the isles of the western or medi- 
 terranean sea, w hitlier many of the ^eivs were scattered, and from whence 
 they should return into their own coimtry in the latter'days. The Hebi-ew 
 word Ijani signifies the West as well as the sea, because the mediterranean 
 sea lay westward of Jutlei : and so the word is rendered by some interpre- 
 ters here. This verse is to be understood of the final restoration of the Jevis."" 
 Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 ■j" From, the uttermost parts fthe earth. ~^ " From the uttermost parts of the 
 earth means the same iisfrom the isles rf the sea in the foregoing verses : from 
 these utmost regions have we heard the joyful acknowledgment of the righ- 
 teous, praising fiod for their deliverance and for all the glorious things he 
 hath done for ihem, making them thereby remarkable in the eyes of the world 
 as his favourites — We may observe, that the word Tsehi is often taken for 
 jfiid^a, as being the glory nf all lands— And, if we take the word in this sense, 
 the meaning of the place will be. That the substance of their hymns was, 
 that now the promised land should be restored to the righteous seed of Abra- 
 ham. Which confirms the interpretation given of ver. 14, that the contest 
 relates to the final restoration of the ^e-i's.'" Mr- Lowth in loc. 
 
117 
 
 one on high, and upon the kings of the earth on the earth. 
 22. And they shall be gathered tcJgcther as prisoners are 
 gathered into the vault of a dungeon, and they shall be 
 shut up in prison, and after many days shall they be 
 visited. 23. Then the moon shall be confounded, and 
 the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in 
 mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients 
 gloriously. 
 
 XXV. 1. O Lord, thou art my God ; I will exalt thee, 
 I will praise thy name : for thou hast done wonderful 
 things : thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. 
 2. For thou hast made of a cit}-, an heap ; of a defenced 
 eity, a ruin ; the tower of strangers, to be no city : it shall 
 never be built. 3. Therefore shall the strong people 
 glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee. 
 4. For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength 
 to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a 
 shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones 
 was as a storm against the wall. 5. As heat in a dry 
 place, thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers ; as 
 heat in the shadow of a cloud, the branch of the terrible 
 ones shall he humbled. 
 
 6. And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make 
 unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on 
 the lees ; of fat things full of marrow, of wine on the lees 
 well refined. 7. And he will entirely remove in this 
 mountain the face of the covering that is cast over all the 
 peoples, and the veil that is spread over all the nations. 
 8. He will swallow up death in victory ; and the Lord 
 God will wipe away tears from off all faces ; and the 
 reproach of his people shall he take away from off all the 
 earth : for the Lord hath spoken it. 9. And it shall be 
 said in that day, Lo, this is our God ; we have waited 
 for him, and he will save us : this is the Lord ; we have 
 waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salva- 
 tion. 10. For in this mountain shall the hand of the Lord 
 rest ; and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even 
 as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. 11, And 
 he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as 
 he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim : and 
 he shall bring down their pride together Math the spoils of 
 
118 
 
 their hands. 12. And the fortress of the high fort of thy 
 walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the 
 ground, even to the dust. 
 
 xxvi. 1. In that day this song shall be sung : In the 
 land of Judah we have a strong city ; salvation shall he 
 appoint for walls and bulwarks. 2. Open ye the gates, 
 that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may 
 enter in. 3. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose 
 mind is stayed on thee : because he trusteth in thee. 
 4. Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah 
 is everlasting strength. 5. For he bringeth down them 
 that dwell on high ; the lofty city, he layeth it low * ; he 
 layeth it low, even to the ground ; he bringeth it even to 
 the dust. 6. The foot shall tread it down ; even the 
 feet of the needy t> and tlie steps of the poor. 7. The 
 way of the just is uprightness : thou, most upright, dost 
 weigh the path of the just. 8. Yea, in the way of thy 
 judgments, O Lord, have Me waited for thee : the desire 
 of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of 
 thee. 9. With my soul have I desired thee in the night ; 
 yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early : for, 
 when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of 
 the world will leam righteousness. 10. Let favour be 
 shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness t 
 in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not 
 behold the majesty of tlie Lord. 11. Lord, thy hand is lift- 
 ed up, but they see not : yet they shall see, and shall be 
 ashamed for their envy at the people ; yea thine enemies, 
 fire shall devour them. 12. Lord, thou wilt ordain peace 
 for us ; for thou hast also wrought all our works for us. 
 
 ' * The infty city, he /ayeth it lorj.'] " As the Chnrch is styled the city of God, 
 so the society of infidels or enemies to God's truth is represented by tlie like 
 similitude of a city, and typified under the fissures of Sodovi, Babylon, and that 
 Jerusalem wliich killed, the prophets. And this sense I think best agree>s 
 with the scope of the place, and with the parallel texts, chap. xxv. 2, 12 ; in 
 neither of which places can the expression be understood of any one particu- 
 lar city." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 f The feet af the needy.'] " If we understand the words of that last and 
 j^reat triumph of the Church over Antichrist and all its enemies (as many of 
 the expressions in this and the former chapter look that way), we may fitly 
 explain the poor and needy here to be those who shall escape out of the great 
 tribulation which shall precede those times, mentioned Dan. xii. 1." (Mr. 
 Lowth in loc.) Those however, who are mentioned in Dan. xii. 1, are plainly 
 the restored jfcjis : and 1 conceive them to be likewise intended in the present 
 passage. 
 
119 
 
 13. O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had do- 
 minion over us : but by thee only will we make mention of 
 thy name. 14. Dead, they, shall not live ; utterly dead, they 
 shall not rise again ; because thou hast visited and destroy- 
 ed them, and wilt cause every memorial of them to perish. 
 15. Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast 
 increased the nation: thou art glorified; thou hast extend- 
 ed far all the borders of the land. 16. Lord, in trouble 
 they have visited thee, they have poured out a prayer ; 
 tliy chastening was upon them. 17. As a woman with 
 child draweth near to the time of her delivery, is pained, 
 crieth out in her pangs ; so have we been in thy sight, 
 O Lord. 18. We have been with child, we have been 
 in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind : deliver- 
 ance we have not wrought in the earth, and the inhabi- 
 tants of the world have not fallen. 
 
 19. Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise*. 
 Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust : for thy dew 
 is the dew of herbs, and tlie earth shall cast out the dead. 
 20. Come, my people ; enter into thy chambers, and shut 
 thy doors about theef : hide thyself as it were for a lit- 
 tle moment, until the indignation be overpast. 21. For, 
 behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to visit the ini- 
 
 • Thy dead shall live, Tiiy dead bodies shall arise."] In the language of sym- 
 bols, death, when a riation is spoken of, means political extinction ; and rev/- 
 viscence, a restoration to political life. " Mori ea notione dicitur, qui in quo- 
 cup.que statu constitutus, sive politic©, sive ecclesiastico, seu quovis alio, de- 
 ainit esse quod fuit; unde et occidit qui tali morte quemquam afficit." (Mede's 
 Comment. Apoc. in Myst. duor. Test. p. 484.). The same imagery is used by 
 Ezekiel ; only, to heighten the painting, and to shew the great length of time 
 during which the Israelites would lie dead as a nation, he represents them 
 as being not merely a collection of dead bodies, but a heap of dry bones 
 (Ezek. xxxvii. 1 — 14.). St. John likewise describes the suppression of pro- 
 testantism in Germany in the time of Charles V, under the same allegory 
 (Rev. xi. 7 — 11.). "It appears from hence," observes Bp. Lowth very justly, 
 " that the doctrine oi'.the resurrection of the dead was at that time a popular 
 ''and common doctrine : for an image, wliich is assumed in order to express 
 or represent any thing in the way of allegory or metaphor, must be an image 
 commonly known and understood ; otherwise it would not answer the pur- 
 pose for which it was assumed." Bp. Lowtli's Isaiah in loo. See also Mi'- 
 Lowtli in loc. 
 
 ■j- Shut thy doors about thee.'] " The woi'd.s ai'e an allusion to that command 
 given to the Israelites in Egypt, not to go out of the door of their houses till 
 morning-, when tlie destroying angel was to pass through the land of Egypt. 
 So here God promises to be a hiding-place to his people in the midst of those . 
 terrible judgments which should destroy his adversaries. This probably may 
 be meant of those days of extraordinary trouble at the end of the worlds spo- 
 ken of in Dan, xii, 1. and Matt. xxiv. 21," Mr. l^qwtH in loc, 
 
120 
 
 quity of the inhabitants of the earth iijxjn them : the 
 earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more co- 
 ver her slain. 
 
 xxvij. 1 *. In that day, the Lord, with his well-tem- 
 pered and great and strong sword, shall punish Leviathan 
 the sequent that darteth rapidly alorg, even Leviathan the 
 winding serpent ; he shall even slay the monster that is 
 in the sea. 
 
 2. Li that day, to the beloved vineyard sing ye a res- 
 ponsive song t' 
 
 3. Jehovah. It is I, the Lord, that preserve her : I 
 will water her every moment ; I will take care of her by 
 night ; and by day I will keep guard over her. 
 
 4. Vineyard. I have no wall for my defence : O 
 that I had a fence of the thorn and brier 1 
 
 J. Against them should I march in battle, I should 
 bum them up together. 5. Ah ! let her rather take hold 
 of my protection. 
 
 V. Let him make peace with me ! peace let him make 
 ^vith me ! 
 
 6. J. They that come from the root of Jacob shall 
 flourish, Israel shall bud forth ; and they shall fill the face 
 of the earth with fruit. 
 
 7. Hath he smitten him, as he smiteth those that smote 
 him ? Hath he slain him, as he slaveth those that slew 
 him ? 8. In just measure, when thou inflictest the stroke, 
 w41t thou debate with her : he will deeply deliberate, even 
 in the inidst o/'his violent blast, in the day of the east- 
 wind. 9. Wherefore by this shall the iniquity of Jacob 
 be purged ; and this shall take away all the fruit of his 
 sin ; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as stones 
 of rubbish beaten to pieces, when the groves and images 
 rise up no more. 
 
 * " Tliis chapter treats of the same subject with the two former, and des- 
 cribes that happy state of the Church, when Satan and his agents shall be 
 subdued, the Church shall be enlarged and purged from idolatry, and the 
 yews shall be restored ; all which are circumstances attending those glori- 
 ous days, which the prophets often foretell shall come to pass at or near the 
 end of the world." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 f A responsive song.^ " That ro? to answer," says Bp. Lowth, " signifies 
 occasionally to sing responsively, and that this mode of singing was frequent- 
 ly practised among the ancient Jews, see De Sacra Poesi Heb. Prael. sis. a' 
 the beginning," 
 
121 
 
 10. At the time when the defenced city shall be deso- 
 late, the habitation forsaken and left like a wilderness ; 
 when the calf feedeth there, and lieth down there, and 
 consumeth the branches thereof ; 11. JFhen women break 
 off the branches thereof as soon as they are withered, 
 coming and setting them on fire (for it is a people of no 
 understanding ; therefore their Maker doth not love 
 them, neither doth he who formed them shew himself 
 gracious unto them) : 12. In that day it shall come to 
 pass, that the Lord will beat as -with a threshing instru- 
 ment * from the stream of the river unto the river of 
 Egypt ; and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye chil- 
 dren of Israel : 13. Even in that day it shall come to 
 pass, that it shall be blown with the great trumpet f, and 
 they that were lost in the land of Assyria, and they that 
 were thrust into the land of Egypt, shall come, and shall 
 worship the Lord, in the holy mount, in Jerusalem. 
 
 COMMENTARY, 
 
 These chapters, like those which were last considered, 
 form one continued prophecy, treating of the very same 
 subjects, and occasionally in almost the very same words. 
 
 Isaiah begins with predicting, in terms studiously mi- 
 nute, the dispersion of the Jews and the desolation of their 
 country. He asserts, that all these judgments should 
 come upon them, because they have transgressed the laws 
 of God, changed the ordinance, and broken the everlast- 
 ing covenant, even the covenant of the Messiah. Yet, as 
 he had already foretold |, so he now repeats it, that, not- 
 withstanding the general dispersion, a- few stragglers 
 should remain in the land, like the gleanings of a vine or 
 an olive-tree. 
 
 In the midst however of this desolation, they sliould, 
 in God's appointed season, break forth into songs of praise, 
 
 * The Lord will beat us as 'uiith a threshing instrument.'] "This relates to the 
 restoration of the ^evis in the latter times." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 f It shall be blown with the great trumpet ] " A general alarm or summons 
 shall be given. Compare Matt. xxiv. 31, which place some understand of this 
 very restoration of the ^ews the prophet here speaks of." (Mr. Lowth in loc). 
 Compare also Isaiah xviii. 3. The sounding of the trumpet most probably de- 
 notes, as Bp. Horsley thinks, the general preaclUng of the Gosp^cl. 
 
 t Isaiah xvii. 6. 
 
 16 
 
122 
 
 and shout from the sea ; they should glorify the Lord, as 
 in old times, by Urim and Thummim*, and should mag- 
 nify his name in the isles of the sea ; insomuch that songs 
 should be heard from the uttermost paits of the earth, 
 even glory to that righteous one whom they had so long 
 rejected. 
 
 The prophet here seems to allude to the restoration of 
 the converted Jexvshj that great maritime iiation of faith- 
 ful worshippers^ which he had already so amply describ- 
 ed. It is worthy of notice, that what is translated in our 
 common English version they shall shout from the sea, 
 may with equal propriety be rendered they shall shout 
 from the west f. Now the isles of the sea or the xvest, as 
 I have already observed, commonly mean, in the language 
 of Scripture, the western regions of Europe^ because to 
 the mariners who sailed into those countries from Tyre 
 and Sidon, they appeared to be literally islands. Hence 
 it is most reasonable to conclude, that the maritime power 
 beyond the rivers of Cush, called to by the prophet in 
 the 18th chapter y must be sojne one of the Jdngdoms of 
 Europe ; and, from the whole tenor of the predictions 
 relative to the destruction of the infidel king^ the heasty 
 and the false prophet^ some one of those kingdoms which 
 have separated themselves from the 7nystic harlot and have 
 embraced evangelical protestantism. 
 
 Yet, in the midst of his restoration by this great peo- 
 ple, Judah is constrained to lament his leanness, and to 
 complain that he has experienced treachery from the trea- 
 cherous dealers. I know not why Judah should lament 
 
 * I have not ventured to depart from the Hebrew i-eading, though Bp. 
 lx)\vth's conjectural emendation certainly renders this passage much more 
 clear than it is at present. Instead of d>is3 by Urim, he supposes we ought 
 to read a"N3 in the isles. In this he is supported by two M.S.S. of the 
 XXX ; but, it does not appear, by any of the original Hebrew. 
 
 •j- Rp. Lowth translates the passage, The luaters shall resound tvith the ex. 
 altation of the Lord ; instead of. They shall exult in the majesty of the Lord, 
 they shall shoutfrom the sea, or, from the luest. The words of the prophet, so 
 far as the letters are concerned, will undoubtedly bear this version ; though 
 not, if the points be taken into the account : for o»Dj according to its punc- 
 tuation, will either signify from, the sea, or the waters. I cannot see any rea- 
 son for altering the present version ; nevertheless, even if it be altered, the 
 general sense of the passage will remain much the same. In that case tkc' 
 •waters will symbolically mean peoples ; and those peoples are heard to praise 
 the Lord in the isles of the sea, or the maritime regions of Europe : hence, 
 Avith reference to Judea, the soun4 will of course come from tbe Westi 
 
123 
 
 his leanness, unkss it be on account of his conversion 
 not being universal * ; nor whom he can intend by the 
 treacherous dealers, unless they be some nation remark- 
 able in the last days^ and even proverbial, for their per- 
 fidy and treachery. This passage therefore, which is sp 
 evidently connected with the restoration of the Jews, seems 
 to me to confirm the opinion of Bp> Horsley, that some 
 of them in an unconverted state will join the army of 
 Antichrist, and seek to regain their own country by his 
 instrumentality. Acting however mereljT^ from political 
 motives, he will soon give them reason to bewail his 
 wonted perfidy, and their own too easy faith in his pro- 
 mises f. 
 
 Meanwhile, as Daniel predicts that the restoration of 
 the Jews shall take place in a time of unexampled trouble, 
 so Isaiah here predicts, that it shall be at an era marked 
 by astonishing revolutions and tremendous commotions. 
 After describing a state of things, in which no man can 
 promise himself cither personal liberty or security, he 
 proceeds, in the figurative language of prophecy, language 
 in the present instance borrowed from the catastrophe of 
 the deluge J, to foretell an unspeakable degree of misery 
 and confusion, which should fall upon the inhabitants of 
 the earth on account of their transgressions ). And this 
 leads him to predict, in a manner perfectly analogous to 
 
 * It seems most natural to nnrlerstand the leanness, of which Judah here 
 complains, as meaning spiritual leanness ; agreeably to that in the Psalms, 
 " He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul." Psalm cvi. 15. 
 
 f 'Y\i& fides Gallica has immemorially been little less proverbial than the 
 fides Punica. " Francis familiare est ridendo fidem frangere" (Vopisc. Pro- 
 cop. C. xiii. P. 237. Ed. Bipont.). " Gens Francorum infidelis est. Si per- 
 jeret Francus quid novi faciet, qui perjurium ipsum sermonis genufs putat 
 esse non criminis" (Salvian. de Gub. Dei L.. iv. P. 82. Mag-. Bib. Pat. 5.). 
 " Franci mendaces, sed hospitales" (Ibid. L. T. P. 116). Such was the 
 character of the ancient Franks, upon which Mr. Turner observes, " This 
 union of laughter and crime, of deceit and politeness, has not been entirely 
 unknown to France in many periods since the fifth century" (Hist, of the 
 Anglo-Saxons, Vol. i. P. 56). In the more stern and energetic language of 
 the apostle, it is predicted, that in the last days, the peculiar days of Antichrist, 
 the days of which Isaiah is now speaking, there should be truce-breakers, 
 traitors, heady, high-minded. 2 Tim. iii. 3, 4. 
 
 + At the period of the deluge, the fountains of the great abyss were bro- 
 ken up, the fissures on high or in the shell of the earth were opened to give 
 a free passage to the waters, and the very foundations of the globe trembled. 
 See Catcotton the deluge. See likewise Mr. Lowth in loo. 
 
 § Bp. Lo>vth applies this symbolical prediction to the destruction of the ec- 
 clesiastical and civil polity of the ^e<K.j. But this had been already foretold by 
 
124. 
 
 his' former prophecy, the final overthrow of Antichrist 
 and his rebellions host. After many days (an usual scrip- 
 tural phrase to denote the time of the end, or the co?iclu- 
 sion of the great period of 1260 years ^) the tjTant and his 
 associates shall be gathered together into one place, here 
 figuratively termed their prison^ as criminals are gathered 
 together into the vault of a dungeon. This place we 
 learn from other prophecies to be in the land of Palestine, 
 and from St. John to be in the immediate neighbourhood 
 of Megiddo *. By the total overthrow of the enemies 
 of God, the political sun and moon will be confounded ; 
 the last of the four great monarchies will be dissolved ; 
 the kingdom of the symbolical mountain will commence ; 
 and the Lord of hosts will reign in mount Zion and in 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 Enraptured with the consolatory prospect, Isaiah now 
 breaks forth into a song of triumph. He praises God 
 for dashing in pieces the strong-holds of Antichrist, and 
 for defending the poor and the needy from his violence. 
 He adds, that, in consequence of these judgments, even 
 the terrible ones themselves should fear the Lord ; thus 
 hinting at that conversion of the relics of the Antichris- 
 tian host, which in other paits of holy writ is more large- 
 ly and definitely predicted. He declares, that, in this 
 mountain, however unexpected such an event might be, 
 even in mount Zion itself where the wilful tyrant had 
 lately pitched the tabernacles of his hosts f ; in this 
 mountain the Lord shall make unto all people a spiritual 
 feast of fat things 1:, and destroy the veil of ignorance \ 
 
 Isaiah in the first thirteen "verses oft/ic 24<A chapter ; and he is now passing" on 
 to their restoration and conversion. Hence I think it more natural to refer it to 
 the great convulsions whicli will usher in the final overthrow of Antichrist, 
 to that period of \inexam))led distress in the midst of which the ycivs will be 
 restored. In fine, the political troubles here mentioned will terminate, ac- 
 coi-ding to Isaiah, in the reigning of the Lord of hosts on mount Zion and in 
 Jerusalem ; whereas the overthroiu of the yewish polity had no such termina- 
 tion : for Jerusalem, instead of then becoming the city of God, began at that 
 very period to be trodden down by the Gentiles. 
 
 * "I cannot find any explication of this verse, (Isaiah xxiv 22.) so agree- 
 able to tlie natural sense of the words, as that of a late learned writer upon 
 the Revelation, chap. xix. 6, who explains it of the kings of the earth, who 
 made war with Christ and his saints at Armageddon. Rev. xvi. 16. xix. 19." 
 Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 f Dan. xi. 45. i Compare Isaiah ii. 2 — 5. 
 
 § "The phrase — may denote the taking away all ignorance and prejudice 
 from men's minds, which St. Paul compares to a veil (2 Cor. iii. 13j 14.) ; and 
 
125 
 
 which has long been cast over so large a portion of man- 
 kind, both Jews and Gentiles. Then will he swallow up 
 death in victory ; then will tears be wiped away from 
 every eye ; then will his people Israel be the glory, in- 
 stead of the reproach, of the whole earth *. 
 
 In that day, the restoj'ed Jews may be supposed to lift 
 up their voices in joyful acclamations to the Lord ; to 
 praise him for overthrowing their enemies, and causing 
 the nations to be ashamed of their former envy ; to ac- 
 knowledge his goodness for delivering them from those 
 harsh lords who have had dominion over them ; to con- 
 fess, that he wonderfully preserved and increased them, 
 as he did of old in Egypt, though he had removed them 
 to the very ends of the earth ; and to own that their 
 pangs and troubles, both during the period of their dis- 
 persion and at the boisterous era of their restoration, re- 
 sembled those of a woman drawing near to the time of 
 her delivery. They had long brought forth, as it were, 
 only wind ; but now a might}^ people is born at once, is 
 suddenly converted to the faith of Christ, and takes its 
 rank among the chief of the nations f. 
 
 The prophet now speaks again in his own person, and 
 declares, that, although the Jews should long experience 
 the horrors of a political death, they should at length' 
 revive, and once more become an independent and regu- 
 larly constituted government. The earth should cast out 
 her dead ; they should be gathered together from the 
 four quarters of the habitable globe ; and they, that long 
 dwelt in the dust of the allegorical grave, should a'wake 
 and sing. In the midst however of God's judgments upon 
 their enemies, he charges them to be still. He bids them 
 wait, till the indignation be past ; till the Lord hath come 
 out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for 
 their iniquity ; till he hath broken the power of Antichj'isfy 
 who,like Leviathan in the natural sea, takes his pastime 
 in the troubled sea of many nations, and rules uncontrol- 
 led over the mighty waters of the Latin empire %. 
 
 the word covering is used in the same sense in the prophecy, Isaiah xxix. 10." 
 Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 * Rev. xxi. 4. f Isaiah Ixvi. 7, 8, 9. 
 
 ■\ In the first edition of my Dissertation on the \2&0 years, Vol. I. p. 83, I 
 was led into an error relative to the passage here commeoted upon, by fol 
 
126 
 
 When God hath amply taken vengeance of his enemies, 
 then will the JewSy as formerly, once more become the 
 vineyard of his church. His protecting care had long been 
 withdrawn from it ; its hedge had been broken down ; it 
 had been laid waste ; it had been neither pruned nor dig- 
 ged ; it had produced nought but briars and brambles ; 
 the clouds had been withheld from refreshing it with 
 
 lowing Mr. Mede and Bp. Newton. I supposed with them, that the dragon, 
 mentioned in Isaiah xxvii. 1. and in Ezek. xxix. 3, is such a dragon as that 
 mentioned in the Apocalypse, namely a large serpent ; and I thence conclud- 
 ed, that, like the apocalyptic dragon, it symbolizes the devil acting through the 
 instrumentality of certain heathen poiuers. I am now convinced, that 1 was 
 mistaken. The dragon or aquatic tnonster, described by Ezekief, seems plainly, 
 as Abp. Newcome properly observes, to be the crocodile, the constant symbol 
 of Egypt ; while the dragon or aquatic monster, mentioned by Isaiah, appeal's 
 to be some large sea-fish or possibly a viater-snake. In the passage of Ezekiel, 
 Pharaoh is undoubtedly intended : but the passage of Isaiah, connected as it 
 manifestly is with the restoration of the ^eivs and the destruction of Antichrist, 
 cannot, with any degree of propriety, be applied to the ancient sovereigns of 
 Egypt. In short, I conceive that the huge sea-monster Leviathan is used in 
 the present prophecy to symbolize, not Satan, but Antichrist in the midst of 
 his overgrown power, and while lording it like the apocalyptic harlot over many 
 waters. Bp. Lowth translates the passage, Leviathan the rigid serpent, and 
 Leviathan the vjinding serpent, and shall slay the monster that is in the sea. From 
 these words he concludes, that three difl'erent animals are here mentioned : 
 " tlie crocodile, rigid, by the stiffness of the back-bone, so that he cannot 
 readily turn himself when he pursues his prey ; the serpent or dragon, flexi- 
 ble and winding; the sea-monster, or the whale." Upon which his Lord- 
 ship remarks, " These are used allegorically, no doubt, for great potentates, 
 enemies and persecutors of the people of God." I freely confess, that 1 prefer 
 my own translation of the passage, and that I think it much more natural to 
 Consider the prophet as speaking of only o;!e sea-monster. To annex the sense 
 of rigid or stiff to the adjective nt^S seems to me very far-fetched. The 
 primitive verb n-0 signifies to fee or shoot along .• hence nna denotes at once 
 n fugitive and a bar ,- the latter, from the idea of a bar shooting through the 
 rings, within which it is confined, in the act of barring a door. What then 
 is the meaning of the adjective rn3 ? The Lexicographers tell us /o«^' and 
 •stiff, because a bolt is both long and stiff". But this is surely departing very- 
 far from the original sense of t)>e root, and annexing to one of its derivatives 
 a mere incidental idea which belongs to anothei- of its derivatives. A bolt 
 is called rr'na, not because it is long and stiflT, but because it shoots through its 
 rings. The second idea not the first, is that which connects it witli its primitive. 
 Hence it appears to me utterly incomprehensible upon any consistent prin- 
 ciple of derivation, how the adjective ma, which s]M'ings from the radical 
 verb nna to flee or shoot along, can signify long and stiff. At least, if we an- 
 nex such a meaning to it, there is certainly no common idea that connects 
 the root with its derivative. On these grounds I have translated the passage, 
 *' Leviathan, the serpent that rapidly darteth along;" namely, as a fish darts 
 along through the water : and I am supported in my translation both by the 
 Lxx, who render the words (J^axav?* o^tv cpevyovlx, and by the Arabic ver- 
 sion, which reads draconem serpentetn fugientem. It may be observed, that 
 Mr. Parkhurst, in the sense which he ascribes to the adjective ma, entirely 
 departs from the excellent rule, which he himself had laid down in the Pre- 
 face to his Hebrew Lexicon : " Wherever the radical letters are the same, 
 the leading idea or notion runs through all the deflexions of the word, how- 
 
127 
 
 rain* : but now it is become a vineyard of desire ; the 
 Lord himself keepeth it ; he watereth it every moment ; 
 he keepeth it night and day, lest any hurt it. He caus- 
 eth Jacob to take root, and Israel to fill the face of the 
 whole world with fruit. Severely as he hath smitten him 
 for his manifold iniquities ; yet he hath moderated his 
 anger, he hath not smitten him with the stroke which he 
 hath finally laid upon his persecutors, the stroke of utter 
 excision. On the contrary, he hath debated with his an- 
 cient church in exact measure ; he hath meditated, as it 
 were by rule, upon her chastisements, even when riding 
 in the whirlwind and directing the storm. He declareth, 
 that her sin shall be taken away, when she forsaketh her 
 abominations. 
 
 In fine, at the very time when the affairs of Israel ap- 
 pear most desperate ; when his cities are desolate, and 
 his habitations forsaken ; when his land is a wilderness ; 
 and when even women stretch forth their hands, and 
 pluck off his withered branches : then will the Lord be- 
 gin a work, which shall rouse the slumbering attention 
 of all the inhabitants of the earth. He will thresh, as it 
 were with a threshing instrument, from the river Eu- 
 phrates to the river ofEgypt\. Both those mystic streams 
 shall be dried up, in order that a way may be prepared 
 for the kings from the rising of the sun. He will gather 
 together the children of Israel, one by one, from the land 
 of their dispersion. He will cause the great trumpet of 
 the Gospel to be heard to the very extremities of the 
 
 ever numerous or diversified." Hew can this be the case, if the adjective 
 rn3> to which he ascribes the signification of straight and rigid, be derived 
 from the verb rna to fiee. What common leading idea runs through the pri- 
 mitive, which means tojlee ; and its deflexion, if it signify straight a.nd. rigid? 
 Mr. Lowth observes, like myself, that " the Hebrew word Beriah, which our 
 English translates piercing, signifies likewise running atuay" Mr. Lowth 
 in loc. 
 
 * See Isaiah v. 6. 
 
 f The river is here spoken by way of eminence, and is manifestly placed in 
 contradiction to the river of Egypt : hence I apprehend, according to the usu- 
 al phraseology of Scripture, that the Euphrates is intended. This idea per-* 
 fecUy agrees both with the context of the present passage, and with other 
 pai-allel prophecies. Compare Isaiah xi. 15, 16. xix. 5, 23, 24 — Zechar. x. 
 10, 11, 12. From the same parallel prophecies I think we may likewise con- 
 elude, that by the river of Egypt we are here to understand the N^ile, not the 
 small river in the neighbourhood of Gaza which was the southern boundary 
 of the dominions of Israel. See Gen. xv. 18. Numb, xxxiv. 5. Josh. xv. 4. 47- 
 See also WeU's Geog. of the 014 Test. \o\, 1. p. 158 j and Mr. Lo^vth iiiloc. 
 
128 
 
 earth. And they, that are now lost in the land of Assy- 
 ria, the remnant of the ten tribes * ; and they, that w^ere 
 thrust do^^'n into the land of Egypt, the wreck of Judah 
 after the desolatmi of their country by the Romans f ; all 
 these shall obey the call, shall assemble together, and 
 shall worship the Lord in the holj mount of Jerusalem. 
 
 PROPHECY VIII. 
 
 The dispersion and subsequent restoration of the Jews — The over- 
 throw of the mystic Assyrian. 
 
 Isaiah xxx. 17. One thousand, at the rebuke of one ; 
 at the rebuke of five, ten thousand of you " shall flee. 
 
 18. Yet for all this shall the Lord wait to shew favour 
 unto you ; even for this shall he expect in silence, that 
 he may have mercy upon you : (for the Lord is a God 
 of judgment ; blessed are all they that trust in him.) 
 
 19. For the people shall dwell in Zion : in Jerusalem 
 thou shalt in no wise weep : he will be exceeding gra- 
 cious unto thee at the voice of thy cry : no sooner shall 
 he hear, than he shall answer thee. 20. Though the Lord 
 
 * Although Ephraim is broken that he shall never moi*e be a distinct peo- 
 ple ; yet we are expressly taug-ht bv the voice of prophecy, that the ten tribes 
 which were carried away into the land of Assyria shall be restored no less 
 than the tribe of yudah, and that the two divided kingdoms of Israel will for 
 ever coalesce into one kiiigdo')n. Isaiah represents them liere, precisely what 
 they have been for ag-es, as being lost ; and nevertheless declares, that in 
 God's own appointed season they shall come. It is well known how many 
 have fruitlessly wearied themselves to find them (See Bp. Newton's Dissert. 
 VIII.) : tliat they viill however be found, Scripture asserts in the most posi- 
 tive terms, as we shall see when we arrive at those prophecies which pecu- 
 liarly treat of the subject. Since the second advent of the Messiah is the time 
 of the restoration of Israel, and since the finding these lost ones seems to be 
 a knot which God alone can untie, perhaps there may be more truth in the 
 Jewish notion than has commonly been imagined, that, when " the Messiah 
 shall come, it will be part of his office to sort their farnilies, restore their 
 genealogies, and set aside strangers." 
 
 I "When Jerusalem was taken by Titus, of the captives who were above 
 seventeen years he sent many bound to the works in Egypt; those under se- 
 venteen were sold; but so little care was taken of these captives, that 11,000 
 of them perished for want. And we learn from St. Jerome, that after their 
 last overthrow by Adrian, many thousands of them were sold; and tliose, 
 who could not be sold were transported into Egypt, and perished by ship- 
 wreck or famine, or wer© m5^gsac^ed by the inhabitants." Bp. Newton's 
 Dissert, vii-. 
 
129 
 
 hath given you bread of distress, and water of affliction ; 
 yet the timely rain shall no more be restrained, but thine 
 eyes shall behold the timely rain. 21. And thine ears 
 sliall hear the word prompting thee behind, saying, This 
 is the way, walk ye in it ; turn not aside, to the right, or 
 to the left. 22. And ye shall treat as defiled the covering 
 of your idols of silver, and the clothing of your molten 
 images of gold : thou shalt <:ast them away like a polluted 
 garment ; thou shalt say unto them, Begone from me. 
 23. And he shall give rain for thy seed, with which thou 
 shalt sow the ground ; and bread of the produce of the 
 ground : and it shall be abundant and plenteous. Then 
 shall thy cattle feed in large pasture ; 2i. And the oxen 
 and the young asses, that till the gi'ound, shall eat well- 
 fermented maslin, winnowed with the van and the sieve, 
 
 25. And, on every loft}' mountain, and on every high 
 hill, shall be disparting streams, and rills of water, in 
 the day of the great slaughter, when the mighty fall*. 
 
 26. And the light of the moon shall be as the light of 
 the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven-fold, in 
 the day when the Lord shall bind up the breach of his 
 people, and shall heal the woiuid which his stroke hath 
 inflicted. 
 
 27. Lo, the name of the Lord cometh from afar ; his 
 ^vrath burnetii, and the flame rageth violently : his lips 
 ai'e filled with indignation ; and his tongue is as a consum- 
 ing fire. 28. His spirit is like a torrent overflowing ; it 
 shall reach to the middle of the neck : he cometh to toss 
 the nations with the van of perdition ; and there shall be 
 a bridle to lead them astray, in the jaws of the peoples. 
 29. Ye shall utter a song, as in the night when the feast 
 is solemnly proclaimed ; with joy of heart, as when one 
 marcheth to the sound of the pipe ; to go to the moun- 
 tain of the Lord, the rock of Israel. 30. And the Lord 
 shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and the light- 
 ing down of his arm to be seen ; with wrath indignant, 
 and a flame of consuming fire ; with a violent storm, and 
 
 * When the mighty fail.'] " This shall be remarkably fulfilled at the time 
 when there shall be a terrible destruction of God's enemies (see Rev. xiv, 
 20. xix. 21.) ; when the great ones of the earth shall fall, denoted here by 
 high toilers ; or by towers we may understand tke/ortif cations of the city whicfls 
 is the mystical Babylon." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 17 
 
130 
 
 rushing showers, and hailstones. 31. By the voice ot 
 the Lord the Assyrian shall be beaten down, he, that was 
 ready to smite with his staff. 32. And it shall be, that 
 wherever shall pass the rod of correction, which the Lord 
 shall lay heavily upon him ; it shall be accompanied with 
 tabrets and harps ; and with fierce battles shall he fight 
 against them. 33. For Tophet is ordained of old; even 
 the same for the king is prepared : he hath made it deep ; 
 he hath made it large ; a fier}'^ pile, and abundance of 
 fuel : and the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sul- 
 phur^ shall kindle it. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 After declaring the depressed and enfeebled state, to 
 which Israel should be reduced, Isaiah predicts, that the 
 Lord, after long waiting in silence, after a long cessation 
 of the visible intei'positions of Providence*, will again 
 shew favour unto his people. He will listen to the voice 
 of their crj-, and will cause them to dwell with joy in 
 Zion and Jerusalem. Though he hath given them the 
 bread of distress and the wixXtr of affliction, and hath 
 witliheld from them the gentle rain of spiritual influences 
 whereby his Church is watered and rendered fruitful ; 
 yet now the timely rain shall no more be restrained, but 
 the voice of instruction shall make them walk steadily in 
 the paths of righteousness. Then shall they reject all their 
 former abominations, after which their fathers in old times 
 went a whoring ; and their land, which had been cursed 
 by God with comparative sterility, shall abundantly give 
 its increase. The light of their political sun and moon 
 shall be seven- fold increased, in the day when the Lord 
 healeth the wound of his people ; and, after the day of 
 the great slaughter, after the mighty are fallen, the latter 
 end of Israel shall be more glorious than his beginning. 
 
 Having described the millennian felicity of the house 
 of Jacoby the prophet next pourtrays in glowing colours 
 the overthrow of Antichrist ■[, whom he here, as else- 
 
 • Compare this with the similar phraseolog}^ which Isaiah uses in Chap. 
 Xviii. 4. and xlii. 14, to describe the same cessation of supernatural interfer- 
 ences. 
 
 f Bp. Lowth seems to apply this prophecy exclusively to the destruction of 
 Sennacherib's army. It may primarily relate to it ; but the general tenor of 
 
131 
 
 where, mystically terms the Assyrian, or the king of the 
 figurative Babylon"^. The Name of the Lord, the person- 
 al Word of God t, cometh from afar, with great indigna- 
 tion, in the day of his second advent. He tosses the 
 confederacy of the nations with the van of destruction, 
 and puts a bridle hito the jaws of the peoples. By the 
 Voice of the Lord, Antichrist^ even in the midst of 
 his strength, is beaten down : and, wherever the Al- 
 mighty lays heavily upon him the rod of correction ; 
 there his rescued servants applaud the righteous stroke, 
 and exult with tabrets and with harps. The fiery des- 
 truction, that is prepared for him, is like the flames of 
 Tophet. The pile is large : his wretched confederates 
 are its abundant fuel : and it is kindled by the breath of 
 the Lord himself, as by a stream of sulphurf . 
 
 PROPHECY IX. 
 
 The desolation of the mystic Edom — ^^The miracles of Christ at his 
 first and second advent — The restoration of the Jews. 
 
 Isaiah xxxiv. 1. Draw near, O ye nations, and hear- 
 ken ; and attend unto me, O ye peoples ! Let the earth 
 hear, and the fulness thereof ; the world, and all that 
 
 the wliole prediction almost necessarily leads us to look beyond that event to 
 the days of Antichrist. The great blessedness of Israel, both temporal and 
 spiritual, which is described as succeeding the overthrow oi the Assyrian, by 
 no means accords with the comparatively moderate prosperity of Hezekiali 
 and with the unfortunate reigns of his successors. Such vivid descriptions 
 can only with propriety be applied to the final restoration, and the glories of 
 the Millennium. And, if this description in pai'ticular must be tluis applied, 
 then the Assyrian must be a mystical character. See Mr. Lowth on Isajalj. 
 XXX. 19. 
 
 * Compare Isaiah xiv, 25. and Micah v. 6. 
 
 f The second person of the blessed Trinity is Indifferently styled the Word, 
 the Name, and the Voice, of the Lord .• and in this manner, those appellations 
 are accordingly understood by the ancient Targuraists. (See Jamieson's 
 Vindication of the doctrine of Scripture, Vol. i. P. 53, 54. See indeed the 
 whole chapter.) The Name or the Voice of the Lord, who here executes 
 vengeance upon his incorrigible enemies, is the same divine person, whose 
 manifestation for the same purpose is described in the Apocalypse xix. 11 — 1§. 
 He is Jesus the Messiah. 
 
 1 1 doubt whether the punishment of hell be here meant : the excision of the 
 incorrigible faction of Antichrist seems alone to be intended. See Kp. Lowth in 
 loc. who supposes the passage to relate only to the destruction of the Jfs/rian 
 army, and Bp. Horsley's Letter on Isaiah xviii. P, 97. Note I 
 
132 
 
 spring from it. 2. For the wrath of the Lord is kindled; 
 against all the nations, and his anger against all their ar- 
 mies ; he hath devoted them with a cm-se to utter destruc- 
 tion ; he hath given them up to slaughter. 3. And their 
 slain shall be cast out ^ and from their carcases their stink 
 shall ascend ; and the mountains shall melt down with 
 their blood *. 4. And all the host of heaven shall waste 
 away ; and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll ; and 
 all their host shall wither ; as the withered leaf falleth 
 from the vine, and as the blighted fruit from the fig-ti-ee. 
 5. For my sword shall be bathed in the heavens : behold, 
 on Edom it shall descend, even on the people devoted by 
 me with a curse to destruction. 6. The sword of th© 
 Lord is glutted with blood ; it is pampered with fat, witlt 
 the blood of lambs and of goats, with the fat of the reins 
 of lambs : for the Lord celebrateth a sacrifice in Bozrah, 
 and a gi-eat slauglTter in the land of Edom.. 7. And the 
 wild- goats shall fall down with them, and the bullocks 
 together with the bulls : and their own land shall be drunk- 
 en with their blood, and their dust shall be enriched with 
 fat. 8. For it is the day of vengeance to the Lord, the year 
 of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. 9. And her 
 torrents shall be turned into pitch, and her dust into sul- 
 phur ; and her whole land shall become burning pitch. 
 10. By day or by night it shall not be extinguished ; for 
 ever shall her smoke ascend : from generation to genera- 
 tion she shall lie desert ; to everlasting ages no one shall 
 pass through her : 11. But the pelican and the porcupine 
 shall inherit her ; and the owl and the raven shall inhabit 
 there : and he shall stretch over her the line of devasta- 
 tion, and the plummet of emptiness over her scorched 
 plains. 12. No more shall they boast the renown of the 
 kingdom ; and all her princes shall utterly fail. 13. And 
 in her palaces shall spring up tliorns ; the nettle and the 
 bramble in her fortresses : and she shall become an habi- 
 tation for dragons, a court for the daughters of the ostrich. 
 14. And the jackals and the mountain-cats shall meet one 
 another ; and the satyr shall call to his fellow : there also 
 
 * Ver. 2, 3.3 " These two verses may very fitly be applied to the battle oj 
 the great day of the Almighty, mentioned Rev, xvi. 14, 16. compared withxyii'- 
 14. six. 19." Mr. Lowtli in loc. 
 
135 
 
 the screech-ov\'l shall pitch, and shall find for herself a place 
 of rest. 15. There shall the night-raven make her nest, 
 and lay her eggs ; and she shall hatch them, and gather 
 her young under her shadow : there also shall the vul- 
 tures be gathered together ; every one of them shall join 
 her mate. 16. Consult ye the book of the Lord, and 
 read : not one of these shall be missed ; not a female shall 
 lack her mate : for the mouth of the Lord hath given the 
 command ; and his spirit itself hath gathered them. 
 17. And he hath cast the lot for them ; and his hand hath 
 meted out their portion by the line : they shall possess the 
 land for a perpetual inheritance ; from generation to gen- 
 eration shall they dwell therein. 
 
 XXXV. 1. The desert, and the waste, shall be glad : 
 and the wilderness shall rejoice and flourish. 2. Like the 
 rose shall it beautifully flourish ; and the well-watered 
 plain of Jordan shall rejoice : the glory of Lebanon shall 
 be given unto it, the beauty of Carmel and of Sharon ; 
 these shall behold the glory of the Lord, the majesty of 
 our God. 
 
 3. Strengthen ye the feeble hands, and confirm ye the 
 tottering knees. 4. Say ye to the faint-hearted : Be ye 
 strong ; fear ye not ; behold your God ! Vengeance 
 will come, the retribution of God : he himself will come, 
 and will deliver you. 5. Then shall the eyes of the blind 
 be unclosed ; and the ears of the deaf shall be opened : 
 
 6. Then shall the lame bound like the hart, and the 
 tongue of the dumb shall sing : for in the wilderness 
 shall burst forth waters, and torrents in the desert. 
 
 7. And the glowii^ sand shall become a pool ; and the 
 thirsty soil, bubbling springs : and in the haunt of dra- 
 gons shall spring forth the gi'ass, with the reed, and 
 the bulrush. 8. And a highway shall be there; and. 
 it shall be called The way of holiness : no unclean 
 person shall pass through it ; but He himself shall be 
 with them, walking in the way, and the foolish shall not 
 err therein. 9. No lion shall be there ; nor shall the ty- 
 rant of the beasts come up thither : neither shall he be 
 found there ; but the redeemed shall walk in it. 
 
 10. Yea, the ransomed of the Lord shall return ; and 
 they shalj come to Zion with triumph ; and perpetual 
 
134 
 
 gladness shall crown their heads. Joy and gladness shall 
 they obtain ; and soitow and sighing shall flee away. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 " These two chapters," says Bp. Lowth, " make one 
 distinct prophecy ; an entire, regular, and beautiful poem, 
 consisting of two parts : the first containing a denuncia- 
 tion of divine vengeance against the enemies of the peo- 
 ple or Church of God ; the second describing the flour- 
 ishing state of the Church of God, consequent upon the 
 execution of these judgments. The event foretold is 
 represented as of the highest importance, and of univer- 
 sal concern : all nations are called upon to attend to the de- 
 claration of it : and the wrath of God is denounced against 
 all the nations ; that is, all those that had provoked to 
 anger the defender of the cause of Zion. Among these, 
 Rdom is particularly specified. The principal provoca- 
 tion of Edom was their insulting tlie Jews in their dis- 
 tress, and joining against them with their enemies the 
 Chaldeans *. Accordingly the Edomites were, together 
 with the rest of the, neighbouring nations, ravaged and 
 laid waste by Nebuchadnezzar f. The general devasta- 
 tion, spread through all these countries by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, may be the event which the prophet has primarily 
 in view in the SA^th chapter : but this event, as far as we 
 have any account of it in history, seems by no means to 
 come up to the terms of the prophecy, or to justify so 
 high- wrought and so terrible a description. And it is 
 not easy to discover w^hat connection the extremely flou- 
 rishing state of the Church or people of God, describ- 
 ed in the next chapter, could have with those events ; 
 and how the former could be the consequence of the lat- 
 ter, as it is there represented to be. By a figure, very 
 common in the prophetical writings, any city or people y 
 remarkably distini^uished as enemies of the people and 
 kijigdom of God, is put for those enemies in general. This 
 seems here to be the case with Edom and Bozrah. It 
 
 * See Amos i. 11. — Ezck. xxv. 12. — xxxv. 15. — Psalm cxxxvii. 7. 
 \ See Jerem. xxv. 15 — 26. — Malachi i. 3, 4. — and see Marsham. Can 
 nhron. Seec. xviii. who calls this tht age of the devastation of cities. 
 
135 
 
 seems therefore reasonable to suppose, with many learn- 
 ed expositors, that this prophecy has a further view to 
 events still future ; to some great revolutions to be ef- 
 fected in later times, antecedent to the more j^erfect state 
 of the kingdom of God upon earth, and serving to intro- 
 duce it, which the holy Scriptures warrant us to expect*^ 
 
 " That the 35th chapter has a view beyond any thing, 
 that could be the immediate consequence of those events, 
 is plain from every part, especially from the middle of 
 it t, where the miraculous works wrought by our bless- 
 ed Saviour are so clearly specified, that we cannot avoid 
 making the application : and our Saviour himself has 
 moreover plainly referred to this very passage as speak- 
 ing of him and his works. He bids the disciples of John 
 to go and report to their master the things which they 
 heard and saw ; that the blind received their sight, the 
 lame walked, and the deaf heard J : and leaves it to him 
 to draw the conclusion in answer to his inquiry, whether 
 he, who performed the very works which the prophets 
 foretold should be performed by the Messiah, was not 
 indeed the Messiah himself. And where are these works 
 so distinctly marked by any of the prophets, as in this 
 place ? and how could they be marked more distinctly ? 
 To these the strictly literal inteq^retation of the prophet's 
 words directs us. According to the allegorical interpre- 
 tation, they may have a further view : this part of the 
 prophecy may run parallel with the former, and relate to 
 the future advent of Christ; to the conversion of the Jews^ 
 and their restitution to their land ; to the extension and 
 purification of the Christian faith ; events predicted in the 
 holy Scriptures, as preparatory to it ^." 
 
 To these remarks of Bp. Lowth I have but little to 
 add. They appear to me to be perfectly just, with a 
 single exception : I much doubt whether the Edo?n, here 
 
 • "The enemies of God's Church are often represented by the name of 
 some country which was remarkable fdr its hatred and ill usage o^the yews, 
 such as Egypt, Babylon, Edoin, and Moab ; and thus Edom or Iduinea may be 
 taken here— The words here seem to describe a more general judgment, of 
 which the destruction of Edom was an imperfect representation." Mr. 
 Lowth's Comment, on Isaiah xxxiv. 5. 
 
 t Ver. 5, 6. i Matt, xi. 4, 5. 
 
 § Bp. Lowth's Isaiah in loo.. 
 
136 
 
 spoken of, can with any degree of propriety be applied 
 to the literal Edom in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. 
 Independent of the magnific€nce of the images being 
 but little applicable to the sufferings of Edom, as the 
 Bishop himself remarks ; the restoratio?i of Judah fix)m 
 Babylon cannot surely be esteemed the result of those 
 sufferings, when it did not take place till several years 
 after, and that, not in consequence of the devastation of 
 Edom by Nebuchadnezzar, but in consequence of the 
 overthrow of the Babylonian empire by Cyrus. The 
 prophet however, at the close of the 35th chapter, plainly 
 represents some restoration of the Jews, as being the 
 comequence of some destruction of Edom. This restora^ 
 tion therefore cannot be the restoration from Babylon. 
 And, if it be not the restoration from Babylon, it can only 
 be the yet future restoration ; at which i>eriod, the literal 
 Edom will long have ceased to be a people. Hence the 
 Edom, whose overthrow is represented by the prophet as 
 being closely connected with the yet future restoration of 
 the Jews, certainly cannot be at all the literal Edom ; be- 
 cause the overthrow of the literal Edom was connected 
 with no restoration of the Jews. 
 
 In fact, the mystic Edom of this prediction, as the Rab- 
 bles have ever believed *, and as I shall state -at large in 
 considering a subsequent prophecy closely connected 
 with the present : the mystic Edom is the Roman empire^ 
 in the last stage of its existence ; that is to say, when so 
 organized as to have become, agreeably to the declara- 
 tion of St. John, one great confederacy under the infu- 
 ence of Antichrist \. 
 
 The overthrow of this mystic Edom, whose desolation 
 (it may be observed) is described in a manner closely 
 resembling that in which the desolation of Babylon is 
 described J, will strongly mark the era of the restoration 
 of Judah, and will prepare a way for the restoration of 
 Israel. In the 3Sth chapter, the two events of the first 
 and second advent of our Lord, are, in a manner very 
 
 * " The Jewish writers c!o generally suppose, that Edom in the writings 
 of the prophets stands for Rome" Mr" Lowth's Comment, on Isaiah xxxiv. 5. 
 t See Rev. xvi. 12—16. xix. 17— 21. 
 i Compare Isaiah xxxiv. 8—17. with xiii. 19—22. and Rev. xviii. 
 
137 ■ ' - 
 
 usual among the prophets, mingled together. Christ heal- 
 ed all manner of diseases in the day of his first advent ; 
 but the restoration ofJudah will assuredly not take place 
 till the day of his second advent. Yet, even that part of 
 the prophecy, which relates to the healing of the sick, the 
 unclosing the eyes of the blind, the opening the ears of 
 the deaf, and tlie causing the tongue of the dumb to sing, 
 may hereafter receive a yet more ample, though not more 
 exact, accomplishment than it has hitherto done. If the 
 Messiah, during the period of his humiliation only, 
 wrought many miracles of this nature in the land of Ju- 
 dea exclusively ; I can discover nothing very improba- 
 ble in the supposition, that those miracles of beneficence 
 may be repeated to a much greater extent during his tri- 
 umphant millennia?! reign upon earth. At least, I may 
 say with Mr. Mede, that there is certainly nothing dero- 
 gatory to the glory of God in entertaining even the most 
 magnificent conceptions of what his Spirit hath been 
 pleased to describe so magnificently. 
 
 PROPHECY X. 
 
 The first advent — The second advent — The overthrow oF Anti- 
 christ — The conversion and restoration of the, spiritually blind 
 Jews — A denunciation against Babylon. 
 
 Isaiah xlii. 1. Behold my servant, whom I will up- 
 hold ; my chosen, in whom my soul delighteth : I will 
 make my spirit rest upon him ; and he shall publish 
 judgment to the nations — 3. The bruised reed he shall 
 not break; and the dimly burning flax he shall not 
 quench: he shall publish judgment, so as to estab- 
 lish it perfectly. 4. His force shall not be abated nor 
 broken; until he hath firmly seated judgment in the 
 earth : and the distant nations shall earnestly wait for his 
 law — 9. The former predictions, lo ! they are come to 
 pass ; and new events I now declare : before they spring 
 forth, I make them known unto you. 
 
 10. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and hi3 praise 
 18 
 
138i 
 
 lirom the end of the earth ; ye that go down to the sea, 
 and its fulness; ye isles, and ye that dwell in them. 
 11. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their 
 voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit : let the inha- 
 bitants of the rock sing ; let them shout from the top of 
 the mountains. 12. Let them give glory unto the Lord, 
 and declare his praise in the islands. 
 
 13. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall 
 stir up jealousy like a man of war : he shall cry, yea he 
 shall roar; he shall prevail against his enemies. 14. From 
 ages long past 1 have holden my peace ; I have been still ; 
 I have refrained myself* : but now I will cry aloud like 
 a travailing woman ; I will destroy and devour at once. 
 15. I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up 
 all their herbs ; and I will reduce the rivers to islands, 
 and I will diy up the pools. 16. And I will bring the 
 blind by a way that they knew not ; I will lead them in 
 paths that they have not known : I will make dai'kness 
 light before them, and crooked things straight. These 
 things will I do for them, and not forsake them. 17. They 
 shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed that 
 trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, 
 Ye are our gods. 
 
 18. Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may 
 see. 19. Who is blind, but my servant ; and deaf, but 
 the messenger whom I sent ? Who is blind, but he that 
 ruleth over them f ; and deaf, but the servant of the 
 Lord ? 20. Seeing many things, and thou observest notj ; 
 
 * For ages long past I have holden tny peace ; I have been still ,• I have refrain • 
 ed myself.'] " For thus saith the Lord unto me : I will sit still, but 1 will 
 keep my eye upon my prepared habitation." ISaiah xviii. 4. See also 
 sxx. 13. 
 
 f He that ruleth over them."] Heb. dS'B'D, rendered by the lxx, 'Oi x-vguv- 
 ov7f5 Mvluji, and in the Latin translation of the Arabic, ^ui doininantur eis. 
 
 t Seeing many things, and thou observest not.] This passage is exactly paral- 
 lel to another, wherein Isaiah describes the blindness and dispersion of 
 Israel. " And he said, Go, and tell this people. Hear ye indeed, but under- 
 stand not ; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this peo- 
 ple fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest they see with 
 their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and 
 convert, and be healed. Then said I, Lord, how long ? And he answered, 
 iJntil the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, 
 and the land be utterly desolate, and the Lord have removed men far away, 
 and there be a great, forsaking in the midst of the land." Isaiah vi. 9—12- 
 
139 
 
 he openeth the ears, and doth not hear. 21. The Lord 
 is well pleased for his righteousness, sake ; he will mag- 
 nify the law, and make it honourable. 22. But this is a 
 people robbed and spoiled * ; they are all snared in holes^ 
 and hid in prison-houses : they are for a prey, and none 
 delivereth ; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. 
 
 23. Who among you will give ear to this ? who will 
 heai'ken, and hear for the time to come ? 24. Who gave 
 Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers ? Did not the 
 Lord, he against whom we have sinned ? For they would 
 not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his 
 law. 25. Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury 
 of his anger, and the strengh of war : and it hath set him 
 on fire round about, yet he knoweth not; and it hath 
 burned him, yet he layeth it not to heart. 
 
 xliii. 1. But now, thus saith the Lord that created 
 thee, O Jacob ; and he that formed thee, O Israel : Fear 
 not, for I have redeemed thee ; I have called thee by thy 
 name, thou art mine. 2. When thou passest through 
 the waters, I will be A^'ith thee ; and through the rivers, 
 they shall not overflow thee : when thou walkest through 
 the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; neither shall the flame 
 kindle upon thee. 3. For I, the Lord thy God, the Holy 
 One of Israel, am thy saviour : I gave Eg}'^pt for thy ran. 
 som, Ethiopia and Saba instead of thee. 4. Since thou 
 wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable and 
 I have loved thee : and I will give man for thee, and the 
 nations for thy Ufe. 5* Feai* not, for I am with thee : I 
 will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from 
 the west : 6. I will say to the north. Give up ; and to 
 the south. Keep not back : bring my sons from far, and 
 my daughters from the ends of the earth ; 7. Every one 
 that is called by my name : for I have created him for 
 my glory, I have formed him, yea I have made him. 
 8. Bring forth the blind people t» and they shall have 
 eyes ; and the deaf, and they shall have ears. 9. Let all 
 
 • This is a people robbed and spoiled."] " Go, swift messengers, unto a 
 nation dragged away and plucked, unto a people wonderful from their be- 
 ginning hitherto, a nation excepting expecting and trampled under foot, 
 whose land rivers have spoiled." Isaiah xviii. 2. 
 
 , -J- Bring forth the blind people.'] " Blindness in part is happened unt® 
 Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come." Rom. xi. 25. 
 
140 
 
 the nations be gathered together, and let the people be 
 assembled ; who among them can declare this, and shew 
 us former things ? Let them bring forth their witnesses 
 that they may be justified ; and let them hear, that they 
 may speak the truth. 10. Ye ai*e my witnesses, saith the 
 Lord, and my servants whom I have chosen : that ye 
 may know, and believe me, and understand that I am 
 He : before me there was no God formed, neither shall 
 there be any after me. 11. I, even I, am the l^ord ; and 
 beside me there is no Saviour. 12. I have declared, and 
 I have saved, and I have shewed ; and among you there 
 shall be no strange God : and ye are my witnesses, saith 
 the Lord, and I am God. 13. Even before time was, I 
 am he ; and there is none that can rescue out of my hand: 
 I work : and who shall undo what I have done ? . 
 
 14. Thus saith the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy 
 One of Israel : For j-our sake have I sent unto Babylon; 
 and I will bring down all her strong bars, and the Chal- 
 deans exulting in their ships. 15. I am the Lord, your 
 Holy One ; the creator of Israel, your king. 
 
 16. Thus saith the Lord, who made a way in the sea, 
 and a path in the mighty waters ; 17. Who brought forth 
 the rider and the horse, the army and the warrior : toge- 
 tlier they lay down, they rose no more ; they were extin- 
 guished, they were quenched like tow. 18. Remember 
 not the former things ; and the things of ancient times 
 regard not : 19. Behold, I make a new thing ; even now 
 shall it spring forth : will ye not regard it ? Yea, I will 
 make in the wilderness a way ; in the desert, streams of 
 water. 20. The wild beast of the field shall glorify me ; 
 the dragons, and the daughters of the ostrich : because I 
 have given waters in the wilderness ; and flowing streams 
 in the desert ; to give drink to my people, my chosen : 
 21. This people, whom I have formed for myself; who- 
 shall recount my praise. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Isaiah opens this prophecy w^th a description of the 
 Messiah at the time of his^^r^^ advent : but he is soon 
 naturally carried forward into the days oithe seco?id advent^ 
 
141 
 
 by the declaration, that the Saviour's force shall not be 
 abated, nor broken, until he hath firmly seated judgment 
 in the earth, and until the distant nations shall earnestly 
 wait for his law. Such an introduction may serve as a 
 key to all that follows ; teaching us to refer the latter 
 part of the predictioji to the final ?Tsto?'ation of Israel, 
 and consequently teaching us to understand the Babylon 
 which is then to be destroyed, not literally, but mysti- 
 cally. 
 
 Having pourtrayed the character of the Messiah, and 
 having announced that he is now about to declare a new 
 series of events, Isaiah solemnly calls upon the whole 
 world to praise the Lord ; and then proceeds to foretell, 
 that, at the time of the restoration of Israel, God shall go 
 forth in great wrath to confound his enemies, even that 
 impious Aiitichristian confederacy so largely described in 
 other predictions, which should dare to oppose the re- 
 turn of the converted of his people. After he has long 
 holden his peace, after a long cessation of the visible in- 
 terpositions of his providence, after he has long been still 
 and has refrained himself ; he shall now, in the last days^ 
 lift up his voice, and destroy those who had madly taken 
 up arms against him. At this dreadful period, at this 
 time of the end, he shall lay waste symbolical mountains 
 and hills ; and shall wither all their herbs, and exhaust 
 their rivers so that islands shall be formed in their beds : 
 in other words, as it is similarly predicted by St. John 
 • when describing the same awful consummation of the 
 present order of things under the seventh vial^, he shall 
 overturn both the larger and smaller Antichristian pow- 
 ers, shall diminish their population, and shall dry up their 
 resources. Then will he lead those, who have long been 
 mysteriously blind in error, by a way that they have not 
 known ; and convert their intellectual darkness into light. 
 Then shall the deaf hear the trumpet of the gospel ; and 
 the blind behold the up-raised banner of the Messiah. 
 For who are the blind and deaf, but the ancient people of 
 God ? Hath not blindness happened alike to the whole of 
 Israel? the ruler and the ruled, the teacher and the taught? 
 Are they not a nation robbed and spoiled ; a prey, and 
 
 * Rev. xvi, 2©. 
 
1.42 
 
 none delivereth ? And yet who hath given Jacob for a 
 spoil, and Israel to the robbers ; except the Lord against 
 whom he hath sinned, the IVIost High whose law he hath 
 transgressed ? It is on this account that he hath poured 
 upon him the fury of his anj^er : nevertheless, such is his 
 judicial infatuation, that, although the fire burneth him, he 
 layeth it not to heart, he understandeth it not. 
 
 But, while Israel is thus enveloped in thick darkness, 
 the Lord, who, in the midst of apparent neglect, hath all 
 along kept his eye upon him, who hath steadily though 
 secretly been causing the jarring affairs of the world to 
 subserve his own high purj)oses ; the Lord will suddenly 
 call aloud, and make his voice to be heard ta the very 
 ends of the world. The north shall give up the dispers- 
 ed of his people ; and the south shall not keep back. The 
 seed of Jacob shall be brought from the east, and gather- 
 ed from the west. The blind people shall wonderfully 
 return, and they shall have eyes ; the deaf, and they shall 
 have ears. Upheld by the powerful arm of the Lord, 
 they shall neither be overwhelmed by the rivers of inva- 
 ders that have long spoiled their country, nor destroyed 
 by the desolating fire of war. Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba, 
 which were lately numbered among the conquests of 
 Antichrist y shall now become, as it were, a ransom for 
 Israel * ; men shall be given for him, and nations for his 
 life. In the midst of the assembled tribes of the earth, 
 he shall be the chosen witness of the Lord ; and all peo- 
 ple shall acknowledge, that beside Jehovali, there is no « 
 Saviour. 
 
 To this prophecy, respecting the final restoration of 
 Israel, Isaiah attaches a severe denunciation against Ba- 
 bylon ; that is to say, the mystic Babylon, or the Roman 
 Antichristian confederacy, for so the context leads us to 
 understand it. 
 
 * These countries, at least Egj^pt and Ethiopia, will be conquered by 
 Antichrist at the era of the restoration of the jfenus, (Dan. xi. 42, 43.) It is 
 proper to remark, that this part of the prediction has been applied to the 
 days both of Sennacherib and Shalmaneser ; but, as Bp. Lowth observes, 
 without any clear proof from history. In fact, the general tenor of the 
 whole prophecy shews plainly, that it must be referred to the days of the 
 second advent and the general restoration of Israel. See particulai'ly Chap„. 
 Xliii. Ver. 5, 6, 7. 
 
143 
 
 When the great confederacy is broken, then will the 
 ten tribes begin to be rest ored ; and, from this and other 
 similar predictions, there is reason to think, that their 
 restoration will not be tmattended by miracles. Since 
 both here and elsewhere * it is compared to the Exodus 
 from Egypt, it is not unnatural to suppose that there will 
 be a certain degree even of circumstantial resemblance 
 between them. 
 
 PROPHECY XL 
 
 The gathering both of Jews and Gentiles into the millennian 
 church — The greatness of Israel— The fall of Antichrist. 
 
 Isaiah xlix. 5. And now saith the Lord that formed 
 me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob 
 again to him ; (^Jhr even Israel shall be gathered unto 
 himf, and I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, 
 and my God shall, be my strength : ) 6. And he said. It 
 is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise 
 up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of 
 Israel : I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, 
 that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the 
 earth. 7. Thus isaith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel 
 and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him. 
 ^whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers : Kings 
 shall see, and aris(i ; princes also shall worship ; because 
 of the Lord that is faithful, the Holy One of Israel and 
 he shall choose thee. 8. Thus saith the Lord, In an 
 acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salva- 
 tion have I helped thee : and I will preserve thee, and 
 
 * Compare Isaiah xi. 15, 16. 
 
 •j- Even Israel shall be gathered unto him.'] I have adopted the marginat 
 reading- "h, instead of the textual reading n*? ; both because it appears to me 
 to correspond much better with the declaration of Christ's office, and be- 
 cause it evidently was the received reading in the days of the Seventy. la 
 verse 4, our Lord complains of his fruitless labour among the ^ewi : here he 
 asserts, that, notwithstanvding the former unsuccessfulness of his ministry, 
 his office was to bring b ack yac»b to his God, and therefore that Israel 
 should siurely be gathered unto him. The lxx translate the passage as fol- 
 lows, omitting the negative particle — Tif c-vittyetym IxKaji vfoi »vlcy, xeii 
 I«-p«t)}A. See Bp. Lowth in U ic 
 
144 
 
 give thee for a covenant of tide people, to raise up thu 
 earth, to cause to inherit the de solate heritages ; 9. Say- 
 ing unto the prisoners, Go forth ; to them that are in 
 darkness *, Be ye discovered. They shall feed by the 
 ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. 
 10. They shall not hunger, nor thirst ; neither shall the 
 heat nor sun smite them : for he that hath mercy on them 
 shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he 
 guide them. 11. And I will make all my mountains a 
 way, and my high ways shall be exalted. 12. Behold, 
 these shall come from far ; and lo, these from the north 
 and from the west ; and these from the land of Sinim. 
 
 13. Sing, O heavens ; and be joyful, O earth ; and 
 break forth into singing, O mountains : for the Lord hath 
 comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his af- 
 flicted. 14. But Zion said. The Lord hath forsaken 
 me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. 15. Can a wo- 
 man forget her sucking child, that she should not have 
 compassion on the son of her womb ? Yea, they may 
 forget ; yet will I not forget thee. 16. Behold, I have 
 graven thee upon the palms of my hands ; thy walls are 
 continually before me. 17. Thy children shall make 
 haste ; thy destroyers, and they that made thee waste, 
 shall go forth of thee f. 18. Lift up thine eyes round 
 about, and behold : all these gather themselves together, 
 and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt 
 surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, and 
 bind them on thee like a bride. 19. Though thou hast 
 had only waste and desolate places and a land of destruc- 
 tion, yet now thou shalt be straitened for room by reason 
 of thy inhabitants ; and they that swallowed thee up shall 
 be far away. 20. As yet the children, of whom thou 
 hast been bereaved, shall say in thine ears ; The place is 
 too strait for me ; come close unto me, that I may have 
 
 * Saying to them, that are in darkness, Be ye discovered '\ I think that the 
 lost ten tribes are here intended. The passage seems to be parallel to one 
 already considered. " They, that were lost in the land of Assyria, shall 
 come." Isaiah xxvii. 13. 
 
 f Bp. Lowth translates this verse, They, that destroyed thee, shall soon become 
 thy builders ; and they, that laid thee nvaste, shall become thine offspring. I do not 
 see much necessity for altering the common version. In a subsequent pas- 
 sage however "j^ja ought undoubtedly to be rendered thy builders, not 
 
 fhy s»ns. 
 
145 
 
 r 00)11 to dwell. 21. Then shalt thou say in thine heart, 
 Who hath begotten me these *, seeing I have lost my 
 children, and am desolate, migrating from one country 
 to another, and turning aside out of the way ; and who 
 hath brought up these ? Behold, I was left alone : these, 
 where have they been ? 22. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, 
 Behold I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles ; and set 
 up my banner unto the nations : and they shall bring thy 
 sons in their arms f, and thy daughters shall be carried 
 upon their shoulders, 23. And kings shall be thy nurs- 
 ing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers : they 
 shall bow down to thee % with their face toward the earth, 
 and shall lick up the dust of thy feet : and thou shalt know 
 that I am the Lord, and they shall not be ashamed that 
 wait for me. 
 
 24. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or shall 
 the captive of the terrible § be delivered? 25. But thus 
 saith the Loid, Even the captive of the mighty shall be 
 taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be deliver- 
 ed : for I will contend with him that contendeth with 
 thee, and I will save thy children. 26. And I will cause 
 them that oppress thee to eat their own flesh, and they 
 shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet 
 wine : and all flesh shall know, that I the Lord am thy 
 Saviour and Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 
 
 commE'ntary. 
 
 In the beginning of this prophecy, Christ, having 
 complained that he hath laboured in vain in the conver- 
 sion of Israel, declareth nevertheless, that it is his oflice 
 to bring Jacob back again to the Lord, and that Israel 
 
 * Who hath begotten me these .?] The surprize of yudah at being reunited 
 ■with Ephraim is probably here described — judah is to be first restored, partly 
 in a converted state by the great inarithne poiver, and partly in an unconvert- 
 ed state by Antichrist ,- and afterwards Ephraim, by the continental powers 
 of the east and the north. 
 
 f They shall bring thy sons in their arms^ The restoration of Ephrai-nt, 
 seems here to be peculiarly meant. Compare this passage with Isaiah Ixvi. 
 19, 20. 
 
 \ They shall bow donun to thee ivith their face toward the earth.'] Compare 
 Isaiah ii. 2, 3. 
 
 § The terrible.'} For pnx read Y''V- ^or reasons and authorities see Bps 
 liowth in loc. 
 
 19 
 
146 
 
 shall surely be gathered unto him ; nor yet Israel alone, 
 but all the fur distant tribes of the Gentiles. Despised 
 as the Redeemer was at his jirst advent^ kings shall see 
 aiid worship him in a manner ytl more extensive and 
 glorious than the world hath ever yet beheld. He shall 
 cause the Jexvs again to inherit their desolate heritage. 
 He shall sptak. the word, and the prisoners shall go forth 
 at his bidding. He shall eall aloud to the ten tribes^ that 
 have been so long shrouded in darkness and have so long- 
 eluded eveiT inquir}^ ; and they shall forth^^•ith be disco- 
 vered. He that hath mercy on them will lead them ; 
 ever}"^ obstacle to their return will be removed ; and they 
 shall come from the north, and from the west, and from 
 the land of the Sinim ^. Long as the Lord hath seem- 
 ed to forget Zicii, he hath still kept his eye upon her, and 
 will in due time destroy her destroyers and majvc her the 
 gloiy of the whole earth. Her younger sisters, the 
 churches of the Gentiles^ shall flock unto her ; the land 
 of her desolation shall be too narrow for the multitude of 
 her children ; and they that devoured her shall be driven 
 far away. Even she herself shall marvel at the number 
 of her offspring, she who hath so long been a wanderer 
 over the face of the whole earth, when she beholds 
 Eprraim joined to Jiidah and the remnant of Israel to the 
 house of David. Obedient to the command of the Lord, 
 the Gentiles shall bring her children from aftu' : kings shall 
 be her nursing fathers : and. if her fiill hath been the 
 riches of the ^vorld, if her diminishir.g hath been the 
 riches of the Gentiles, ho^v much more her fulness ! 
 
 Here the prophet, as usual, calls our attention to the 
 fall of Antichrist, which he almost invariably connects 
 with the restoration of the Jexvs. He asks, whether the 
 prey shall surely be deliAered from that mighty tyrant, 
 and }vhether his captives shall be rescued from him ? To 
 this the Lord solemnly answers, that even the captive of 
 
 * By these Sinim some have understood the Chinese or Sinenses ; but Boch- 
 art objects to the notion, on the ground tliat the Chinese were then unknown 
 in the more western parts of the wovld. He himself supposes them to be 
 the inhabitants of Sin or Pelusium in Egypt ; and undoubtedly there are some 
 prophecies which speak of the return of the ^evus out of that country, at the 
 era of the restoration. See Bochart Phaleg. L. iv. C. 27. p. 275. and Mr. 
 Lowth in loc. 
 
147 
 
 the mighty shall be tuken away, and the prey of the ter- 
 rible delivered ; for that he will contend with all the ene- 
 mies of Zion, and save her children ; that he will signally 
 avenge her upon her oppressors ; and that at length all 
 flesh shall know, that the Lord is the Saviour of Jacob. 
 
 PROPHECY XII. 
 
 The joy and prosperity of the once desolate church of Judah at/ 
 the time of the restoration — The vain gathering together of 
 Antichrist. 
 
 Isaiah liv. 1. Sing, O barren, thou that didst not 
 bear ; break forth into singing and cry aloud, thou that 
 didst not travail with child : for more are the children of 
 the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith 
 the Lord. 2. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them 
 stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations : spare not, 
 lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. 3. For 
 thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left ; 
 and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and they shall 
 cause the desolate cities to be inhabited. 4. Fear not, 
 for thou shalt not be ashamed ; and, turn not away thy 
 face for shame, for thou shalt not be abashed : for thou 
 shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remem- 
 ber the reproach of thy widowhood any more. 5. For 
 thy Maker is thine husband ; the Lord of hosts is his 
 name : and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel ; the 
 God of the whole eju'th shall he be called. 6. For the 
 Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved 
 in spirit ; and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, 
 saith thy God. 7. For a small moment have I forsaken 
 thee : but with great mercies will I gather thee. 8. In a 
 little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment ; but 
 with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, 
 saith the Lord thy Redeemer. 9. For this is as the 
 waters of Noah unto me : as I have sworn that the 
 waters of Noah should no more go over the earth ; so 
 have I sAvorn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor 
 
148 
 
 rebuke thee. 10. F'or the mountiiins shall depart, and 
 the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart 
 from thee, neither sliall the eo^'enant of my peace be re- 
 moved, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. 11. O 
 thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted I 
 behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay 
 thy foundations with sapphires. 12. And I will make 
 thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and 
 all thy borders of pleasant stones. 13. And all thy chil- 
 dren shall be taught of the Lord : and great shall be the 
 peace of thy children. 14. In righteousness shalt thou 
 be established : thou shalt be far from oppression, for 
 thou shalt not fear ; and from terror, for it shall not come 
 near thee. 
 
 15. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not 
 by me ^ : whoever shall gather together against thee, 
 shall fall before thee. 16. Behold, I have created the 
 armourer, that blo\\eth the coals in the fire, and that 
 bringeth forth a weajDon by his workmanship ; and I have 
 created destruction for a snare t- 17. No weapon, that 
 is formed against thee, shall prosper ; and every tongue, 
 that shall rise against thee | in judgment, thou shalt con- 
 demn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,, 
 and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 The prophet calls upon the desolate church of Jttdah 
 to sing aloud for joy, because her restoration draweth 
 nigh. Alienated from God by her obstinate infidelity 
 and infatuated rejection of the Messiah, she had long 
 
 * They sliall gather together, but not by me."] Compare Rev, xvi 12 — 16. xix. 
 19 — 21. Up. Lowtli translates the orig-inal words league together, whicli 
 frreatly heij^htens the sense. Antichrist Is to unite himself", by a federal league, 
 with the false Romish prophet and the vassal kings of the Latin earth, so tliat 
 tliey shall jointly form one great conspiracy. 
 
 f I have created destruction fur a snare.'^ I have created the powers of dai'k- 
 ness, and for a season suffer tliem to prevail ; but, in the midst of their ma- 
 cliinations against others, they shall suddenly fall into a snare themselves. 
 Compare Isaiali xxiv. 16, 17, 18. and Rev. xi. 18. 
 
 + Every tongue that shall rise against thee.'] These words may possibly con- 
 tain an allusion to the destroying- anathema of the beast and the false prophet, 
 when they shall sanctify war and imprecate the vengeaiTCe of heaven upon 
 all their opponents. 
 
149 
 
 ceased to bring forth spiritual children : but now she hath 
 need to enlarge her tents, and to extend the limits of her 
 habitation ; for her children shall vie in number even with 
 those of the married wife, that ingrafted olive the church ^ 
 of the Gentiles ; and her forsaken cities shall again be 
 inhabited. In order that she may not despair by reason 
 of the depth of her humiliation, she is exhorted not to 
 fear : because, rejected as she may be at present from 
 being the mystic wife of God as she formerly was, and 
 therefore mourning in a state of symbolical widowhood j 
 yet she shall shortly forget the shame of her youth, and 
 the Lord of hosts shall acknowledge himself to be her 
 husband. Though she may now appear like a woman 
 forsaken and refused, like a deserted wife of a man's 
 youth ; God declares, that he hath forsaken her only for 
 a little moment, and swears by an oath as inviolable as 
 that which he swore to Noah, that he will mercifully 
 gather her and establish the covenant of his peace with 
 her. She hath been, during the days of her widowhood, 
 afflicted, tossed with tempests, and not comforted ; but 
 her cities shall be rebuilt with increased splendor, her 
 children shall be taught of the Lord, slie shall be estab- 
 lished in righteousness, and she shall be delivered fromi 
 fear and oppression. 
 
 This incidental mention of her deliverance from the 
 terror of her enemies leads Isaiah, as usual, to predict 
 the doxvnfal of Antichrist ; who in the last days shall 
 gather together his forces against the converted ofJudak, 
 and plant the curtains of his pavilions between the seas 
 in the glorious holy mountain. His gathering however 
 is not from the Lord, but from the diabolical influence of 
 Satan ; therefore shall he rush forward only to his own 
 destruction, and shall fall before the returning people of 
 God. Yet, although the sovereign judge of heaven and 
 earth disclaims the impious enterprize of Antichrist ; he 
 asserts, that it is he who hath created the armourer to 
 forge weapons of war, and who hath created destruction 
 itself, even destruction personified in the last great oppo- 
 ser of his puqjoses, to fall into the snare which he hath 
 prepared for it. Neither the weapons of violence, nor the 
 invectives of his enraged enemy, shall prevail against 
 Judah : he shall alike triumph over both* 
 
150 
 
 PROPHECY XIII. 
 
 The spiritual glory of the rtiillennian church — The continental 
 restoration of the ten tribes — The maritime restoration of the 
 converted of Judah. 
 
 Isaiah Ix. 1*. Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and 
 the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 2. For, be- 
 hold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness 
 the people : but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his 
 glory shall be seen upon thee. 3. And the Gentiles shall 
 come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy 
 rising. 4. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see : all 
 they gather themselves together, they come to thee : thy 
 sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be 
 nursed at thy side. 5. Then shalt thou see, and flow 
 together ; and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged ; 
 because the multitude of the sea shall be turned unto 
 thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. 
 6. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the drome- 
 daries of Median and Ephah ; all they from Sheba shall 
 come ; they shall bring gold and incense ; and they shall 
 shew forth the praises of the Lord. 7. All the flocks of 
 Kediu* shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of 
 Nebaioth f shall minister unto thee : they shall come up 
 with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house 
 of my glory. 
 
 8. Who are these ? Like a cloud they fly, and like 
 doves to their holes J. 9. Surely the isles shall wait for 
 
 * Chap. Ix.] " We may suppose the groundwork of the prophecies, con- 
 tained in tliis and the two following chapters to be the yeius' restoration from 
 captivity. Mr. Lnwth in Inc. 
 
 f The dromedaries of Midian — all they from, Sheha — the fiocks of Kedar — 
 the rams of Nebaioth.~\ "They shall fly along the borders of ti)e Phihstines 
 towards the west ; they shall spoil them of the east together : they shall lay 
 their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon shall obey 
 them." Isaiah xi. 14. 
 
 t Doves to their holes.'] They shall fly with a trembling rapidity to the land 
 of their refuge, like doves to holes in thfe rocks. " Dr. Richard Chandler, in 
 his travels in Asia Minor, has taken notice of the doves tliere lodging in holes 
 of the rocks." Harmer's Observ. Vol. iii. p. 55. See Cant. ii. 14. 
 
 — — 6ix ipvyev, »? re TreMix, 
 'H f<t6' v<p* 'i^ijKOi KotXijv ei<re7rl»lo Trel^n"' Iliad, xxi. ^tPS'- 
 
151 
 
 me, and the ships of Tarshish among the first *, to bring 
 thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, 
 unto the name of the Lord thy God, unto the Holy One 
 of Israel, because he hath glorified me. 10. And the 
 sons of strangers shall build thy walls, and their kings 
 shall minister unto thee : for in my wrath I smote thee, 
 but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. 11. There- 
 fore thy gates t shall be open continually ; they shall not 
 be shut day nor night ; to bring unto thee the forces of ' 
 the Gentiles, even their kings magnificently conducted. 
 12. For the nation and kingdom J, that will not serve 
 thee, shall perish : yea, the nations shall be utterly wast- 
 ed. 13. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, 
 the fir, the pine, and the box together, to beautify the 
 place of my sanctuaiy ; and I will make the place of my 
 feet glorious. 14. The sons also of them, that aiflicted 
 thee, shall come bending unto thee ; and all they that des- 
 pised thee, shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy 
 feet : and they shall call thee. The city of the Lord, the 
 Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15. Instead of thy being 
 
 * The ships of Tarshish among thejirst.'\ The ships of tliat particular coun- 
 try of the isles of the Gentiles, which at the period of the completion of tlie 
 prophecy will command at sea. In the language of the Old Testament, the 
 ships of Tyre are ordinarily called ships of Tarshish, apparently from the 
 great commercial intercourse between Tyre and Tarshish, much perhaps in 
 the same manner as our principal trading vessels are termed east or luest-in- 
 dianien. Tyre however has long since ceased to be a nation : the ships of 
 Tarshish therefore, at the era of the yet future return of the j^eivs, certainly 
 cannot be literal Tyrian -vessels. Hence we must necessarily, 1 think, con- 
 clude them to be the ships of soone poiver of the isles of the Gentiles, that is, 
 some European power, which in the modern world shall answer to Tyre in the 
 ancient world ; but, ivhat poiver will accord with such a description when the 
 ^evis begin to be restored, can only be determined by the event. Thus far 
 liowever we may venture to assert, from the more ample description which 
 Isaiah gives us of it in his IQth chapter, that it will certainly be a nation of 
 faithful xuorshippers, and therefore not a popish nation. This position indeed 
 necessarily follows from the collateral predictions of Daniel and St. John, 
 which teach us that the return of the cojiverted ^e-jcs shall be opposed by an 
 arined confederacy of Antichrist, the false Roinish prophet, and the kings of the- 
 Latin earth. 
 
 It may not be Improper to observe, that ships of Tarshish sometimes mean 
 simply large vessels Jit for undertaking long voyages by sea. (See Well's Geog. 
 of the Old and New Test. Vol. 1 p. 72, 73.) The sense will be much the 
 same : for in either case, the prophecy foretells, that the converted ^eius will 
 be brought back in large vessels belonging to the then principal maritime Eu- 
 ropean protestant power. 
 
 f Thy gates shall be open continually."] Compare Rev. xxi. 25. 
 
 t The nation and the kingdom,, that viill not serve thee, shall perish."] The 
 ©yerthrow of Antichrist and his confederates seems here to be briefly alluded to. 
 
152 
 
 forsaken and hated and without any one passing through 
 thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy from 
 generation to generation. 16. Thou shalt also suck the 
 milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings ; 
 and thou shalt know that I am the Lord thy Saviour, and 
 the mighty One of Jacob thy redeemer. 17. For brass 
 I will bring gold *, and for iron I will bring silver ; and 
 for wood brass, and for stones iron : and I will make 
 thy superintendants peace, and thy taskmasters justice, 
 18. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting 
 nor destruction within thy borders ; but thou shalt call 
 thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. 19. The sun 
 shall be no more thy light by day ; neither with bright- 
 ness shall the moon give light unto thee ; but the Lord 
 shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy 
 glor}^ 20. Thy sun shall no more go down, neithej shall 
 thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be thine 
 everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning sliall be 
 ended. 21. And thy people all of them shall be righ- 
 teous : they shall inherit the land for ever : they are the 
 branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may 
 glorify myself. 22. That, w4iich was little, shall become 
 a leader f ; and that, which was small, a strong nation : 
 I, the Lord will hasten it, in its season. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Much that is interesting may be collected from this 
 prophecy. After a long period of intellectual and spirit- 
 ual diu-kness, Judaical, Papal, and Mohammedan, the 
 glory of the Lord will shine upon his ancient church, and 
 the Jews and the Gentiles shall form one flock under one 
 shepherd. 
 
 * For brass I will bring gold.'] Corapare Rev. xxi. 10—26. 
 
 t That, which was little, shall become a leader.'] This part of the pro))liecy» 
 like many other prophecies, appears to intimate, that Israel shall liereafter 
 become the first of nations, and Jerusalem the metropolis of the miilcimian 
 kingdom of the Messiah. The elder sister, th^ Jewish church, shall then take 
 the precedency of her younger sisters, the Gentile Churches ; a precedency 
 however, purely spiritual and readily accorded ; a precedency, far unlike 
 th It usurped by the apostate man of sin, the pretended successor of St. Pe- 
 ter. I think it accords better with the general import of the passage to tran*- 
 l*te nS« a leader, than a thoimand. 
 
153 
 
 Isaiah's attention is first engaged by the continental res- 
 toration of the ten tribes^ which, though second m point 
 of time to the restoration ofJudah, will most probably be 
 first in point of numbers and consequence. While he 
 beholds the nations bringing back his brethren of the 
 house of Ephraim on camels and on dromedaries, the 
 scene changes, and a fresh vision is suddenly presented to 
 his imagination. A multitude, the converted of Judah, 
 appear to come like doves, rapidly flying upon the wings 
 of the wind ; and these, though last introduced into the 
 present prediction, will nevertheless be restored, as we 
 may collect from other prophecies, before the remnant of 
 the ten tribes. From the far distant isles of the west, the 
 maritime regions of Europe, the prophet beholds the 
 ships of Tarshish, the navy of that power which at the 
 period of the accomplishment of the prophecy may be 
 considered as the modern Tyre, securely bringing over 
 the waves of the ocean the converts of Judah as an offer- 
 ing to the name of the Lord their God. 
 
 Having thus foretold, that the whole house of Israel 
 shall surely be restored, at two different seasons, b}^ 
 land and by sea ; and having declaimed, that the then pre- 
 vailing maritime poxver shall be among the first to under- 
 take the restoration of the converted members of the house 
 of Judah * : Isaiah triumphantly enlarges on the future 
 glories of his people and the sacred happiness of the mil- 
 lennium, intermingling however with his song of victory 
 an allusion to the overthrow of Antichrist and the utter 
 extinction of his abominable tyranny. 
 
 PROPHECY XIV. 
 
 The restoration and conversion of Judah — The triumph of Christ 
 over the mystic Edom. 
 
 Isaiah Ixii. 1 f. For Zion's sake will I not hold my 
 peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the 
 
 * The restoration of the unconverted of yiidah is not here noticed. There is 
 reason to believe that it -will nearly, if not altogether, sjmchronize with the 
 restoration of the converted of Judah, and that it will be effected by land through 
 the instrumentality of the Antichristian faction, previous to the subsequent 
 i-estoration also by land of the remains of the ten tribes. 
 
 \ Chap. Ixii.] " The former promiees of restoring the Jewish Church and 
 
 20 
 
154 
 
 fighteousne^s thereof go forth as brightness, and the sal 
 ration thereof as a lamp that burneth. 2. And the 
 Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy 
 gloiy : and thou shalt be called by a new name, Avhich the 
 mouth of the Lord shall name. 3. Thou shalt also be a 
 crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal dia- 
 dem in the hand of thy God. 4. Thou shalt no more be 
 termed Forsaken ; neither shall thy land any more be 
 termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called My-delight-is- 
 in-her; and thy land, The-married-one; for the Lord de- 
 lighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. 5. For, 
 as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall they, that build 
 thee up, marry thee* ; and, as the bridegroom rejoiceth 
 over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice o\ er thee. 6. I 
 have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem ; they 
 shall not hold their peace day nor night : ye, that make 
 mention of the Lord, keep not silence: 7. And give him 
 no rest till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a 
 praise in the earth. 8. The Lord hath sworn by his right 
 hand, and by the arm of his strength. Surely I will no 
 more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies ; and the 
 sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine for which 
 thou hast laboured : 9. But they, that have gathered it, 
 sliall eat it, and praise the Lord ; and they, that have 
 brought it together, shall drink it in the courts of my ho- 
 liness. 10. Go through, go through the gates : prepare 
 
 nation are again cqniirmefl by a solemn oatli of God's (vcr. 8.) ; which to me 
 is an evident proof, tliat this prophecy relates to a scene of affairs that is still 
 future." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 * So shall they, that build thee up, viarry thee.'] I prefer this translation te 
 that of our English version. That the ffcirew church should be married to her 
 sojis, seems to convey an idea neither very intelligible, nor elsewhere war- 
 ranted in Scripture. Jeremiah represents the Lord as calling- unto f/i€ backslid- 
 ing sons nf Israel, and as being married to thein (Jerem. iii. 14.) ; but 1 know 
 not that the church is ever said to be married to her oven sons. In addition t© 
 this remark it may be observed, that the well known antithesis of the He- 
 brew poetry requires the first half of the verse to answer to the second : the 
 persons therefore, that marry the church of Israel, must answer to her God that 
 rejoiceth over her. Such being the case, I apprehend that the builders up of 
 Zion are the Lord God almighty, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is super- 
 fluous to remind the Hebrew student of the frequency of this plural phraseo- 
 logy : but for the satisfaction of the English reader it may not be amiss to 
 remark, that, what he has been accustomed to see translated. Remember thy 
 Creator in the days of thy youth (Eccles. xli. 1.), stands in the original, Remem- 
 ber thy Creators. These Creators, the all-powerful Elohim of Israel, are they, 
 who will build up the walls of Zion, and be the husband of his people Israel.^ 
 See Bp. Lowth in loc. and conipare hh note on Isaiah xUx. 17. 
 
155 
 
 ye the way of the people * : cast up, cast up the highway: 
 gather from the stones : Uft up a banner for the nations. 
 11. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the 
 world t J Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, ihy Sa- 
 viour Cometh J; behold, his reward is with him, and his 
 work before him. 12. And they shall call them The- 
 holy-people, The-redeemed-of-the-Lord; and thou shalt 
 be called Sought-out, A-city-not-forsaken. 
 
 Ixiii. § 1. Isaiah. Who is this that cometh from 
 Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah^I ? This that is 
 glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his 
 strength ? 
 
 Messiah. I that speak in righteousness, mighty to 
 save. 
 
 2. Isaiah. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, 
 and th}^ garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat ? 
 
 3. Messiah. I have trodden the wine -press alone; 
 and of the people there was none with me : and I have 
 trodden them down in mine anger, and I have trampled 
 them in my fury ; and their blood is sprinkled upon my 
 garments, and I have stained all my raiment. 4. For 
 the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my 
 
 * Prepare ye the ivay of the people.'] " The prophet, relying upon God's oath 
 (ver. 8.), speaks of the general restoration of the yenus, as if it were actually a 
 doing ; and exhorts those nations, through whose territories they were to 
 pass in their return homeward, to go out of their cities and repair the roads, 
 raising causeways in the lower grounds, and levelling the rough and stony 
 places. By this figure the prophet signifies a remov:al of all obstacles which 
 might hinder their return." Sir. Lowth in loc. 
 
 •{• The Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the iMorld.] " He hath caused 
 the great trumpet to sound as a signal to gather the dispersed Jeius together 
 (see note on Chap, xxvii. 13.;) or he hath sent preachers of tlie Gospel to all 
 parts of the world, in order to the conversion of the ^ews." Mr. Lowth 
 in loc. 
 
 + Behold, thy Saviour cometh.'] Such I conceive to be tlie proper transla« 
 tlon of the passage, not thy salvation cometh . the whole context shews, 
 that a person, not a thing, is spoken of. Accordingly it is so rendered by the 
 lxx, the Vulgate, the Chaldee Paraphrase, the Syriac, and the Arabic. See 
 Bp. Lowth in loc. Compare the whole of this verse with Isaiah xl. 10. 
 
 § Chap. Ixiii.] " Now the prophet comes to describe the day of vengeance. 
 The beginning of the chapter is by way of dialogue between the prophet and 
 Christ, where the latter is described as returning in triumph from the slaugh- 
 ter of his enemies, which seems to be much the same scene which was re-^ 
 presented chap, xxxiv. See likewise Joel iii. 12, 13, 14." Mr, Lowth in loc. 
 
 11 Edom — Bozrah.] " The prophet seems to take a hint from some re- 
 markable calamity that befell the EdoTuites, to describe some more general 
 judgment, that should be inflicted upon the enemies of God's Church and 
 truth." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
156 
 
 redeemed is come. 5. And I looked, and there was 
 none to help ; and I wondered that there was none to up- 
 hold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto 
 me; and my fury, it upheld me. 6. And I trod * down 
 the people in mine anger, and made them drunk in my 
 fury, and I brought down their strength to the earth. 
 
 7. Isaiah. I will mention the loving kindnesses of 
 the Lord and the praises of the Lord, according to all 
 that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great good- 
 ness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed 
 on them, according to his mercies, and according to the 
 multitude of his loving kindnesses — 17. O Lord, why 
 hast thou made us t to err from thy ways, and haidened 
 our heart from thy fear ? Bring back, for thy servants 
 sake, the tribes of thine inheritance J. 18. It is little, 
 that they have taken possession of thy holy mountain ; 
 that our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary. 
 19. We have been from old time as those whom thou 
 didst not bear rule over ; who have not been called by 
 thy name §. 
 
 co:mmentary. 
 
 In this most august prophecy, Isaiah, having fully pre- 
 dicted the restoration of Israel^ introduces the Lord as 
 proclaiming to the daughter of Zion the advent of her 
 Saviour. 
 
 Suddenly, and almost ere the proclamation has been 
 made, a new and awful vision bursts upon his sight. He 
 
 * / trod^ " Both tlie lxx and the Vulgar Latin translate this and the fol- 
 lowing sentences of this verse in the prxterperfect tense, which agrees bet- 
 ter with the context, where Clirist is described as having his garments al- 
 ready stained with blood !" Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 •j- Wliy hast thou made us ?'} " The vi'ords might better have been render- 
 ed, nuliy hast thou suffered us ? for the form, called ^^/y^/zzY in Hebrew, often 
 denotes only permission, and is rendered elsewhere to that sense by our 
 translators." Mr I.,owth in loc. 
 
 ^ Bring back, for thy servants sake, the tribes of thine inheritance."'^ " That 
 is. Turn their captivity for the sake of thy servants Abraham and Israel (ver. 
 16.). to whom thoQ madest the promises." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 § Who have not been called by thy na7ne.'\ "Thou hast rejected us altoge- 
 ther, and dost disregard us, as if we had never had any relation to thee, nor 
 ever were called thy people : which sense agrees very well with the present 
 condition of the Jewish nation, which hath continued for many ages without 
 king or prince or sacrifice, as the prophet Hosea foretold. Hos. iii. 4." Mr. 
 liowth in loci 
 
157 
 
 beholds the Messiah returnhig from the conquest of his 
 enemies, from the overthrow of Antichrist. His gar- 
 ments are stained with the blood of the symbolical vin- 
 tage ; for the day of vengeance is in his heart, the year of 
 his redeemed is come. Struck with astonishment, the pro- 
 phet inquires who this mighty conqueror can be. The 
 Lord answers. It is I that speak in righteousness^ I that ajji 
 might?/ to save. Yet more astonished at this declaration, 
 Isaiah again asks, IVhi/ then art thou red in thine apparel ? 
 If thy office he salvation^ why do I behold thee sprinkled 
 Tvith bloody and zvet 7vith slaughter, so that thou art like 
 him that treadetJi in the wine-fat ? Christ replies, The 
 blood, which thou beholdest, is the blood of my irreclaim- 
 able enemies; the blood of those, who have dared to assault 
 thy people even in the midst of their heaven-appointed re- 
 storation. Elate with short-lived success, exulting in 
 having planted their tabernacles between the seas in the 
 glorious holy mountain, flushed with the pride of uncon- 
 trolled victory. Antichrist and his associates have at length 
 madly rushed upon their fate, and tempted the Most High 
 to bring upon them swift destruction. Alone I trod the 
 wine-press; for this hath been no mortal warfare. When 
 ruin stared my people in the face, when their foes had 
 overflowed and passed over, when they had entered into 
 the glorious land, when many countries had been over- 
 thrown, when all human aid was vain: then did I, the 
 Lord, stand forth, and arise in my fury. There was 
 none to help, there zvas none to uphold. Therefore mine 
 own arm brought salvation unto me; in mine own strength 
 I trod down the people. I made them drunk i?i my fury ^ 
 they came to their end, and there was none to help them. 
 
 Thus divinely instructed in the nature of the terrific 
 vision, the prophet humbly gives thanks unto the Lord 
 for his goodness, and acknowledges his eternal justice 
 and truth. Though the adversaries have for a time trod- 
 den down his sanctuary, yet God was never their God. 
 But the tribes of Israel are still the Lord's, although they 
 have long been removed from the land of their inheritance, 
 and have been scattered among the nations. 
 
 That this vision of the Messiah relates to the last daySy 
 and to his second advent, is, I think, manifest both from 
 
158 
 
 its immediate connexion with the restoration of the Jews^ 
 and from the description being applicable to no part of 
 his ministry during the period of his Jirst advent *. 
 Theuy as Isaiah elsewhere predicts, he was despised and 
 rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with 
 grief: now he appears as a mighty conqueror, sprinkled 
 with the blood of his prostrate enemies. Theyi he was 
 oppressed, he was afflicted, he opened not his mouth ; 
 he was brought as a lamb to the slaughter; he was taken 
 from prison and from judgment; he was cut off out of 
 the land of the living; he was slain; he Avas buried: now 
 he victoriously treads the wine-press of his indignation ; 
 he tramples upon the people in his anger; the day of ven- 
 geance is in his heart ; he is glorious in his apparel ; he 
 travels in the greatness of his strength. Two such entirely 
 different descriptions must either relate to two entirely 
 different persons, or to the same ^^erson at two entirely 
 different periods. That they both however equally re- 
 late to the Messiah, is universally allowed. They must 
 therefore relate to him at the two different periods of his 
 Jirst and seco7id advent. Accordingly, as I have just 
 observed, we find the present description immediately 
 connected with the restoration of Israel: whence it will 
 follow, that it relates to some yet future manifestation of 
 the Messiah. ' 
 
 But it may be asked. Why is he then represented as 
 coming from Edom and from Bozrah ? I answer : As the 
 ships of Tarshish^ when connected with the restoration of 
 the Jeivs, mean not literal Ti/7'ian vessels^ b«t the navy of 
 some great maritime people, some modern Tyre : so Edom^ 
 when similarly connected, means, not the literal Edom, 
 but some profane enemy of God and his people, who is to 
 be revealed in the last days. This enemy, as we learn 
 from other collateral prophecies, will be a mighty power 
 within the limits of the Roman empire, which shall either 
 be the ten horned beast himself under his last head, or a 
 notoriously infidel state united xvith that last head. The 
 
 * See Bp. Lowth in loc. who rightly refers this prophecy to the last days, 
 though I cannot think that it has any relation to the overthrow of Gog and Ma- 
 gog mentioned by Ezekiel and St. John. It plainly describes the same events, 
 as those foretold in Rev. xix. to them accordingly the father of that eminent 
 prelate supposes it to allude. S^e Mr. Lowth's Comment, on Isaiah lxiii.2, 3 . 
 
159 
 
 rise of such an infidel state we have beheld even in our 
 own days, and we have yet more recently seen it identifi- 
 ed with the last head. Even now the predicted confede- 
 racy of this formidable power ^ of the false Romish prophet, 
 and of the vassal kings of the Latin earth, the confedera- 
 cy of which Edom is here used as a type, is forming with 
 a wonderful degree of rapidity ; and every passing event 
 seems to be preparing the way for some awful crisis. 
 From the overthrow of this confederacy at the time of the 
 restoration of the Jexvs, a time of trouble such as never 
 was since there was a nation, Isaiah beholds the Messiah 
 triumphantly returning. 
 
 It is worthy of notice, that the learned among the Jews 
 have ever considered Edom as a type of Rome: whence 
 they interpret those prophecies, which foretell some fu- 
 ture calamities about to befall Edom, as relating, not to 
 the literal Edom, but to his antitype Rome ; or, as they 
 might more accurately have expressed themselves, to the 
 Roman empire ; for Edom being a kingdom, his antitype 
 must be a kingdom likewise. Thus R. Kimchi asserts, 
 that " Whatever the prophets have spoken of the des- 
 truction of Edom in the last times, they have spoken con- 
 cerning Ro?ne ; " and that, " When Rome shall be laid 
 waste, there shall be redemption to Israel.'''' The same 
 commentator applies the 34<th chapter of Isaiah, which 
 like the prophecy now under consideration literally treats 
 of the desolation of Edom and the Lord'' s sacrifice in Boz^ 
 rah, to the downfal of Rome ; and cites with marks of 
 approbation the Chaldee exposition of the 9th verse, 
 " The streams of Rome shall be changed into pitch." It 
 is sufficiently evident indeed, that the two predictions 
 are so entirely parallel to each other, that they must both 
 relate to the same events. The S4^th and 35th chapters 
 compose one prophecy, as the 62d and 63d compose 
 another. They both equally treat of the restoration of 
 Judah, and the downfal of the Antichristian Roman confe- 
 deracy under the mystical name of Edom. The only 
 difference between them is, that in the one the overthrow of 
 Antichrist is first mentioned, and in the other the restora- 
 tion of Judah. R. Kimchi applies, in a similai' maimer, 
 the ^vhole 24i/j chapter of Isaiah to the destruction of 
 
160 
 
 Edom and the return of Israel, declaring it to be a pro- 
 phecy yet unaccomplished; and what he understands by 
 Edom he shews by his commentary on the I6th verse: 
 " Whoever inquires into the destruction of Home, let him 
 diligently examine the whole book of the Lord." Both 
 he, and R. Solomon Jarchi, use exactly the same language 
 (with what propriety in the present case I shall not stop 
 to inquire), when paraphrasing the 11th verse of the 21st 
 chapter of Isaiah. " The burden of Dumah, which is 
 Edom,'*'' says R. Jarchi : " The burden of Rome,'''' says 
 R. Kimchi ^. The Targum on the 22d verse of the Ath 
 chapter of Lamentations is composed on precisely the 
 same principle of mystic interpretation : " And, after 
 thine iniquity shall be accomplished, O congregation of 
 Zion, thou shalt be delivered by the hand of Messiali 
 and Elias the high-priest ; ' and the Lord shall no more 
 cause thee to migrate into other countries : and in that 
 time I will visit thine iniquity, O Rome, which art built 
 in Italy, and art full of the troops of the sons of Edom^ In 
 fine R. Abraham Sebah, commenting on the 1st chap- 
 ter of Genesis, says, that, " While the sixth millenary of 
 the world is running out and drawing near to a close, 
 Rome shall be destroyed, and the Jews shall return from 
 their dispersion t»" 
 
 In thus closely connecting together the downfal of the 
 Roman Antichristian faction and the restoration of Jiidah, 
 the Hebrew doctors seem to me to be perfectly right : an 
 attentive perusal of the ancient Scriptures, not to men- 
 tion those of the New Testament, must unavoidably 
 lead every person to the same conclusion. Such prophe- 
 cies, as are unchronological, rarely foretell the return of 
 the Jexvs without declaring, that at the very same season 
 there shall be a tremendous overthrow of God^s enemies. 
 These enemies they sometimes describe as a great con- 
 federacy of many nations : at other times they designate 
 them by the general name of Edom. What then are we 
 
 * It is not improbable, tliat this g'loss might have been founded on the cir- 
 cumstance of their reading i?&?rt(7/i rnnn), instead of Z>!/mfl/i (nnn). The 
 difference between the R (i), and the D (j^), is so trifling, that one might 
 easily have been substituted for the other. 
 
 t See Mede's Works, B. v. Chap. viii. p. 902, 903 ; whence tliese remarks 
 are taken. 
 
161 
 
 to understand by the power oy powers termed Edom at the 
 yet future period of the restoration of Israel? This wc 
 are abundantly taught, in a manner that can scarcely be 
 misunderstood, by the two chronological prophets Da- 
 niel and St. John. At the close of a certain grand period, 
 indifferently styled three times or three years a?id a half', 
 42 months, and 1260 days, all which equally mean 1260 
 natural years, the last or Boman beast and his little ty- 
 rannical horn are to begin to be destroyed *^. At the 
 close of the very same period, the power of the Jews is 
 to cease to be scattered ; or, in other words, is to begin 
 to be restored '[. At this time likewise a poxver, noted 
 for atheism, infidelity, and tyranny ; a power, which 
 should s])ring up after the era of the reformation ; is to 
 come to its end, none being able to help it, after having 
 first invaded Palestine, and taken Jerusalem:|:. And, at the 
 close of these same 1260 years, St. John declares, that 
 the great Roman beast under his last head, his colleague 
 the false Romish prophet or tJie two-horned beast (which 
 answer to the ten-horned beast and the little horn of Da- 
 niel), and his confederates the vassal kings of the Latin 
 empire, shall be totally overthrown by the Word of God 
 at Megiddo in Palestine ; and that the wine-press shall be 
 trodden in a country 1600 fin^longs in length, which is 
 the precise measure of the Holy Land \, Now, since 
 the restoration of the Jews is to commence at the end of 
 the 1260 years; and since the unspeakable time of trou- 
 ble, during which the Roman beast under his last head, 
 the atheistical king, the false prophet, and the confedera- 
 ted Latin sovereigns, will be overthrown, is to be con- 
 temporary with the restoration of the Jews: since like- 
 wise, whenever the Jews are restored, a confederacy of 
 God'^s enemies, more than once mystically denominated 
 Edom, is to be utterly broken by the victorious Messiah 
 at his second advent : it will necessarily follow, that what 
 Isaiah terms Edom must be the confederacy of the ten- 
 horned beast, the little horn, and the atheistical king: 
 that is to say, the mystic Edom must be, what the He- 
 brew doctors have rightly judged him to be, some grand 
 
 • Dan. vli. 11, 25, 26. t Dan. xii. 6, 7. 
 
 i^ Dan. xj. 35—45. xii. 1—7- § Kev. xiii. 5. xix. II— ^l.^iV. 17—2Ci\ 
 
 21 
 
: 162 
 
 confederacy formed, during the last days, within the li- 
 mits of the Roman empire. And at this conclusion, they 
 might most assuredly amve merely by comparing to- 
 gether different parts of their own Scriptures. St. John 
 indeed both confirms the conclusion, and throws a yet 
 stronger light on the subject: but the conclusion itself 
 might have been equally drawn, had St. John never 
 written the Apocalypse : and accordingly we find that 
 it actually has been drawn, not merely by Christian, 
 but by Jewish, commentators. On the whole, we may 
 safely venture to assert, that the vintage, described by 
 Isaiah, is the same as the vintage predicted both by Joel 
 and St. John : they equally relate to the overthrow of 
 Antichrist and his associates. 
 
 I would not willingly be thought too refined and fan- 
 ciful in w hat I am about to observe ; yet, when we re- 
 collect the almost innumerable instances throughout the 
 Hebrew Scriptures wherein proper names are chosen with 
 a manifest allusion to their signification, it is not impos- 
 sible that the Holy Spirit of God designed even the literal 
 import of the names Edom and Boz?-a not to be over- 
 looked. Edo7n then signifies red; and Bozra is the near- 
 est proper name that could have been found to the He- 
 brew word that denotes a vintage *. Hence, in apparent 
 allusion to the terms Edom and Bozra, our Lord is de- 
 scribed as being red in his apparel, and as having his 
 garments stained like him that treadeth in the wine-fat. 
 This however may not be the whole that is mystically in- 
 tended by these names. As the apocalyptic dragon is 
 said to be of a red colour, and to have seven heads and 
 ten horns, because he acts through the instrumentality of 
 the Roman beast whose distinguishing colour whether 
 pagan or papal hath always been red; and as the great 
 whore is represented as being arrayed in purple and 
 scarlet: so may the Roman confederacy of the last days, 
 consisting (as we are plainly taught it shall consist) oithe 
 beast under his last or Carlovingian head, and his colleague 
 the false prophet or papal horn, be denominated by the 
 prophet Edom or red, not without a hidden reference to 
 the same colour. In this case we may suppose Isaiah to 
 
 • Botsra (mxa) contains the same fundamental letters, and springs ivont. 
 the same root, as Bot-sir (t33) a vintage, 
 
163 
 
 ask, " Who is he that cometh from the scarlet confede- 
 7'acy of Antichrist^ with dyed garments from the vintage 
 of his wrath? Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, 
 and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat?" 
 To which the Lord answers, " I have trodden the wine- 
 press alone : the tyranny, however diversified, whose pe- 
 culiar badge is scarlet^ hath long trampled upon my 
 church, hath been drunken with the blood of my saints, 
 and hath at length in one of its principal members openly 
 defied me to my face : but now my garments are sprink- 
 led with the blood of the Roman beast, and the false pro- 
 phet; /now, m my turn, am red in mine apparel; as 
 my enemies have shed the blood of saints and prophets, 
 I have given them their own blood to drink, for they 
 are worthy." 
 
 Whether the reader approve or disapprove of this con- 
 jecture *, is of little consequence, so far as the main po- 
 sition is concerned. That, which was previously said, 
 is alone considered as the argument, by Avhich the Roma?} 
 Antichristian confederacy of the last days is shewn to be 
 the mystical Edom f>/*Isaiah« 
 
 PROPHECY XV. 
 
 The call of the Jews — The mystic birth of the Jewish nation- A 
 description of the Antichristian confederacy — Its overthrow — The 
 scattering of such as escape — 'The restoration of the converted 
 ten tribes — The glories of the Millennium. 
 
 Isaiah Ixvi. 5. Hear the word of the Lord, ye that 
 tremble at his word; Your brethren, that hated you, 
 that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the Lord 
 be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they 
 shall be ashamed. 6. A voice of noise from the city, a 
 voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth 
 recompense to his enemies* 7. Before she travailed, she 
 brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered 
 of a man-child. 8. Who hath heard such a thing? who 
 hath seen such things? shall a country be brought forth 
 
 * The reader will find some remarks not very dissittiilar to thi$ COPJectUt© 
 in Mr. Lowth's Commept. on Is^ah xxxiv. 5. and, kuii. 1. 
 
164 
 
 in one day, or shall a nation be born at once ? for, as- 
 soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. 
 9. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring 
 forth? saith the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth, 
 and shut the womb? saith thy God. 10. Rejoice ye 
 with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love 
 her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: 
 11. That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts 
 of her consolations ; that ye may milk out and be delight- 
 ed with the abundance of her glory. 12. For thus saith 
 the I-ord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, 
 and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream : then 
 shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be 
 dandled upon her knees. 13. As one whom his mother 
 comforteth, so will I comfort you ; and ye shall be com- 
 forted in Jerusalem. 14. And ye shall behold, and your 
 heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like a 
 lierb '^ : and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward 
 his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies. 
 
 15. For behold, the Lord will come with firef, and 
 his chariots like a whirlwind, to bring back his people in 
 the fury of his anger, for his rebuke is \y\Xh. flames of fire. 
 16. For by fire the Lord will contend in judgment, and 
 by his sword with all flesh : and many shall be the slain 
 of the Lord 1 . 17. They, that sanctify and purify them- 
 selves in the gardens § after the rites of Achad T[, in the 
 
 * Tour bones shall jlourish lihc a herb.'\ " Yon ^eivs shall reco%'er your an-■ 
 clcnt strength and beauty, and be renewed hi as wonderful a manner, as it' 
 dry withered bones sliould recover their youth and moisture, or as if tiie 
 dead bones in a charncl house should have life and vigour infused intotliem. 
 See Ezek. xxxvii. and Rom. xi. 15." Mr. Lowtli in loc. 
 
 f Behold, the Lord ivill covie luith fire — to bring back his people."] This cor- 
 responds with tlie declaration of Daniel, tliat Judah will be restored during- 
 a season of unexampled trouble (See Dan. sii. 1.). It is proper however to 
 observe, that Bp.Lowth translates tlie passage, To breathe forth his anger in 
 a burning heat ; supposing that 2''ffi'nS does not here signify to render or to bring 
 b'ack, but to breathe, from aipj. 
 
 i Many shall be the slain of the Lord.'] " This may be understood of tlie 
 battle of Armageddon (Rev. xvi. 14. xix. 19.), where the armies of Satan and 
 y/;!f/c/ir/f? are to be vunquisiied by the Lamb and his followers — The Scrip- 
 tures do. in genei'al declare, that there shall be a great desti'uction of Christ's 
 enemies here upon earth, before the general judgment or consummation of 
 all things." Mr Lowth in loc. 
 
 § They, that sanctify and pttKfy themselves in the gardens.] An allusion to 
 the ancient idolatrous grove-worship, so repeatedly stigmatized in the Old 
 Testament. See Mr. Lowlh's Comment, on Isaiah i. 29 
 
 IT After the rites of Achad.] Achad or Adad was the chief god of tlie Syri- 
 ans. (See Mr. Lowth and Bp. Lowth in loc.) He appears to liave been the 
 Sun. His name signifies One. See Selden de Dis Syris Synt. 1. C fi 
 
165 
 
 midst of those who eat swine's flesh, and the abomina- 
 tion, and the mouse *, shall be consumed together, saith 
 the Lord. 18. For I know their works and their thoughts : 
 and I come to gather all nations and tongues together: 
 and they shall come, and see my glory. 
 
 19. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send 
 those that escape of them unto the nations, Tarshish, Pal, 
 and Lud, Mesech [^skilled in the bow] f, Tubal, and Ja- 
 van, and distant islands, that have not heard my fame, 
 neither have seen my glory ; and they shall declare my 
 glory among the Gentiles. 20. And they shall bring all 
 your brethren out of all nations, an offering unto the Lord, 
 upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, 
 and in covered vehicles, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, 
 saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering 
 in a clean vessel unto the house of the Lord. 21. And I 
 will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith 
 the Lord. 22. For, as the new heavens and the new 
 earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith 
 the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. 
 23. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon 
 to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all 
 flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. 24. And 
 they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men 
 that have transgressed against me : for their worm shall 
 not die I, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they 
 shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. 
 
 * The viouse.^ "Jamblichus Syi'us, in Phot. Cod. 94, reckons mice 
 among the several sorts of animals by which the heathens practised magic 
 or. divination, and saitli, tliat some derived the word f^vo-'jij^to'i from jM-i;?." 
 Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 \ Mesech skilled in the boix.'] It seems evident, that ps-p has crept into U>e 
 text from the original gloss of some transcriber, who mistook the proper 
 name Mesech for a participle, and therefore pkiralized it in his note, adding 
 ncp to it by way of explanation. The word ptyp could not have been in tlie 
 copy, which the lxx used; for they justly consider Mesech to be a proper 
 name, writing it Moirox,, and make not the least mention of any bow. 3Ie~ 
 sech is ordinarily joined with Tubal, precisely as we ought to read in the pre- 
 sent passage See Ezek. xxvii. 13. xxxii. 26. xxxviii. 2. xxxis. 1. See also Bp, 
 Lowth in loc. 
 
 4; Their iiionn shall not die.'\ An allusion to the valley of Hinnom. The 
 wliole conclusion of this prophecy is couched under "images, wliich relate 
 not to the translation of the just to heaven, and the burning of the ivicied in hell ; 
 but to the placing of the faithful in a state of peace and security on earth, and to 
 the excision of the incorrigible of the irreligious faction" Bp. Horsley's Letter 
 on the 18th Chap, of Isaiah, p. 97. 
 
166 
 
 COMMENTARY 
 
 Isaiah, in the last of his prophecies, seems as it were to 
 sum up, in exact chronological order, all that he had pre- 
 viously said relative to the restoration of the house of Isra- 
 el. He had already taught us, that part of his countrymen 
 should return by sea, and part by land : that those who 
 returned by sea, namely the converted of Juclah^ should 
 be chiefly brought back through the instrumentality of 
 the ships of Tarshish^ or the navy of the then principal 
 maritime European power ^oi the then modern Tyre: that 
 Antichi'ist a?id his associates, who will contemporaneously 
 restore certain members of the house ofJudah in an uncon- 
 verted state, should at the same era be utterly overthrown ; 
 and that another grand division of Israel, or the ten tribes, 
 should be brought back out of all nations, notwithstand- 
 ing they had so long vanished, as it were, from the face 
 of the earth, and had been lost in the countries whither 
 they had been carried away captive. He now repeats 
 much of what he had said before, adding however cer- 
 tain other particulars which ai'e highly interesting and 
 important. 
 
 'He begins with calling upon the JewSy who, in the 
 midst of their long blindness, had never ceased to vene- 
 rate their ancient Scriptures, to hear the word of the Lord. 
 This word declareth to them, that their brethren of the 
 Gentiles, who, through a succession of dark and bigoted 
 ages, had hated them, and had cast them out, from a pre- 
 tended zeal for the glory of God, and as if persecution 
 had been a meritorious act of faith, should now have 
 abundant reason to fear and be ashamed. The Gentiles, 
 here alluded to, are manifestly those of the papal apostasy, 
 whose descendants at the time of the end shall consti- 
 tute the great Roman confederacy of Antichrist. The va- 
 rious persecutions, which the Jews have suffered through- 
 out Europe from the bloody superstition of Popery, arc 
 well known * : England herself, while she remained in 
 the polluted communion of Rome, partook largely, as of 
 her other sins, so of this. Since the reformation, the 
 
 * See Bp. Newton's Dissert, vii. 
 
167 
 
 Jews have been persecuted only in Popish countries : to 
 them therefore we may safely apply the words of the pre- 
 sent prophecy *. 
 
 But, when the Papacy shall have filled up the measure 
 of its iniquities by leaguing itself with Antichrist^ by 
 sanctioning all his enormities, by entering into a con- 
 federacy with him, by proclaiming (such is the wretch- 
 ed perversion of language) a holy war of extermination 
 against the converted Jews and their supporters the mighty 
 maritime protestant nation; then shall the Lord suddenly 
 cause his voice to be heard from his holy temple, and 
 shall render recompense unto his enemies. Under the 
 image of a wofuan travailing and bearing a man-child^ the 
 prophet sets forth the unexpected conversion and restora- 
 tion ofJudah. The description necessarily implies, that 
 these Gfreat and wonderful events will be almost as it were 
 instantaneous. Ere Zion hath well begun to travail, the 
 time of her delivery is come. As a single address of St. 
 Peter converted three thousand of the Jews^ and brought 
 them unto God the first fruits of their people : so now a 
 yet more astonishing thing shall happen;, a whole nation 
 shall be born at once. It is no objection to say, IFho 
 hath heard such a thing ? who hath seen such things ? 
 The Lord himself affords an answer by asking. Shall I 
 bring to the birth^ and not cause to biing forth ? Shall 1 
 cause to bring forth^ and shut the womb ? From the whole 
 passage we must necessarily, I think, conclude, that the 
 conversion of Judah will be sudden as that of St. Paul^. 
 general as that of the congregation of St. Peter f. 
 
 The whole, that the prophet has hitherto said, refers 
 exclusively to the conversion of one great branch of Judah 
 and to the restoration of that branch by the instrumentali- 
 ty of the maratime power; an event, which is destined 
 to take place previous to the no less remarkable event of 
 the conversion arid restoratioti of the ten tribes: he now-r 
 
 * See Bp. Newton's Dissert, vn. la. 
 
 y I may however here again observe, that, although the whole of Jtidak 
 ■will be restored previously to Israel, yet there is reason to believe that he 
 will be restored partly in a converted and partly in an unconverted state, 
 partly by sea and partly by land, partly by some great maritime power, and 
 partly by Antichrist. It appears that the conversion of both these branches of 
 yudah will be so sudden, as to deserve to be considered (comparatively 
 ■speaking) as instantaneous. 
 
168- 
 
 therefore, preparatoiy to his prediction concerning tJie 
 second of these events, directs our attention to the over- 
 throw of the Jfitichristiaji confcderacij. He declares, that, 
 at the period of the restoration of Judah, the Lord will 
 plead with all flesh by fire and sword ; and that great shall 
 be the slaughter of his enemies. The criminality of these 
 his enemies had already been partly described, as con- 
 sisting in a persecution of the Jews under the pretext of 
 honouring God: it is now further represented to us under 
 images drawn from the ancient history of Israel, and the 
 prohibitions of the Levitical law. Those then, who com- 
 pose the Antichristian confederacy^ will be persons who 
 imitate the idolatry of the Gentiles, worshipping deified 
 saints, and polluting themselves with all manner of abo- 
 minations *. Such a description perfectly accords with 
 the character of those, of whom we are taught the confe- 
 deracy will consist. But its members, in the midst of 
 their audacious attempt to oppose the counsels of the 
 Lord, shall be consumed together : and God remarkably 
 declares, that, while they are seeking only to fulfil their 
 o^vn diabolical purposes of ambition and persecution, he 
 so oveiTules both their works and their thoughts, as to 
 make them instrumental in gathering together all nations 
 and tongues, that they may come, and see a mai^vcllous 
 display of his glory. 
 
 Still however, although Judah be now restored, and 
 although Antichrist be overcome, we have to look for the 
 return of Israel^ that second grand division of God'' s people, 
 which is to be brought back by land. Here then the 
 prophet most fully declares to us the manner of their 
 restoration. After the overthrow of Antichrist^ such as 
 escape the tremendous slaughter of Megiddo, a number 
 amounting (as we are informed by Zechariahf) to a third 
 
 • "The prophet mentions only such idolatries as were practised in and 
 about his own time ; but yet may comprehend imder those heads all other 
 kinds of that sin, just as the idolatries practised by some Christians are call- 
 ed the doctrines of Balaam and "Jezabel (Rev. ii. 14, 20.), and the church 
 where they were practised is described by the name of Sodom and Egypt 
 (Rev. xi. 8.). And the Je'.vs at this day acknowledge the compliances of se- 
 veral of their nation with the Idolatries practised in those Popish countries 
 where the Inquisition is set up, as one of their national sins. See Limborch's 
 Arnica collatio cum, Judao." Mr. Lowth's Comment, on Isaiah Ixv. 4. to 
 which he refers us from Comment, on Isaiah Ixvi. 17- 
 
 + Zechar. xiii. S, 9. 
 
169 
 
 part of his whole host, shall be converted to the pure- 
 faith of Christ; and shall be scattered among all nations, 
 in order that they may carry far and wide the astonish- 
 ing tidings, and declare the glory of God. Some of the 
 Jews may naturally be supposed to have been left behind, 
 at the period of the restoration of Judah^ in the distant 
 isles of the sea or the regions of Europe, and even in the 
 territories of the modern Tarshish. These now will hear 
 the joyful news; and will be gathered together along with 
 their brethren the children of Israel from the north, the 
 south, and the east. In Palestine the two kindred na- 
 tions will coalesce into one : for, although Ephraim will 
 undoubtedly be restored, he will be for ever broken, so 
 that he shall be no more a distinct people*. We further 
 learn from this passage, that Israel will be restored in a 
 converted state, as one of the divisions of Judah had been 
 before him. The great maritime people, as we ai-e else- 
 where taught by Isaiah t, is to bring certain of the sons 
 of Judah, as a present iinto the Lord; whence it must be 
 inferred, that both the bringers and the brought are faith- 
 ful worshippers : the various continental powers through- 
 out the whole world are, in a similar manner, to bring 
 their brethren of the tribes of Israel, by various modes of 
 land conveyance, as an offering to the hord; whence the 
 same inference must unavoidably be drawn. The pre- 
 sent passage indeed is on the whole more decisive than 
 the other; for it is added, that the offering oithe dispersed 
 tribes should be brought by the nations, as the children 
 of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house 
 of the Lord. Hence it is plain, since nothing legally 
 unclean could be offered under the Levitical dispensation, 
 that the tribes, so brought as an offering, must be figura- 
 tively clean : and, since the two passages are altogether 
 pai'allel in point of phraseology, that part of Judah, which 
 is brought by the ships of the modern Tyre, must be 
 figuratively clean likewise. 
 
 The prophet concludes with symbolically describing 
 the glories of the millennium, which will commence so 
 
 * Isaiah vji. 8. \ Isaiah Xviii. 7. See also Is. 9. 
 
170 
 
 soon as both Judah and Israel shall have been full v. re- 
 stored *. 
 
 PROPHECY XVI. 
 
 The cap'ivity, restoration, conversion, and union of Judah and 
 Israel — The invdsion of Palestine from the north by AntichrisS, 
 —His destruction. 
 
 Jeremiah iii. 1. They say, if a man put away his wife, 
 and she go from him, and become another man's, shall 
 he return unto her again ? shall not that land be greatly 
 polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many 
 lovers ; yet return again to me, saith the Lord f — 6. The 
 LorJ also said unto mc in the days of Josiah the king\ 
 Hast thou seen what backsliding Israel hath done ? she is 
 gone up upon every mountain, and under CAcry green 
 tree, and there hath played the harlot. 7. And I said, 
 after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me : 
 but she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah 
 saw it. 8. And I saw, when, for all the causes whereby 
 backsliding Israel committed adulter}^, I had put her 
 away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacher- 
 ous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the 
 harlot also — 
 
 12. Go, and proclaim these words towiu'd the north, 
 and say. Return thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord;- 
 and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you : for I- 
 am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger 
 for ever — 14. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the 
 Lord; for I am man'ied unto you : and I will take you, 
 
 * Mr. Lowth justly observes on this p.irtof the prophecy, "the worship of 
 the new JeniSLikm is represented by ilie practice of the Jewish temple ; as 
 if the propliet had said, tliat state sliall be one continued festival. K is usual 
 with the prophets to describe the Gospel dispensations by the usages of their 
 own times. 
 
 f Feturn again to me saith the Lord."] In the Levitical law, a man, who 
 had put away his wife, was forbidden to take her ag-ain, lest an encourag-e- 
 ment should tliereby be held out to licentiousness ; but God, in the case of 
 las mystical consort, the church of Israel, is here represented as meixifullj'^ 
 dispensing with his own law. See Dr. Blayney's Jerem. in loc. and Mr, Lowth 
 ?n loc. 
 
17X 
 
 tjne out of a city, and two out of a family *, and I wiU 
 bring you to Zion. 15. And I will give you pastors 
 according to mine heart, which shall feed you with 
 knowledge and understanding, 16. And it shall come 
 to pass when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, 
 In those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more. 
 The ark of the covenant of the Lord t '• neither shall it 
 come to mind ; neither shall they remember it, neither 
 shall they visit it ; neither shall that be done any more. 
 17. At that time they shall call Jerusalem, The throne 
 of the Lord: and all the nations shall be gathered unto 
 it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall 
 they walk any more after the imagination of their evil 
 heart. 18. In those days the house of Judah shall walk 
 with the house of Israel, and they shall come together 
 out of the kmd of the north, to the land that I have given 
 for an inheritance unto your fathers — 
 
 iv. 5. Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem, 
 and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land : cry, gather 
 together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go 
 into the defenced cities. 6. Set up the banner toward 
 Zion; retire, stay not; for I will bring evil from the north, 
 and a great destruction. 7, The lion is come up from his 
 thicket, the destroyer of the nations is on his way : he is 
 gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate, to 
 lay waste thy cities, that they may be desolate without an 
 inhabitant. 8. For this gird you w^ith sackcloth, lament 
 and howl ; for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned 
 back from us. 9. And it shall come to pass at that day, 
 saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and 
 the heart of the princes ; and the priests shall be astonish- 
 ed, and the prophets shall wonder. 10. Then said I, Ah 
 Lord God ! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people| 
 
 * Iivill take you, one out of a city, and tivo out of a family,^ The miracu- 
 lous gathering of the long-lost tribes of Israel seems Ix'i-e to be intended. 
 Sprinkled as they now are through the various cities and families of the e^st, 
 they shall then all be discovered Compare Isaiah x.wii. 13 in Prnnhecy vii. 
 
 f Tkev shall say 7io more. The ark of the covenant of the Lord'] Compare 
 Isaiah xxxi. 31 — 34. and see Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 ^ Ah Lord God ! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people 3 The ^ev.s may 
 imagine, that their restoration to their own country w^ill be imattend-d by 
 any calamities to themselves ; but both this, and many other prophecies, 
 tejkch us, that they shall be severely scourged for their past iniquities. 
 
172 
 
 and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace : whereas the 
 sword reaCheth unto the soul. 11. At that time it shall 
 be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry Avind of the 
 plains* in the wilderness approacheth the daughter of my 
 people, not to fan nor to cleansef. 12. A full wind shall 
 come from those places for me : now therefore will I speak 
 judgments with them. 13. Behold, he shall come up as 
 clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind ; his horses 
 are swifter than eagles. Wo unto us, for we are spoiled ! 
 O Jerusalem, wash thine heiut from wickedness, that thou 
 mayest be saved : how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge 
 within thee? 15. For a voice declareth from Dan, and 
 publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim |. 16. Make 
 ye mention to the nations, publish against Jerusalem, 
 Besiegers come from a far country^!, and give out their 
 voice against the cities of Judah — 19. My bowels, my 
 bowels ; I am pained at my very heart : my heart maketh 
 a noise in me : I cannot hold my peace, because thou 
 hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, and 
 the alarm of war. 20. Destruction and destruction is 
 cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my 
 tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. 21. How 
 long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the 
 trumpet ? ^2. For my people is foolish, they have not 
 known me ; they are sottish children, and they have none 
 understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good 
 they have no knowledge. 
 
 23. I beheld the earth ; and, lo! it was without form 
 and void; and the heavens and they had no light. 24. I 
 
 * A dry wind of the plains."] See Dr. Blayney in loc. 
 
 f A dry tbind—not to fan, nor to cleanse.'] Antichrist shall go forth, not 
 merely to subdue, but utterly to exterminate (Compare Dan. xi. 44.) ; to 
 sweep away, not merely the cha<f, but the wlieat likewise. For a time he 
 shiiU be successful, and the whole land shall be desolate : yet (Ver. 27.) 
 will the Lord not make a full end. " Tempestuous luinds, or the motion of 
 clouds," says Sir Isaac Newton, " are put for war,j." 01)serv. on Dan. C 2. 
 p. 18 See the same metaphor applied to enemies and destroyers in Isaiah 
 xxvii. 8. Jerem. xlix. 36. li. 1. Ezek. xvii. 10. xix. 12. Hos. xiii. 15. 
 
 t Dan— mount Ephraim.] This passage describes the progress of the 
 Antichristian army from the north, a matter frequently mentioned in the 
 course of the present prophecy. "The rumour of the enemy's approach is 
 heard first from Dan, which being the most northern part of ytidea was first 
 of all invaded. And the evil tidings still increase, as the army marcheth for- 
 ward toward Jerusalem, by the way of mount Ephraim." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 ^ Afar country.] The empire oi Antichrist, France and its vassal provinces, 
 
173 
 
 beheld the mountains ; and, lo, they trembled, and all 
 the hills moved lightly. 25. I beheld; and, lo, there 
 was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. 
 26. I beheld; and, lo the fruitful place was a wilderness, 
 and all the cities thereof were broken at the presence of 
 the Lord by his fierce anger. 27. For thus hath the 
 Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate : yet will I 
 not make a full end. 28. For this shall the earth mourn, 
 and the heavens above be black : because I have spoken 
 it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will 
 I turn back from it. 29. The whole citv shall flee *, 
 for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen ; they shall go 
 into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks : the whole 
 city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein. 
 
 i. 13. And the word of the Lord came unto me the 
 second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I 
 see a seething pot, and the face thereof is turned from 
 the north. 14. Then the Lord said unto me, Out of 
 the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants 
 of the land. 15. For, lo, I will call all the families of 
 the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord: and they 
 shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the 
 entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the 
 walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of 
 Judah. 
 
 vi. 1. O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves 
 to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trum- 
 pet in Tekoa, and set up the fire-beacon in Bethhacce- 
 rim : for evil appeareth out of the north, and gi-eat de- 
 struction. 22. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a people 
 Cometh from the north-country, and a great nation shall 
 be roused from the ends of the earth. 23. They shall lay 
 hold on bow and spear: they are cruel, and have no 
 mercy : their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride 
 upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O 
 daughter of Zion. 
 
 X. 22. Behold the noise of the bruit is come, and a 
 great commotion out of the north- country, to make the 
 cities of Judah desolate, a den of dragons. 23. O Lord, 
 
 • The whole city shall Jlee."] Compare Zechar. xiv. 1, 2, 3. 
 
174 
 
 1 know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not m 
 man that walketh to direct his steps. 24. O Lord, cor. 
 rect me, but with judgment ; not in thine anger, lest 
 thou bring me to nothing. 25. Pour out thy fury upon 
 the nations that know thee not, and the families that call 
 not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and 
 devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his 
 habitation desolate. 
 
 xii. 10. Many pastors * have destroyed my vineyard, 
 they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made 
 my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11. They 
 have desolated it into a desolate wilderness: it mourneth 
 unto me being desolate, for no man layetb it to heart. 
 12. Upon all the plains in the wilderness the spoilers 
 have come : for the sword of the Lord devoureth from 
 the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: 
 no flesh shall have peace. 13. They have sown wheat, 
 but shall reap thorns : they have put themselves to pain, 
 but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your 
 revenues, because of the fierce anger of the Lord. 
 
 14. Thus saith the Lord against all the evil neigh- 
 bours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused 
 my people Israel to inherit ; Behold, I will pluck them 
 out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from 
 among them. 15. And it shall come to pass after that 
 I have plucked them out, I will return and have com- 
 passion on them, and will bring them again, every man 
 to his heritage, and every man to his land. 16. And it 
 shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways 
 of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth, 
 as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall 
 they be built in the midst of my people. 17. But if 
 they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up, and destroy 
 that nation, saith the Lord. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 " Prophecy was a business, in which the intellect of 
 man, under the control of the inspiring Spirit, had an 
 
 * Many pastors.'] Princes or leadersj shepherds of the people. See Bp- 
 Newton's Dissert, v 1 1 1 . 3. 
 
175 
 
 active share ; and accordingly the composition owes much 
 of its colouring; (but nothing more) to the natural genius 
 and taste oi the writer. And hence it is that such a 
 variety of style is found in the works of the different 
 authors of the Old Testament, all equally inspired. In 
 Isaiah the transitions are remarkably sudden and bold*:'* 
 Jeremiah possesses less of the sublime, and is for the 
 most part lax and diffuse in his mode of writing f. 
 
 It is generally maintained, that the tivelve first chap- 
 ters of this prophet were composed in the reign of Josiah J : 
 and they afford, I think, a sufficient degree of internal 
 evidence to warrant the opinion, that they all constitute 
 jointly one continued prediction. Jeremiah's natural 
 style has led him to expand through twelve chapters, 
 what Isaiah would probably have condensed into one or 
 two : and he has perpetually departed from his main sub- 
 ject to bewail the sins of his people, or to introduce what 
 may be termed episodical prophecies \. Yet, true to his 
 original point, he repeatedly and as it were anxiously re- 
 curs to some tre?nendous invasion of Palestine from the 
 north. 
 
 The most compact part of the prediction, if I may so 
 speak, Is contained in the 3(/ and Ath chapters; and this, 
 I apprehend, will lead us to a right understanding of the 
 whole. Jeremiah foretells, in the 3d chapter, that, as the 
 house of Israel had been led away captive in consequence 
 of her spiritual fornication, so likewise should the house 
 of Judah; that God however would not retain his anger 
 for ever, but that the house of Israel upon her sincere re- 
 pentance should Certainly be restored ; that the Lord 
 would again marry her, and at the time of her restoration^ 
 would gather her lost children, one out of a city, and two 
 out of a family; that he would give her pastors according 
 to his own heart ; that, when her children should be mul- 
 tiplied and increased in the land, they should no longer, 
 
 * Bp. of St. Asaph's letter on the 18th chap, of Isaiah, p. 78. 
 
 f "Jeremias, quanquam nee eleg-antia nee sublimitate caret, tanjen utra- 
 qiie cedit Isaix — In sensibus qiiidem aliquanto minus est elatus, in sententiis 
 plerumque laxior et sohitior." Lowth de sacra poesi, Heb. Prsel. xxr. 
 
 t See Gray's Key, p. 378. 
 
 § Thus, in Chap. v. ver. 15 — 18.. tlx devolatien of y^dah by the jRo-mans i«- 
 predicted. 
 
176 
 
 iib ill old times, venerate the ark of the convenant, but 
 that the ceremonial law should be entirely abolished ; 
 that, at this same period, Jerusalem should be called the 
 throne of the Lord ; that all nations should be gathered 
 unto it, eVen unto the name of the Lord ; and that they 
 ::5hould walk no more after the imagination of their evil 
 heart : finally, that in those days tlie house of Jiidah should 
 walk with the house of Israel^ ; that they should no lon- 
 ger form two distinct and rival nations ; but that they 
 should coalesce together into one ; and should be brought 
 back out of the land of the north into the land of the in- 
 heritance of their fathers. 
 
 It appears to me sufficiently evident, that the \\'hole of 
 this is an unfulfilled prophecy. It nearly altogether treats 
 of the general restoration of Israel^ as contradistinguish- 
 ed from the partial restoration of Judah. The house of 
 Israel however has not yet returned : we have not yet 
 beheld her lost children gathered, by some divine inter- 
 position, individually, one out of a city, and two out of a 
 family : the days are not yet arrived, when she hath re- 
 ceived pastors according to the heart of the Lord : she 
 hath not yet so returned unto the land of her inheritance, 
 as there to have ceased to venerate the ark of the cove- 
 nant and the ceremonial law : the nations have not yet 
 been gathered unto Jerusalem ; neither have they as yet 
 ceased to walk after the imagination of their evil heart : 
 Judah and Israel have not yet coalesced into one people. 
 The only time, when this prophecy might be conceived 
 to have been accomplished, was at the period of the res- 
 toration from Babyloji^ when several individuals o^the ten 
 tribes returned with and were mingled with the tribe of 
 Judah: (but independent of such an interpretation being 
 little better than a mere quibble), if we consider the gene- 
 ral tenor of it, we shall be convinced that it is impossible 
 
 * " The reur.ion of hrad and yudah, and their joint participation of the bless- 
 :i:gs of the MessiaWs kingdovi, is elsewhere foretold (See Jerem. xxiii. 6. 
 XXX. 3— 9 Isaiah xi. 12, 13. Ezek. xxxvii. 21, -22. Hos. i. 11. Rom. xi. 
 26.). And that in the latter days they shall actually return from their sev^- 
 i-al dispersions, to dwell as a nation in their own land, is declared in such ex- 
 press terms by most of the ancient prophets, that there cannot be a doubt, I 
 think, of its being literally fulfilled in due time." Dr. Blavney on Jerem. 
 ■ iii. 18. 
 
177 
 
 to refer its completion to that era. During* the time which 
 elapsed between the restoration from Bo.hylon and the 
 first advent of our Lord, we cannot allow the Jews to have 
 been uniformly fed by faithful pastors ; neither had they 
 ceased to venerate the ceremonial law ; neither were all 
 nations gathered unto Jerusalem ; nor had they ceased to 
 walk after the imagination of their evil heart. Hence it is 
 plain, that the prophecy was not then accomplished; and, 
 if it were not then accomplished, we must look for its 
 completion to some yet future period. 
 
 With this restoration however of Israel and Judah^ 
 which has never yet taken place, the prophet immediate- 
 ly connects some tremendous invasion of Palestine from 
 the north. He mentions it in his first chapter, previous 
 to his entering more immediately upon his main subject : 
 he next, in his fourth chapter, unites it with his main 
 subject : and he afterwards seems never to lose sight of 
 it, for in the subsequent parts of his prediction he refers 
 to it no less than three different times. What then are 
 we to understand by this invasion from the north ? It 
 might be thought, from the circumstance of Jeremiah's 
 elsewhere joining the families of the north with Nebu- 
 chadnezzar king of Babylon *, that this northern invasion 
 meant that of the Babylonians: but the general tenor of 
 the prophecy will scarcely warrant such an opinion. Ne- 
 buchadnezzar might indeed pour into Palestine from his 
 northern provinces of Syria and Samaria, although his 
 empire itself lay almost directly east of Jerusalem : but 
 no invasion of his, from whatever quarter it might pro- 
 ceed, can have any relation to one, which Jeremiah im- 
 mediately connects with the yet future restoration of Is- 
 rael and Judah. The same remark applies with double 
 force to the expedition of Titus against Jerusalem. He 
 himself came, not from the north, but from the west: 
 and with him he brought only a small body of troops; 
 for the main army, of which he took the command, was 
 already quartered in Palestine and the neighbouring pro- 
 vinces f. 
 
 * Jerem. xxv. 9. f Tacit. Hist. L.v. C. , 
 
 23 
 
178 
 
 Do we find then any mention made, in other collateral 
 prophecies, of a furious attack about to be made upon Pa- 
 lestine from the region of the norths at the period of the 
 restoration of Jiidah ? If we do, we may reasonably con- 
 clude, that Jeremiah, treating as he does of tJie same pe- 
 riod, means likewise the same northern attack. 
 
 Joel, predicting the restoration of the Jeivs, declares, 
 that at the time when they are brought back to their own 
 land they shall be violently assailed by a confederacy of 
 many natiojis; but that God will remove far from them 
 the northern tyrant, and drive him into a land barren and 
 desolate, with his face toward the east-sea, and his hind- 
 er part to^vard the utmost sea ^. This northern tyrant, 
 described by Joel, can be no other than Daniel's wilful 
 king, the head of the Antichristian confederacy, who in- 
 vades Palestine at the same era of the restoration, and 
 \vho is destined to perish between the two seas \. Such 
 being the case, if the head of the confederacy or the wil- 
 ful king be i?ifidel F?'ance, as I have elsewhere attempted 
 to prove, he can only be styled a northern one with refer- 
 ence to Judea, on account of his invading that countr}^ by 
 land and from the north. Accordingly the infdel king, 
 the life and soul of the whole confederacy, is plainly re- 
 presented by Daniel, as conducting his expedition, not 
 by sea, but by land. 
 
 Since then we find a northern expedition against Pa- 
 lestine, at the period of the restoration of Judah, clearly 
 foretold both by Joel and Daniel Avith a variety of minute 
 circumstances ; and since this expedition cannot but be 
 that oi Antichrist and his associates: we must, I think, al- 
 most unavoidably conclude, that the northern invasion, so 
 often mentioned by Jeremiah as contemporary with the 
 restoration of Judafi^ is the expedition of Antichrist like- 
 wise. 
 
 The description, which Jeremiah gi\-es of this northern 
 irwasion, perfectly accords with such a supposition. As 
 Isaiah represents the Antichristian confederacy under the 
 images of a bird of prey and beasts of the earth winter- 
 ing and summering upon the mountains of Israel % ; so 
 
 * Joel ii. 20. f Dan. xi. 4*. xii. 1. ± Isaiah xviii. 6., 
 
179 
 
 Jeremiah here beholds in his vision Ant'tchrht or the in- 
 Jidel tyrant^ that great destroyer of the jiotions *, going 
 forth from his place to desolate Palestine, as a lion com- 
 eth up from his thicket: and, as both Isaiah and Joel de- 
 pict, under symbols borrowed from the universal wreck 
 of nature, the last dreadful struggles of Antichrist^ dur- 
 ing what Daniel terms in plain language a peiiod of un- 
 exampled trouble ; so Jeremiah exhibits to us the same 
 tremendous events, under the very same set of hiero- 
 glyphics i". 
 
 The sum of the whole prophecy seems to be this. 
 That, although God had scattered both Judah and Israel^ 
 he would nevertheless restore both Judah and Israel. 
 That, after their restoration, they should become one 
 people, worshipping God in spirit and in truth, not in the 
 ceremonial observances of the law. That the Lord would 
 surely pluck them out of the hand of those, who had so 
 long trodden their portion under foot; and, although he 
 might suffer their enemies, the northern confederacy^ to 
 prevail for a season, he would at length overthrow that 
 confederacy, and utterly break its strength for ever. That 
 nevertheless, if such as escaped in the day of God's con- 
 troversy with the nations would diligently learn the ways 
 of his people, they should then be built up in the midst 
 of his people |. And that finally, when the Lord had 
 poured out his wrathful indignation on Antichrist and his 
 rebellious associates., Jerusalem should be called the throne 
 of the Lord, and all nations should be gathered unto it §. 
 
 * St. John speaks of this same monster and his popi-sh associates, as be- 
 ing those who destroy the earth, but whom God was about to destroy in their 
 turn during the blast of the third luo-trumpct (Rev. xi. 18.). Precisely the 
 same language is used by Isaiah, in speaking of the typical king of Babylon; 
 by whom, as I have already attempted to shew, we must understand the 
 great Antichrist of the last ages. " He, who smote the people in wrath with 
 a continual stroke, he, that ruled the nations in anger---How art thou cut 
 down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations !— Is this the man, that 
 made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms ? that made the world 
 as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof?" Isaiah xiv. 6, 12, 16, 17. 
 
 t Compare Isaiah xxiv. 19—23. and Joel ii. 30, 31. with Jerem. iv. 23—26, 
 
 t Compare Isaiah Ixvi. 19. and Zechar, xiii. 8. 
 
 § Compare Isaiah ii. 3. 
 
180 
 
 PROPHECY XVII. 
 
 The idolatry of the Israelites in the land of their dispersion— Their 
 restoration by sea and by land — The punishment of Judah — The 
 general conversion of the Gentiles. 
 
 Jeremiah xvi. 13. I will cast you out of this land into 
 a land that ye know not, ye and your fathers ; and there 
 shall ye serve other gods day and night, where I will not 
 shew you favour. 
 
 14. Alter this, behold, The days come, saith the Lord, 
 that it shall no more be said. As the Lord liveth, that 
 brought up the children of Israel out of the land of 
 Egypt; 15. But, As the Lord liveth, that brought up 
 the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from 
 all the lands whither he had driven them : for I will bring 
 ihem again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. 
 
 16. Behold, I will send unto many fishers, saith the Lord, 
 and they shall fish them ; and after that will I send unto 
 many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every moun- 
 tain, and from every hill, and from the holes of the rocks. 
 
 17. For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not 
 hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine 
 eyes. 18. And first I will recompense their iniquity and 
 their sin double ; because they have defiled my land, they 
 have .filled mine inheritance with the cai'casses of their 
 detestable and abominable things. 
 
 19. O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my 
 refuge in the day of aifliction, the Gentiles shall come 
 unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Sure- 
 ly our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things 
 wherein there is no profit. 20. Shall a man make gods 
 imto himself? Even they are no gods. 21. Therefore 
 behold, I will at this time cause them to know, I will 
 cause them to know my hand and my might, and they 
 shall know that my name is Jehovah. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Jeremiah commences with predicting, that, after the 
 children of Israel had been cast out of their own land. 
 
181 
 
 they should serve, in a land which they knew not, other 
 gods day and night. This part of the prophecy has been 
 accomplished in the case of Judah by means of the dia- 
 bolical tyranny of Popery. The fear of the inquisition 
 has compelled many of the Jexvs to worship the gods of 
 modern Rome, and to bow to stocks and stones rather 
 than their effects should be seized and confiscated. Ac- 
 cording to Basnage, that iniquitous court reduces them 
 to the dilemma of being either hypocrites or burnt. 
 " The number of these dissemblers," says he, " is very 
 considerable; and it ought not to be concluded, that 
 there are no Jews in Spain or Portugal, because they are 
 not known. They are so much the more dangerous, for 
 not only being very numerous, but confounded with the 
 ecclesiastics, and entering into all ecclesiastical digni- 
 ties *." Nor is this the only tyranny to which the Jews 
 have been exposed: in order that their children may be 
 trained up to idolatry from their very youth, they have, 
 in several countries, in Spain and Portugal particularly, 
 been taken from them by order of government to be 
 educated in the popish religion f- The prophecy has 
 been equally accomplished in the case of the ten tribes. 
 Such of them as mingled with the nations fell into their 
 idolatrous practices ; and the Afghans^ if they be descend- 
 ants of the Israelites^ are at the present day Mohamme- 
 dans J. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding their dispersion and apostasy, 
 the time should come, when their deliverance out of 
 Egypt should be no more regarded, in comparison with 
 their still greater restoration from the land of the north 
 and from all the lands into which they had been scattered. 
 In due season, God should first send many fishers, to fish 
 them ; and afterwards many hunters, to hunt them out of 
 all their hiding places. Throughout the whole prophecy, 
 we are to observe, the restoration, not merely of Judah, 
 but of the whole people of Israel, is evidently spoken of. 
 In this part of it therefore we have a manifest allusion to 
 
 * Bp. Newton's Dissert, vu. 15. f Bp. Newton's Dissert, vu. 13. 
 
 + I have already noticed the manner, in which prophecies that foretell the 
 idolatry of the jfews during their dispersion, and prophecies that declare they 
 should not relapse into idolatry, have alike been accomplished, however appa:- 
 rently inconsistent with each other. Vide supra Note on Proph. vi. 
 
182 
 
 the two-fold return, first oiJudah, and afterwards oi Israel. 
 Since a considerable part of the first division, or Judah, 
 namely such of the Jews as shall be corwerted previous to 
 their return into their own country^ is to be restored by a 
 great maritime nation, Jeremiah aptly borrows an image 
 from muritime life, and styles the restoring p€0])\e Jishers ; 
 and, since the second division, or Israel, is to be restored 
 by continental powers, he similarly borrows an image from 
 land life, and styles the restoring nations hunters. Both 
 these images are exquisitely chosen in another point of 
 view likewise : as the exercise of fishing partakes little of 
 that laborious search and investigation which character- 
 ises the exercise of hunting, so Judah will be much more 
 easily collected together, than Israel. The one will rea- 
 dily be allured by the bait of the metaphorical fisher- 
 men; the other, lost in the widely extended regions of 
 Asia, must be hunted by the metaphorical hunters from 
 every mountain, and from every hill, and from all the 
 holes of the rocks. 
 
 Nevertheless, though all Israel shall be restored, the 
 Jews at least shall assuredly be restored through much 
 tribulation. God will visit upon them their former abo- 
 minations, and will first recompense their iniquity and 
 their sin double. But, when their restoration and that 
 of Israel is fully accomplished, then shall the Gentiles 
 come unto the Lord from the ends of the earth, and they 
 ^hall jointly form one fold under one shepherd *. 
 
 PROPHECY XVIII. 
 
 A denunciation against those who have tyrannized over Israel— 
 The restoration and conversion both of Israel and Judah, 
 
 Jeremiah xxiii. 1. Wo be unto the pastors, that de- 
 stroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord. 
 2. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the 
 pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, 
 and driven them away, and have not visited them : be- 
 
 * I much doubt whether this prophecy can have even a primary relation 
 TO the Feturn from the Babylonian captivity. 
 
183 
 
 hold, 1 will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith 
 the Lord. 3. And I will gather the remnant of my flock 
 out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will 
 bring them again to their folds ; and they shall be fruitful 
 and increase. 4. And I will set up shepherds over them 
 which shall feed them : and they shall fear no more, nor 
 be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the 
 Lord. 5. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I 
 will raise unto David a branch the Righteous One; and 
 a king shall reign, and prosper, and shall execute judg- 
 ment and justice in the earth. 6. In his days Judah 
 shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely : and this is 
 his name whereby he shall be called, Jehovah our Righ- 
 teousness. 7. Therefore behold, the days come, saith 
 the Lord, that they shall no more say. As the Lord liveth, 
 which brought up the children of Israel out of the land 
 of Egypt; 8. But, As the Lord liveth, which brought up 
 and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the 
 north-country, and from all countries whither I had dri- 
 \ en them ; and they shall dwell in their own land. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 This prophecy, like the preceding one, speaks of the 
 general restoration of all Israel. The pastors, who are 
 said to destroy and scatter the sheep of God's pasture in- 
 stead of feeding them, I take to be, not spiritual, but poli- 
 tical, pastors; shepherds of the people. They are the 
 same as those, whom Jeremiah had already described as 
 destroying the Lord's vineyard, and treading his portion 
 under foot * : that is to say, they are the different Gen- 
 tile sovereigns, who at sundry times have conquered Pa- 
 lestine, and afflicted the children of Israel f. All these, 
 notwithstanding their temporary success, are to be visit- 
 ed in their turn for the evil of their doings. The pre- 
 diction, so far as it relates to the oppressmg pastors, has 
 already been in part accomplished. " The Egyptians 
 
 * Jerem. xii. 10. 
 
 f When the whole tenor of prophecy is considered, I cannot but thinfcl 
 somewhat unnatural to suppose, with Dr. Blayney, that these pastors mean the 
 latter ivicied iings of David's race, particularly Zedekiah. 1 doubt likewise, 
 whether this prediction, any more thau the preceding one^ relates at iMio the 
 murnfrom Babylon. 
 
184. 
 
 much afflicted the nation of the Hebrews, and detained 
 them in bondage several years. The Assyrians carried 
 away captive the ten tribes of Israel; and the Babylo- 
 nians aftenvards, the two remaining tribes of Judah and 
 Benjamin. The Syro- Macedonians, especially Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, cruelly persecuted them : and the Romans ut- 
 terly dissolved the Jewish state, and dispersed the people 
 so that they have never been able to reco'STr their city 
 and country again. And where are now these great and 
 famous monarchies, which in their turns subdued and 
 oppressed the people of God? Are they not vanished as 
 a dream ; and not only their power, but their very names, 
 lost in the earth ? The Egyptians, Assyrians, and Ba- 
 bylonians, were overthrown, and entirely subjugated, by 
 the Persians: and the Persians (it is remarkable) were 
 the restorers of the Jews^ as well as the destroyers of their 
 enemies. The Syro- Macedonians were swallowed up 
 by the Romans : and the Roman empire, great and power- 
 ful as it was, was broken into pieces by the incursions of 
 the northern nations ; while the Jexvs are subsisting as a 
 distinct people at this day. And what a wonder of Pro- 
 vidence is it, that the vanquished should so many ages 
 survive the victors ; and the former be spread all over the 
 world, while the latter are no more *." The prediction 
 however will be yet more amply fulfilled at the era of the 
 final restoration of Israel., when the sovereigns of the Ro- 
 mish apostasy, who are now rapidly sinking into the state 
 of mere vassals to Antichrist., shall be overthrown, along 
 with their tyrannical chief and their false prophet., in the 
 land of Palestine, in the region between the two seas. 
 
 Their destruction will be the prelude to a new and 
 happy order of things. The Messiah, at his second ad- 
 vent (for his second advent is here manifestly spoken of), 
 will reign over his people Israel., either personally, or by 
 the instrumentality of other righteous shepherds. In his 
 days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely : 
 and their restoration from the diiferent countries of their 
 dispersion shall then be as much celebrated, as their de- 
 liverance out of the land of Egypt was in the days of yoref . 
 
 * Bp. Newton's Dissert, viii. 2. 
 
 I Compare with this prophecy Jerem. xjyciii^ 
 
185 
 
 PROPHECY XIX. 
 
 The general restoration of Isi'ael — The restoration of Judah in a 
 time of great trouble — The overthrow of Antichrist — The cer- 
 tainty of the restoration of Israel, and his happy state subsequent 
 to it. 
 
 Jeremiah xxx. 1. The word that came to Jeremiah 
 from the Lord, saying, 2. Thus speaketh the Lord God 
 of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words which I have 
 spoken unto thee in a book. 3. For lo, the days come^ 
 saith the Lord, that I will bring back the captivity of my 
 people Israel and Judah *, saith the Lord : and I will 
 cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fa- 
 thers, and they shall possess it. 4. And these are the 
 words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concern- 
 ing Judah. 5. For thus saith the Lord : We hear a 
 voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. 6. Ask ye 
 now, and see, whether a man doth travail with child? 
 wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins 
 as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into pale- 
 ness ? 7. Alas ! for that day is great, so that none is 
 like it : it is even the time of Jacob's trouble ; but he 
 shall be saved out of it. 8. For it shall come to pass in 
 that day, saith the Lord of hosts, I will break his yoke 
 from off his neck, and his bands f will I burst asunder; 
 and strangers shall no more exact service of him J : 
 
 * Israel and ^udah."] " Israel und ^udah, having' been carried away by 
 two distinct captivities into different parts of the world, several prophecies 
 of the Old Testament not only foretell the restoration of each of them, but 
 likewise their re-union after their restoration. Now, though it be granted 
 that some of every tribe did return to their own country under Cyrus and Ar- 
 taxerxes, and are therefore called by the name of all Israel (Ezra, ii. 73. vi. 
 17. vii. 13 X. 5. Nehem. xii.47.) ; yet the far greater part of these were oS 
 yudah and Benjamin, together with the Levites (Ezra. i. 5.). So that it is a 
 great question, what is become of the main body of the ten tribes, which Sal- 
 manasar carried away into Assyria and the neighbouring countries. From all 
 which we may infer, that this and the like prophecies of the Old Testament 
 refer to a further restoration of Me ^^ewcf that is yet to come." Mr. LowtU 
 in loc. 
 
 f His neck — his bands,"] See Dr. Blayney in loc 
 
 + Strangers shall no more exact service of him.'] " This promise has not yet 
 received its accomplishment; since, after tfie return of the l/ews under Cy- 
 sus, they were reduced into servitude by the Greeks and Romans ; and a^ 
 
 -24 
 
9. But they- shall serve tlie Lord their God, and -David 
 their king * whom I will raise up unto them. 10. There- 
 fore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord ; 
 neither be dismayed, O Israel : for lo, I will save thee 
 from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captirity t ; 
 and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, 
 and none shall make him afraid. IL For I am with thee, 
 saith the Lord, to save thee : though I make a full end 
 of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not 
 make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in exact 
 measure J, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished — 
 16. All they, that devour thee, shall be devoured; and 
 all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into cap- 
 tivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all 
 that prey upon thee will I give for a prey. 17. For 1 
 will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy 
 w^ounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee. An 
 outcast, this Zion, no man seeketli after her. 18. Thus 
 saith the Lord ; Behold, I ^vill bring again the captivity 
 of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; 
 and the city shall be builded upon its own ruinous heap, 
 and the temple shall stand after the measure thereof. 
 19. And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving, and the 
 voice of them that make merry : and I will multiply them, 
 and they shall not be a few; I will also glorify them, and 
 they shall not be small. 20. Their children also shall be 
 as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established 
 before me, and I will punish all that oppress them. 
 21. And their nobles shall be of tliemselves, and their 
 governor shall proceed from the midst of them : and I 
 will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto 
 me : for who is he that engaged his heart to approach 
 
 present there is no place in the world where they can be said to be their own 
 masters." Mr. Lowth in Inc. 
 
 * Barid t'leir iing.'] "That is, ^/;e Mcssiakf yrhn is often called by the 
 name of David in the prophets, as the person in whom all the promises made 
 to David were to be fiiHilled." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 f / luill save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land ff their captivity."] " I 
 will deliver thee from tliy captivity^ thoug-h thou shouldest be dispersed into 
 tlie most distant countries. And tliis, though it be not accomplished in the 
 yews of the present age, shall be made good to their posterity, who are be- 
 loved for their fathers* sake, as St. Paul speaks." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 i I viill not mate a full end of thee : but I will correct thee in exact measure.'j 
 Compare this with Isaiah xxvii. 7, 8, 9. in Prophecy vii. 
 
187 
 
 unto me? saith the Lord. 22. And ye shall be my peo 
 pie, and I will be your God. 
 
 23. Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with 
 fury, a violent whirlwind : it shall fall with pain upon the 
 head of the wicked. 24. The fierce anger of the Lord 
 shall not return until he have done it, aiid until he have 
 performed the intents of his heart : in the end of days * 
 ye shall clearly understand it. 
 
 xxxi. 1. In that time, saith the Lord, will I be the 
 God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my 
 people — 3. The Lord hath appeared from afar unto me. 
 Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; there- 
 fore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. 4. Again 
 I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Is- 
 rael f: thou shalt be adorned J with thy tabrets, and shalt 
 go forth in the dances of them that make merry. 5, Thou 
 shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria ^ ; 
 the planters shall plant, and shall sing praises — 7. For 
 thus saith the Lord ; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and 
 shout for the head of the nations % : publish ye, praise ye, 
 and say, O Lord, save thy people the remnant of Israel. 
 8. Behold, I will bring them from the north-country, and 
 gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them 
 the blind and the lame, the woman with child, and her 
 that travaileth with child together : a great company shall 
 return thither. 9. They shall come with weeping, and 
 
 * In the end of days.'] Compare this with Dan. xi. 40 — 45. xii. 1---10. 
 
 •f- Virgin of Israel'] " The virgin of Israel is of the same extent with all 
 the families of Israel {yev. 1.). For the blessings here promised sliall receive 
 their utmost completion, when Israel and yudah shall again be united into 
 one people." Mr. Lowth in loc. • 
 
 t Thou shalt be adorned"] Or, as the passage ought perhaps more propei*ly 
 to be translated, thou shalt pass over, that is, thou shalt trip along the path. Vide 
 4nfra Note on Proph. xxxi v. 
 
 § Sa^naria.] " ^'awuir/a, being the metropolis of t/ze ten tribes, seems to 
 be put for the kingdom of Israel, as it was distinct from that of yudah— Tnk'ing 
 Samaria in this sense, it implies, tiiat the deliverance here spoken of shall ex- 
 tend to Israel as well as yudah." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 II Tfie head of the nations.] Israel shull, after his restoration, become the 
 joy of the whole earth, the first of all nations; not in the carnal sense wliich 
 the yetiis expected at thefrst advent of our Lord, but in a sublime and spiritual 
 sense. " This term," says Dr. Bla3ney, "Hook upon to be synonymous with 
 yacob or Israel, who, beingthe peculiar people of God, was thereby exalted 
 to a pre-eminence above other nations. The privileges of primogeniture are 
 ■ asserted to belong to him ( Ver 9.), which is equivalent to calling him the 
 chief or head of the nations ,- the first-born being commonly entitled to the rank 
 of chief or head among many brethren." 
 
188 
 
 •with supplications will I lead them : I will cause them to 
 walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way wherein they 
 shall not stumble : for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim 
 is my first-born *. 10. Hear the word of the I^ord, O 
 ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say. 
 He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him 
 as a shepherd doth his flock. 11. For the Lord hath 
 redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of 
 him that was stronger than he — 15. Thus saith the 
 Lord, A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and 
 bitter weeping ; Rachel, weeping, for her children f, re- 
 fused to be comforted for her children, because they 
 were not. 16. Thus saith the Lord ; Refrain thy voice 
 from weeping, and thine eyes from tears ; for thy work 
 shall be rewarded, saith the Lord ; and they shall come 
 again from the land of the enemy. 17. And there is hope 
 in thy last end |, saith the Lord ; and thy children shall 
 come again to their own borders. 18. I have surely heard 
 Ephraim bemoaning himself thus : Thou hast chastised 
 me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the 
 yoke : turn thou me, and I shall be turned ; for thou art the 
 Lord my God. 19. Surely after that I was turned, I repent- 
 ed; and, after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: 
 I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear 
 the reproach of my youth. 20. Is Ephraim my dear son ? 
 is he a pleasant child ? for, since I spake against him, I do 
 earnestly remember him still : therefore my bowels are 
 troubled for him : I will surely have mercy upon him, 
 saith the Lord. 21. Set thee up way-marks, make thee 
 high-heaps : set thine heart toward the high-way, even 
 the Avay which thou wentest : turn again, O virgin of 
 Israel, turn again to these thy cities — 27. Behold, the 
 
 * Ephraim, is triy Jirst-born.'] "Ephraim is often equivalent to Israel, espe- 
 cially when Israel denotes the ten tribes as distinct from yudah— This implies, 
 that God will restore the nation of the ye%vs to their primitive state, as it stood 
 before their separation into two king'doms." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 f Rachel, loeeping for her children.'] This is applied by St. Matthew to the 
 murder of the innocents by Herod : biit he undoubtedly cites the prophecy 
 only in the way of application. The whole context clearly shews, that it pro- 
 perly relates to the figurative mourning- of the mother of the house ofyoseph, 
 on account of the dispersion of the ten tribes. See Dr. Blayney in loc. See 
 also Mr. Lowth. 
 
 ■^ There is hope in thy last end."] The allegorical last end of Rachel is the 
 re-e.stablishment of her children as a people. 
 
189 
 
 days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of 
 Israel and he house of Judah with the seed of man and 
 the seed of beast *. 28. And it shall come to pass, that, 
 like as I have watched over them to pluck up, and to break 
 down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict ; so 
 win I watch over them to build, and to plant, saith the Lord 
 — 31. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will 
 make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with 
 the house of Judah : 32. Not according to the covenant 
 that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them 
 by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt ; which 
 my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto 
 them, saith the Lord; 33. But this shall be the covenant 
 that I will make with the house of Israel ; After those days, 
 saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, 
 and write it in their hearts ; and I will be their God, and 
 they shall be my people. 34. And they shall teach no 
 more, every man his neighbour, and every man his bro- 
 ther, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, 
 from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the 
 Lord : for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remem- 
 ber tlieir sin no more. 35. Thus saith the Lord, which 
 giveth the sun for a light by day, the appointed courses 
 of the moon and the stars for a light by night, which 
 dividcth the sea when the waves thereof roar; the Lord 
 of hosts is his name. 36. If those appointed courses de- 
 part from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of 
 Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for 
 ever. 37. Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be 
 
 * Inuill S01U the house of Israel and the house ofyudah luith the seed of man 
 and the seed of beast.'] I will cause there to be a great increase both of men and 
 cattle. Suscttabo domuni Israel et domum yuda : multiplicabo eos hominibus, et 
 prosperabo eos pecoribus (Chal. Paraph.). Seminabo doinwin Israel et domuin 
 yuda semine honiitium et semi/ie jumentorwuz (Vulg. Lat). Seminabo Israelitis 
 et yudais semen hominuTn et semen jumentorum, (Vers. Syriac). Seminabo 
 Israelem, et ^udam semine humano et sem,ine jum.enti (Vers. Arab.). The 
 passage nearly resembles a parallel prophecy of Ezeklel. *' But ye, O 
 mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit 
 to my people of Israel : for they are at hand to come. For behold, I .im 
 for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown. And I will 
 multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel even all of it : and the cities 
 shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded. And I will multiply upon 
 you man and beast ; and they shall increase and bring fruit : and 1 will settle 
 you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your begin- 
 nings : and ye shall know that I am the Lord." Ezek. xxxvi. 8—11. 
 
190 
 
 measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out 
 beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all 
 that they have done, saith the Lord. 38. Behold the 
 days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to 
 the Lord, from the tower of Hmianeel unto the gate of 
 the corner. 39. And the measuring line shall yet go forth 
 overagainst it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about 
 to Goath. 40. And the whole valley of the dead bodies, 
 and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Ki- 
 dron, unto the corner of the horsegate toward the east, 
 shall be holy unto the Lord : it shall not be plucked up, 
 nor thrown down any more for ever. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Dr. Blayney makes the following judicious remarks on 
 the prediction contained in these two chapters. 
 
 " There are many prophecies in various parts of the 
 Old Testament, which announce the future restoration of 
 Israel to their owji land^ and the complete re-establishment 
 of both their civil and religious constitution in the latter 
 days. These two chapters contain a prophecy of this 
 kind, which must necessarily be refen-ed to those times, 
 because it points out circumstances, which certainly were 
 not fulfilled at the return of the Jews from the Babylo- 
 nish capti^'ity, nor have hitherto had their completion. 
 For the people, that returned from Babylon, were the 
 people of Judah^ who had been carried away captive by 
 Nebuchadnezzar; but here it is foretold, that not the cap- 
 tivity ofJudah only should be restored, but the captivity 
 of Israel also, meaning those ten tribes^ that were carried 
 away before by Shalmanaser king of Assyria, and who 
 still remain in their several dispersions, having never re- 
 turned, in a national capacity at least, to their own land, 
 whatever some few individuals have done. But the terms 
 of the prophecy entitle us to expect, not an obscure and 
 partial, but a complete and universal, restoration; when 
 God will manifest himself, as formerly, the God and pa- 
 tron of all the families of Israel^ and not of a few only. 
 Again, it is promised, that after this restoration they 
 should no more fall under the dommion of foreigners, 
 
1^1 
 
 but be governed by princes and magistrates of their own 
 nation, independent of any but God and David their king. 
 But this^ was not the. case with the Jews that returned from 
 Babylon. They then indeed had a leader, Zerubbabel, 
 one of their own nation, and also of the family of David. 
 But both theh' nation and the leader continued still in a 
 state of vassalage and the most servile dependence upoa 
 the Persian monarchy. And, when the Grecian monar- 
 chy succeeded, they changed their masters only, not their 
 condition : till at length, under the Asmonean princes, 
 they had for a while an independent government of their 
 own, but without any title to the name of David, At last 
 they fell imder the Roman yoke ; since which time their 
 situation has been such, as not to afford the least ground 
 to pretend, that the promised restoration has yet taken- 
 place. It remains therefore to be brought about in future 
 under the reign of the Messiah, emphatically distinguish- 
 ed by the name of David; when every particular circum- 
 stance, predicted concerning it, will, no doubt, be veri- 
 fied by a distinct and unequivocal accomplishment." 
 
 On these grounds, we may safely, I think, venture to 
 pronounce, that the joint restoration of Judah and Israel 
 in the last ages is again foretold in the present prediction 
 of Jeremiah, as it already has been in the foregoing ones. 
 The prophet begins with declaring, that, although they 
 should certainly return into their own country, they 
 should return, at least Judah should return in a day of 
 unexampled trouble. Terrible however as that day will 
 be, Jacob shall surely be saved out of it : the yoke of his 
 oppressors shall be broken from off his neck : his children 
 shall no longer serve strangers in the land of their disper- 
 sion : but they shall serve the Lord their God, and the 
 antitypical David their king the Messiah. Of the nations, 
 among which they have been scattered, God w^ill make a 
 full end : but of them he will not make a full end ; for, 
 although he will not leave them altogether unpunished^ 
 he will correct them only in exact measure. While they 
 are chastised with a fatherly chastisement, the whirlwind 
 of the Lord will go forth with fury, and fall upon the head 
 of the wicked. Antichrist and his rebeUious associates* 
 The prophet adds, that, at the end of days, ox after the 
 
192 
 
 termination of the 1260 years, this prediction shall be 
 fully understood : till then it shall not, for till then it will 
 not be accomplished. As the time however of its com- 
 pletion approaches, we shall gradually obtain a clearer 
 insight into it. Already have many begun to run to and 
 fro; and knowledge is daily increasing, as the signs of the 
 times multiply. In our own generation we have seen the 
 rise of Antichrist. His ultimate fate is likewise predict- 
 ed; and his destruction is declared to be contemporary 
 with the restoration of the Jews at the close of the 1260 
 years. But over more minute circumstances the impe- 
 netrable veil of awful futurity still continues to spread 
 itself. The anger of the Lord will not return, until he 
 have performed all the purposes of his heart : when they 
 are all performed, we shall then in the end of days fully 
 vniderstand both this and other similar prophecies. 
 
 In the remainder of the prediction, Jeremiah seems 
 peculiarly to direct our attention to the restoration of the 
 house of Israel, which w^ill not take place till after the 
 overthrow of Antichrist and the previous restoration of 
 the house ofJudah, Lost as the ten tribes at present are, 
 though the figurative Rachel has long bewailed her scat- 
 tered children, which in a remarkable manner are not, 
 the virgin of Israel shall again go forth to the dance, the 
 mountains of Samaria shall again be planted, and Ephraim 
 shall not for ever be an alien from his God and Father. 
 As the Lord hath hitherto watched over Judah and Isra- 
 el only to destroy and afflict them ; so will he then watch 
 over them, to build and to plant. He will make a new 
 and spiritual covenant with them. They shall no more 
 be boinid by laborious ceremonial observances. But they 
 shall all know the Lord from the least to the greatest of 
 them. Meanwhile Palestine shall exult in more than its 
 ancient fertility; its population shall experience a won- 
 derful increase ; and every kind of useful animals shall be 
 multiplied throughout its provinces. Thus will God bless 
 the latter end of his chosen people, more than their 
 beginning. 
 
193 
 
 PROPHECY XX. 
 
 The desolation of the mystic Edom. 
 
 Lamentations iv. 21. Rejoice, and be glad*, O daugh- 
 ter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz, the cup 
 also shall pass through unto thee : thou shalt be drunken, 
 and shalt make thyself naked. 22. The punishment of 
 thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he 
 will no more carry thee away into captivity : he will visit 
 thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom ; he will discover 
 thy sins. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 I have already noticed this prophec)''. The Edom, here 
 spoken of, must undoubtedly be a typical Edom ; because 
 his destruction is connected with the very last restoration 
 of Israel, after which the ancient people of God shall no 
 more be carried away into captivity. The typical Edom 
 then must be the great Roman Antichristian confederacy 
 of the last ages. Jeremiah describes 'Me daughter of 
 Edom much m. the same manner, though more briefly, 
 than St. John describes the mystic Babylonian harlot, f. 
 
 PROPHECY XXI. 
 
 The restoration and conversion of the Jews. 
 
 Ezekiel xi. 13. Then fell I down upon my face, and 
 eried with a loud voice and said, Ah Lord God, wilt thou 
 make a full end of the remnant of Israel ? 14. And the 
 word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 15. Son of man, 
 thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, even all the house 
 
 • Rejoice, and be glad."] The words seem to be spoken ironically. Al- 
 though thou hast long lived deliciously, and committed fornification with the 
 kings of the earth, a heavy judgment impends over thine head : thy naked- 
 ness shall shortly be revealed, and thy sins discovered. The style of the pai- 
 sage is exactly similar to Eccles. xi. 9. See Dr. Dlayney in loc. 
 
 f Compare Rev. xvii. 
 
 25 
 
Id4 
 
 of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem have said, Get ye far from the Lord* : unto us 
 is this land given in possession. 16. Therefore say, Thus 
 saith the Lord God ; Although I have cast them far off 
 among the nations, and although I have scattered them 
 from among the countries, yet will I be to them as a lit- 
 tle sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. 
 17. Therefore say. Thus saith the Lord God; I will even 
 gather you from the people f, and assemble you out of 
 the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will 
 give you the land of Israel. 18. And they shall come 
 thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things 
 thereof, and all the abominations thereof from thence. 
 19. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new 
 spirit w ithin you J ; and I will take the stony heart out of 
 their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh : 20. That 
 they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, 
 and do them : and they shall be my people, and I will be 
 their God. 21. But, as for them whose heart walketh af- 
 ter the heart of their detestable things and their abomi- 
 nations, I will recompense their way upon their own 
 heads, saith the Lord God. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 When part of the Jews were carried away captive 
 with Jechoniah, those, that remained still in their own 
 country with Zedekiah, thought themselves better belov- 
 ed of God than their brethren of the dispersion, whom 
 they looked upon as outcasts, and as having no right either 
 to the privileges of Jeivs or to the land of Judea. This 
 vain confidence is reproved, and a restoration is promis- 
 ed. The prediction relates primarily to the return from 
 
 * Unto whom the inhabitaiits of yeriisalem, have said. Get ye far froin the 
 Lord.'] " The yews, wlio were left in their own country, thought themselves 
 more in God's favour, than those who were carried away captive." Mr. 
 Lowth in loc. See also his note on Jer. xxiv. 5. 
 
 f I will even gather you fro')n the people.'] " This may be in some degree 
 fulfilled in those tliat returned from captivity, b>it the utmost completion of 
 this and the following verses must be expected at the general restoration of 
 the Jewish nation." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 + / will put a new spirit within you ] " These promises chiefly relate to the 
 general conversion of the yen.i:s, when God shall pour out upon them the spirit 
 of grace, in order to their conversion. Zech. xii. 10." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
195 
 
 Babylon ; but the whole tenor of the latter part of it 
 shews plainly, that it will not receive its full and ultimate 
 accomplishment till the days of the final and general res- 
 (oration of the Jews. Then, and not till then, can it with 
 propriety be said, that God hath given them a new spirit, 
 and a heart of flesh ; that they are faithfully walking in 
 his statutes, and keeping his ordinances. 
 
 PROPHECY XXII. 
 
 The restoration and conversion of Judah and Israel — The con- 
 version of the Gentiles — Jerusalem the head of all churches, 
 though not by the Mosaical covenant. 
 
 Ezekiel xvi. 46. Thine elder sister is Samaria, she 
 and her daughters, that dwell at thy left hand : and thy 
 younger sister that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom 
 and her daughters — 53. When I shall bring again their 
 captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters*, 
 and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will 
 I bring again the cajitivity of thy captives in the midst of 
 them — 55. When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, 
 shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her 
 daughters \ shall return to their former estate, then thou 
 and thy daughters shall return to your former estate — 59. 
 For thus saith the Lord God ; I will even deal with thee as 
 thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking 
 the covenant. 60. Nevertheless, I will remember my 
 covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will 
 establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. 61. Then 
 thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when 
 
 * Sodom and her daughters.'} " When the fulness of the Gentiles shall come 
 into the Church, some of whom may be compared with Sodom for wicked- . 
 ness (see Isaiah i. 9.), then will I also remember you, who were my ancient 
 people— 77je conversion of the Gentiles is expressed in Jeremiah by the return- 
 ing of the captivity of Moab, Ani7non, and JS lain ; ,and by the Egyptians, Assy- 
 rians, Ethiopians, and Syrians, bringing presents to God, and acinoviledgitig theTn- 
 i-ehes his servants, in the prophecy of Isaiali. And by the same analogy we 
 are to understand the returning of the captivity of Sodom here, of the Gentiles 
 coining into the Church." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 f Samaria and her daughters."] "When the prophets foretell the general 
 conversion and restoration of the ycwish nation, they always join jfudah and 
 Israel together, as equal sharers in that blessing." Mr. Lowth in loc ■ 
 
196 
 
 thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy young- 
 er : and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not 
 by thy covenant ^. 62. And I will establish my cove- 
 nant with thee ; and thou shalt know, that I am the Lord : 
 63. That thou mayest remember and be confounded, and 
 rnever open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, 
 when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast 
 done, saith the Lord God. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Under the name of Sodom and her daughters^ the whole 
 body of the Gentiles is mystically designated. Their 
 conversion to the faith of Christ is here foretold; and this 
 conversion, agreeably to various other prophecies, is im- 
 mediately cormected with the conversion and restoration 
 boih oi Israel An^ Judah. Notwithstanding the many hein- 
 ous offences of God's ancient people, he will still not forget 
 his covenant with them; and, when at length in the latter 
 ages they shall remember their ways and be ashamed, he 
 will give ifo the church of Jerusalem her two sisters, the 
 church of the Israelites and the church of the Gentiles^ 
 for daughters, not indeed by the Mosaical covenant, but 
 by a new and better covenant, that of the Gospel. Then 
 shall mount Zion be the glory of the whole earth, and 
 the spiritual metropolis of the kingdom of the Lamb. All 
 nations shall flow unto it, and it shall be exalted above 
 the hills. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the 
 word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 
 
 PROPHECY XXIII. 
 
 The restoration of Israel — The long sufferings of the Jews in the 
 course of their return. 
 
 Ezekiel xx. 33. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely 
 with a mighty hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and 
 
 * Not by thy covenant.'] " Not by virtue of that covenant mentioned ver. 60, 
 you having forfeited all your title to its privileges (ver. 89.), but by virtue of 
 that new covenant which I will make with you through the Messiah." Mi- 
 i.owthinloc. 
 
197 
 
 with fury-poured out will I rule over you. 34. And 1 
 will bring you forth from the peoples*, and I will gather 
 you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a 
 mighty hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and with furj-^ 
 poured out. 35. And I will bring you into the wilder- 
 ness of the peoples ; and there will I plead with you face 
 to face. 36. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the 
 wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, 
 saith the Lord God. 37. And I will cause you to pass 
 vinder the rod ; and I will bring you under the chastise- 
 ment of "the covenant: 38. And I will purge out from 
 among you the rebels f, and them that transgress against 
 me : I will bring them forth out of the country where 
 they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of 
 Israel: and ye shall know, that I am the Lord. 39. As 
 for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; Go 
 ye, serve ye every one his idols : yet hereafter ye shall 
 surely hearken unto me, and ye shall not pollute my holy 
 name any more with your gifts and with your idols. 
 40. For in my holy mountain, in the lofty mountain of 
 Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of 
 Israel serve me, even all of them in the land: there will 
 I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, 
 and the first fruits of your oblations, with all your holy 
 things. 41. I will accept you with your sweet savour, 
 when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you 
 out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered ; and 
 I will be sanctified because of you in the sight of all the 
 nations. 42. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, 
 when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the 
 country concerning which I lifted up my hand that I 
 would give it to your fathers. 43. And there shall ye 
 remember your ways and all your doings wherein ye have 
 been defiled ; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own 
 sight for all your evils that ye have committed. 44. And 
 ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you 
 
 * I 'Mill bring you forth from the peoples.'] " 1 conceive this is to be under- 
 stood of the general restoration of the Jewish nation from the several parts of 
 the world where they are dispersed." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 •j- 1 lu ill purge out from among you the rebels."] " I will separate the righteous 
 from the wicked in order to destroy the latter, as I did the rebellious Israel-- 
 ites in the wilderness." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
198 
 
 for my name's sake ; not according to your evil ways, 
 nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of 
 Israel, saith Uie Lord God. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 i 
 
 This prophecy is plainly confined to the last ages, by 
 its relating, as Ezekiel expressly teaches, to the restora- 
 tion of the house of Israel^ of o//the house of Israel: for 
 only some scattered individuals of the ten tribes returned 
 with Jiidah from Babylon. It declares, that, although 
 God will assuredly restore his people, yet he will not fail 
 to visit upon them their iniquities. He will plead with 
 them in the wilderness, as he pleaded with their fathers 
 during the exodus from Egypt ; and will purge out from 
 among them the rebels and the transgressors. 
 
 From such denunciations we must necessarily infer, 
 that the complete restoration of the whole house of Israel 
 will be long m accomplishing, and that some of its mem- 
 bers will suffer severely in the course of their return. 
 Accordingly Daniel teaches us, that the Jews will begin 
 to be restored at the close of the 1260 years, and during 
 a period of unexampled trouble: and, by computhig that 
 a space of 15 years will intervene between the close of the 
 1260 years and the commencement of the Millennium^ and 
 by dividing these 75 yeai's into 30 years and 45 years, he 
 seems to give some warrant to the conjecture that the 
 30 years will be occupied in the restoration ofJudah, and 
 the 45 year's in the restoration of Israel. If this be the 
 case, we may conclude, agreeably to the history of the 
 exodus from Egypt which is here set forth as a type of 
 the yet future return of the house of Jacob from the coun- 
 tries of their dispersion, that but few only of the gene- 
 ration, that set out to return to their own land, will ever 
 enjoy the possession of it in peace. 
 
 There is reason to think from other prophecies, that 
 the calamities, here predicted, will chiefly, if indeed not 
 altogether, befall Juclah : for Israel as a nation will not be 
 restored till after the destruction of Ajitichi'ist, and will 
 be brought back with great tenderness and respect by the 
 different peoples among which he has been scattered; 
 
199 
 
 whereas Judah will be restored in the very midst of the 
 wars of Antichrist, aiid will suffer most severely in the 
 struggle between the contending powers. 
 
 Nevertheless, the -whole house of Jacob shall ultimately 
 be brought back, and converted to the faith of Christ ; 
 and these signal events will be instrumental in causing 
 the Lord to be sanctified in the sight of all the nations, 
 and in spreading the knowledge of the Gospel to the very 
 ends of the earth. 
 
 Abp. Newcome seems inclined to apply this prediction 
 to the return from Babylon and the subsequent events ; 
 but he is obliged, in so doing, to resort almost entirely 
 to conjecture ; and, after all, is by no means consistent 
 even with himself. He supposes the desert, where God 
 is to plead with his people, to be one between Judea and 
 Babylon. And yet he thinks, that, by the rebels and 
 transgressors, those are intended, " who, after the mur- 
 der of Gedaliah, went into Egypt, called here the land of 
 their sojourning. Some of these were to be carried into 
 Chaldea with the captive Egyptians* ; though the greater 
 part were to be consumed f* Some of the obstinately re- 
 bellious Jews might also sojourn in other neighbouring 
 countries subdued by Nebuchadnezzar, as Edom, Moab, 
 Amnion, and Tyre; and might thence be taken into cap- 
 tivity." The prophet however is surely speaking of those, 
 who should perish in the course of their bemg brought 
 back out of the various countries of their dispersion into 
 their own land; not of certain Jews, who were destroyed 
 in Egypt, while others were led away captive into Chaldea. 
 They are plainly to perish while returning from captivity, 
 not while going into captivity. Nor is this all. His Grace 
 very justly interprets the ^\st verse to mean, that the na- 
 tions shall consider the Lord as a great and holy God, 
 when they observe his deliverance of the Jews, and their 
 obedience to him. But when did any such general vene- 
 ration of God take place, in consequence of the return of 
 Judah from Babylon ? This part of the prediction can 
 only be referred to the universal conversion of4he nations 
 after the final restoration of Israel, and during the period 
 
 * Jerwn. xliU. 11. t Jereia. xHv. 12, 
 
200 
 
 of the Millennium. And, if it be thus refen-ed, then the 
 whole prediction must be similarly referred ; as indeed is 
 sufficiently evident from its treating of the restoration of 
 all the house of Jacob out of the various peoples and 
 nations, among which they had been scattered *. 
 
 PROPHECY XXIV. 
 
 The overthrow of the mystic Tyre and her prince preparatory t« 
 the complete restoration and prosperity of Israel. 
 
 Ezekiel xxvi. 7. Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, 
 I will bring upon Tyre, Nebuchadnezzar king of Baby- 
 lon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and 
 with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and 
 much people — 15. Thus saith the Lord God to Tyre ; 
 Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when 
 the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst 
 of thee ? — 21. I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt 
 be no more : though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou 
 never be found again, saith the Lord God. 
 
 xxvii. 1. And the word of the Lord came unto me, 
 saying; 2. And thou, son of man, take up a lamentation 
 for Tyre: 3. And say unto Tyre; O thou that art situate 
 at the entry of the sea, a merchant of the nations to many 
 isles ; Thus saith the Lord God ; O Tyre, thou hast 
 said, I am perfect in beauty. 4. Thy borders are in the 
 midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beau- 
 ty. 5. They have made all thy planks of fir-trees of 
 Senir : they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make 
 masts for thee. 6. Of the oaks of Bashan they have 
 made thine oars : the company of the Ashurites have 
 made thy benches of \yor\ from the isles of Chittim. 
 
 7. Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that 
 which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail : blue and pur- 
 ple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee. 
 
 8. The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mari- 
 ners : thy wise men, O Tyre, that were in thee, were 
 
 * See Abp. Nevrcome's Ezekiel in loc 
 
201 
 
 thy pilots — 10. They of Persia, and of Liid, and of Phut, 
 were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the 
 shield and helmet in thee ; they set forth thy comeliness — 
 12. Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multi- 
 tude of all kind of riches ; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, 
 they traded in thy fairs. 13. Ja^'an, Tubal, and Meshech, 
 they were thy merchants : in the souls of men and ves- 
 sels of brass they traded in thy market. 14. They of the 
 house of Togarmali traded in thy fairs with horses, and 
 horsemen, and mules. 15. The men of Dedan were thy 
 merchants : many isles were the merchandise of thine 
 hand : they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and 
 ebony. 16. Syria was thy merchant by reason of the 
 multitude of the wares of thy making : they occupied in 
 thy fairs with emeralds, purple and broidered work, and 
 fine linen, and coral, and agate — 19. Dan also and Javan, 
 going t<p and fro, occupied in thy fairs : bright iron, cas- 
 sia, and calamus, were in thy market. 20. Dedan was- 
 thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots. 21. Ara- 
 bia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee 
 in lambs, and rams, and goats — 22. The merchants of 
 Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants : they oc- 
 cupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all 
 precious stones, and gold. 23. Haran, and Canneh, and 
 Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Ashur and Chilmad, 
 were thy merchants. 24. These were thy merchants in all 
 sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and 
 in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of 
 cedar among thy merchandise. 25. The ships of Tarshr 
 ish were the songs of thy market, and thou wast reple^ 
 nished and made very glorious in the midst of the seas. 
 
 26. Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters : 
 the east- wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas. 
 27. Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy ma- 
 riners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, .and the occupiers of 
 thy merchandise, and all thy men of war that are in thee, 
 and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall 
 fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin *. 
 
 * Thy inariners — thy men of war — shall fall into the midst of the seas in the 
 day of thy ruinJ^ The "xhole Antichristian confederacy of the beast, the infidel 
 king, and the "vassal sovereigns of the Latin earth, shall be destroyerl along' with 
 the false prophet in one and the same season of unesampied trouble, ^ 
 
 26 
 
202 
 
 28. Thy suburbs shall shake * at the sound of the eiy 
 of thy pilots. 29. And all, that handle the oar, the ma- 
 riners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from 
 their ships, they shall stand upon the land; 30. And 
 shall lilt up their voice over thee, and shall cry bitterly, 
 and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow 
 themselves in the ashes. 31. And they shall make them- 
 selves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, 
 and they skill w^eep for thee with bitterness of heart, and 
 bitter ^vailing. 32. And in their wailing they shall take 
 up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, What 
 city is like Tyre, like the destroyed in the midst of the 
 sea? 53. When thy wares went forth out of the seas, 
 thou filledst many people ; thou didst enrich the kings 
 of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and thy nner- 
 chandise. 34. In the time when thou shalt be broken by 
 the seas in the depths of the waters, thy merchandise and 
 all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall. 35. i\ll 
 the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, 
 and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be trou- 
 bled in their countenance. 36. The merchimts among the 
 people shall hiss at thee : thou shalt be a terror, and ne- 
 ver shalt be any more. 
 
 xxviii. 1. And the Word of the Lord came unto me, 
 saying : 2. Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, 
 Thus saith the Lord God ; Because thine heart is lifted 
 up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of 
 God t in the midst of the seas ; yet thou art a man, and 
 not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God : 
 3. Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel ; there is no se- 
 cret that they can hide from thee. 4. With thy wisdom 
 and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee rich- 
 es, and hast^ gotten silver and gold into thy treasures : 
 5. By thy great \\isdom and by thy traffic thou hast in- 
 
 • T'ly suburbs shall shake.'] The fall oi Babylon shall be felt in^the most re- 
 mote parts of her spiritual emjnre. 
 
 f I sit in the seat of God'] The man of sin, who is described in a manner 
 precisely similar, Is, " in profession," as Hp. Newton observes, " a Christian, 
 and a Christian Bishop. His sitting in the temple of God plainly implies his 
 having his seat or cathedra in the Christian church : and he sitteth there as 
 God, especially at his inauguration, when he sitteth upon the high altar in St. 
 Peter's clmrch, and maketh the table of the Lord his footstoolj and in that 
 position receivetli adoration. Bp. Newton's Dissert, xxit." 
 
203 
 
 creased thy riches, and thme heart is lifted up because of 
 thy riches : 6. Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; be- 
 cause thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God ; 7. Be- 
 hold therefore, I will bring the strangers upon thee, the 
 terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords 
 against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile 
 thy brightness : 8. They shall bring thee down to the 
 pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in 
 the midst of the seas. 9. Wilt thou yet say before him 
 that slayeth thee, I am God : but thou shalt be a man, and 
 no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. 10. Thou 
 shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised, by the hand of 
 the strangers : for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. 
 11. And tlie word of the Lord came unto me, saying; 
 12. Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of 
 Tyre, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God: 
 Thou art like a signet of curious engraving * ; tlwu art 
 full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13. Thou hast 
 been in Eden tlie garden of God : every precious stone 
 is thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the 
 beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the eme- 
 rald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of 
 thy tabrets and thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day 
 that thou wast created. 14. Thou art the anointed che- 
 rub that spreadeth a veil ; and I have permitted thee : 
 thou wast in the holy mountain of God ; in the midst of 
 the stones of fire t diou walkedst up and down. 15. Thou 
 
 * Xhou art like a signet of curious engraving.'] " See Jerem. xxii. 24. Hag. 
 ii. 23. Houbigant observes, th.it all the ancients read n''jan similitudifiis : hoc 
 est effigiem, habens in sculptura sua. This is also the reading of eight M.S.S. 
 and of three originally. Dathius renders, Tu e$ annulus bene jfiguratus." 
 Abp. Newcome in loc. 
 
 'Zv a.7ros-^pciyiT/if,u, of<.'3'UTs6)i. (lxx.) Tu sigillwin es exemplaris. (Vers; 
 Syriac:) Tu signaculuni siinilitudinis. (Vers: Arab : et V<ilg :) Tu siviilis es 
 •casi figurato, quod scite cotnpositwm est et absolutum in pulchritudine sua C h aid. 
 Paraph . 
 
 t The stofies of fire. '\ An allusion to the Uriin and Thummim The Pope 
 pretends to the same oracular infallibility of decision in the Christian church, 
 that the Jewish high-priest by his supernatural intercourse with God really 
 possessed in the Levitical church. Josephus maintains, that the Urion and 
 Thummim were the precious stones of the high-priest's breast plate, which 
 discovered the will of God by their extraordinary lustre, thereby predicting 
 the success of events to those who consulted them : for, when th' se stones 
 gave no extraordinary lustre, it was concluded that God did not approve of 
 the matter in question. He adds, that it was 200 years, at the time of his 
 writing, since these stones had left off" shewing this lustre. (Ant. I^ iii. C. 8.) 
 
204 
 
 wast perfect* in thy ways from the day that thou wast 
 created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16. By the mul- 
 titude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of 
 thee with violence, and thou hast sinned : therefore I will 
 cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God, and I 
 will destroy thee, O cherub that spreadest a veil, from 
 the midst of the stones of fire. 17. Thine heart was lift- 
 ed up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy 
 wisdom by reason of thy brightness : I will cast thee to 
 the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may be- 
 hold thee. 18. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the 
 multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traf- 
 fic: therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of 
 thee, it shall devour thee ; and I will bring thee to ashes 
 upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 
 19. All they that know thee among the people shall be 
 astonished at thee : thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt 
 thou be any more. 
 
 20. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying; 
 21. Son of man, set thy face against Zidonf, and prophe- 
 
 It Is possible however, that tliis passai^e may relate, not only to the oracu- 
 lar infallabiUty of the Pope, but likewise to his un'fversal episcopacy. An ex- 
 pression, soinewliat similar to that of voalking up and dovin in the viidst of the 
 stones of fire, occurs in tlie Apocalypse. " Tliese thing's saith he, that holdeth 
 the seven stars in liis rig'ht hand, who waiketh in the midst of the seven 
 golden candlesticks." (Rev. ii. 1.) That is to say, according' to the expla- 
 nation of Archdeacon Wondhouse, " Tlie supreme head of the Christian 
 church is )iow in the act of visiting and superintending. To the church of 
 Ephesus, with which he begins, he represents himself in that character an 
 office, as walking amidst his churches, and directing and supporting thed 
 teachers." (Apoc. translated, p. 44.) I'erhaps therefore the circumstan.ee ip 
 the mystical Tyrian princess ivalking up anddaivn in the ')nidst of tlie stones of fire 
 may denote the universal episcopacv of the pretended -vicar of Christ, who claims 
 the right of superintending- or ivuliing amidst a.\\ the churches. In this case, 
 the passage woidd be exactly pn'ullel to that, wherein Daniel represents the 
 little papal horn as having eyes like the eyes of a man. " By its eyes," says 
 Sir Isaac Newton, "it was a seer ; and, by its mouth speaking great things 
 and changing times and laws, il was a prophet — A seer, eTric-x^Troi^ is a bishop 
 Ui the literal sense of the word ; and this church claims the universal bishop- 
 ric." Observ. on Dan. C. 7. 
 
 * Thou wast perfect."] Thou wast Tlnnnonim,: a sort of play upon the word 
 Thuniviim, in its sense of perfection, not unusual among the sacred writers. 
 
 ■\ Set thy face against Zidon.] If Zidon mean something different from 
 . Tyre, which perhaps is not very probable, we may suppose it to typify the 
 >.f>naller spiritually trading states in close connection with Home ,- such as the 
 German ecclesiastical electorates, episcopal principalities, and monastic baronies. 
 1 think however, that this distinction is a needless refinement. Tyre was the 
 daughter of Zidon, and they are always represented as most closely connect- 
 ed together. 
 
205 
 
 sy against her. 22. And say, Thus saith the Lord God ; 
 Behold, I am against thee, OZidon; and I will be glorifi- 
 ed in the midst of thee : and they shall know, that I am 
 the Lord, when I shall have executed judgments in her, 
 and shall be sanctified in her. 23. For I will send pesti- 
 lence into her, and blood into her streets ; and the w^ound- 
 ed shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon 
 her on ever}^ side ; and they shall know, that I am the 
 Lord. 24. And unto the house of Israel there shall be 
 no more a thorn which causeth to rankle, nor a sharp 
 thorn that causeth to ulcerate, of all that are round about 
 them that despised them ; and they shall know, that I am 
 the Lord God. 
 
 25. Thus saith the Lord God ; When I shall have 
 gathered the house of Israel from the people among wdiom 
 they have been scattered, and shall be sanctified in them 
 in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dw^U in the 
 land which I have given unto my servant, unto Jacob. 
 26. And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build 
 houses, and plant vineyards; yea they shall dwell with 
 confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all 
 those that despise them round about them ; and they shall 
 know that I am the Lord their God. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 In the 2Qth chapter, Ezekiel undoubtedly speaks of 
 the overthrow of the literal Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar ; 
 but, in the 21th and 2^th chapters, he cannot mean the 
 literal Tyre and its prince, because their predicted over- 
 throw is immediately connected v/ith the restoration of 
 Israel *. Nor is this the only reason : the chciracter of 
 the prince is totally inapplicable to any real sovereign of 
 ancicjit Tyre. He is represented as having been once a 
 faithful worshipper, and as having afterwards apostatized ; 
 as having been in the holy mountain and paradise of 
 
 * See Ezek. xxviil. 24, 25, 36. Mr. Lowth, comtpenting' on the pas-sag-e 
 there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, justly observes, 
 that "the following' verse shews that this promise chiefly relates to the gene- 
 ral restoration of the ^ews, when all the enemies of God's church and truth 
 are vanquished and subdued ; often denoted in the prophetical writings by 
 the names of Edovi, Moab, and other neighbouring countries, who upon afi 
 •ccasions shewed their spite and ill will against the ye%i!s." 
 
206 
 
 God, or the true church of upright believers ; as having 
 once been perfect in his ways ; and as having at length 
 defiled his sanctuaries by the multitude of his iniqui- 
 ties and the iniquity of his traffic, or, in other words, 
 as liaving debased his originally pure worship of God by 
 some iniquitous dealings which the prophet compares to 
 a fraudulent and base trade. In all this we can perceive 
 no resemblance to the character of the ancient Tyrian 
 :SOvereigns. Whatever notions of the true God Hiram 
 might have learned by his intercourse with Solomon, his 
 kingdom by the universal consent of history was ido- 
 latrous from the very first * ; and, whatever worship 
 Hiram might pay to Jehovah, we have little reason to 
 doubt that he mingled it with the worship of his national 
 deities. But, let this be as it may, it is of very little mo- 
 ment to the present question ; for the overthrow of Tyre 
 and its prince^ being (as I have already ol)served) mani- 
 festly connected with the restoration of Israel ■\ which is 
 yet future, cannot possibly relate to the overthrow of the 
 literal Tyre either by Nebuchadnezzar or Alexander 
 which is long since past. If then it cannot relate to the 
 overthrow of the literal Tyre and its p?ince, it must relate 
 to the overthrow of some power and some poteiitate at the 
 era of the restoration of Israel., considered by the prophet 
 as antitypical to ancient Tyre and its prince. 
 
 Here therefore the question is, JVhat power and what 
 prince., at the time of the end^ can we reasonably suppose 
 to be intended in this typical prediction, to which Eze- 
 kiel, after the manner of the ancient prophets |, glides as 
 it were insensiblv from his literal prediction respecting 
 the overthrow of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar ? 
 
 The first idea, that will probably strike the reader, is, 
 
 * See Herod. Hist. L. ii C. 44. Ver. 23, 24. f See Chap, xxvil?. 
 
 \ Similar instances of double prophecy occur in Isaiah xiii. xiv. 1 — 27. and 
 Zephaniah ii. 13 — 15. iii. Tliis last prediction will I)e discussed hereafter in 
 its proper place. Mr. Lowth, when treating of Isaiah x. 20, very justly ob- 
 serves, that "it is usual with the prophets, when they foretell some extra- 
 ordinary event in or near their own times, to carry their views on farther, 
 and point at some g'reater deliverance which Ciod shall vouchsafe to his people 
 in the latter ag'es of the world." Much the same remark Is made by Bp. 
 Kurd. " The style of the prophet so adapts itself to this double prospect, as 
 to paint the near and subordinate event in terms that emphatically represent 
 t&e distant and more considerable." 
 
207 
 
 that the anfitypkal Tyre must be the great maritime and 
 commercial natio7i, so frequently pointed out, either more 
 or less direct!}^, as taking a very active part in the trou- 
 bles of the lust ages, and in the first restoration of the 
 Jexvish part of the Israelitish people : more especially 
 since, ii this maritime power itself be no where else pre- 
 cisely styled Tyre, its navy is undoubtedly typified by 
 the Tyrian ships of Tarshish *. 
 
 This idea, however probable at the first sight, is cer- 
 tainly erroneous. The ajititypical Tyre is to be utterly 
 destroyed at the era o^ the restoration: the great maritime 
 power is not then to be destroyed, but is to be success- 
 fully engaged in accomplishing that very restoration. 
 The antitypical Tyre is plainly described as a persecutor, 
 as the principal persecutor, of the Jews; for, when it is 
 overthrown, then the rankling and ulcerating thorn shall 
 cease for ever to afQict the children oj' Israel : the great 
 maritime power is employed in the honourable office of 
 carrj^ing God's message to his people ; of taking them 
 under the shadow of its wings ; and of bringing their 
 sons from far, not spoiled, but their gold and silver with 
 them, in a navy that securely bids defiance to all the op- 
 position of their enemies j. The antitypical Tyre is some 
 state or empire, that once professed pure religion, but at 
 the era of the restoration had notoriously apostatized from 
 it : the great maritime power is plainly a nation of faith- 
 ful worshippers, as sufficiently appears from the prophe- 
 cies respecting it that have been already considered. Fi- 
 nally, Daniel and St. John give us jointly a very full list 
 of all the states and superstitions that are to be over- 
 thrown together at the close of the 1260 years, which 
 Daniel assures us is likewise the era of the incipient res- 
 toration of Jiidah and Israel. These are the ten-horned 
 beast u?ider its last head, or the papal Roman empire linger 
 the line of the Carlovingian princes ; its little horn, which 
 is the same as the second apocalyptic beast ^\\& false pro- 
 phet, or the spiritual empire of the Papacy ; the infidel 
 king, or Antichristian France, now identified with the 
 kst head of the Roman beast ; the kings of the earthy or 
 
 * Isaiiffe he. 9. t See Isaiak xviii. atid Ix. 8, 9 
 
208 
 
 the vassal sovereigns of the Lattn empire ; and the little 
 horn of the he-goaty or the false religion of Mohammed*. 
 Now among all these we find not a single power ^ that at 
 all answers to the chai'acter of the great maritime nation 
 of faithful worshippers ; and we further find it implied, 
 
 * One great branch of Mohammedisin, the Titrkisk empire, will be over- 
 thrown under the sixth apocalyptic vial, and tlierefore previous to the destruc- 
 tion of the Antichristia/i corfederacy, which will take place under the seventh : 
 and, as for the religion of Mohammed itself, I cannot find any positive declara- 
 tion that the professors of it will, in a national capacity, join tlie armies of the in- 
 fidel king. Daniel speaks of it, as being-, at the time of the end, broken ivithout 
 hand, (Dan. viii. 17, 25.) This expression is ambiguous: ai:d ma} either mean, 
 that it shall be (as it were) practically confuted and silenced by the manifes- 
 tation of Christ, against whom Mohammed had presumed to stand tip (Com- 
 pare Dan. ii. 34, 35, 44, 45.) ; or it may mean, that it shall gradually lall away 
 to nothing- by the desertion of its votaries, and thus die a sort of natural death. 
 The exhaustion of the mystic Euphrates will no doubt greatly weaken it: and 
 it is a remarkable circumstance, even in these eventful times, that a sect has 
 lately made its appearance in the very country of the false Arabian prophet, 
 ■which threatens no less than the destruction of his rehgion itself The JVaha- 
 bees are infidels ; and their numbers are daily increasing. Their opinions have 
 been propagated near sixty years ; and they at length find themselves strong 
 enough to take up arms in their defence. It is said, that they occupy the 
 greatest part of the country which extends from Medi'na to the Euphrates. 
 Their last exploit, of which we have recently received an account, shews 
 their decided hostility to Mohaonmedism in a very striking point of view. 
 Having reinforced their army from the desert, and having overwhelmed the 
 whole adjacent country, they suddenly assaulted and took the city oi Medina 
 with infinite bloodshed and devastation. They set fire to it in various places ; 
 destroyed the mosques, after having ransacked them of their valuable shrines 
 and treasures ; and completely demolished the tomb of the 'prophet. Some 
 thousands of females of the first rank were carried off by the besiegers into 
 the desert, with a number of the principal male inhabitants. A troop of 
 camels was also sent away with jewels and other treasure to an immense 
 amount. See Morning Post, Feb. 22, 1806. 
 
 The following account of the Wahabees is given in a very curious work re- 
 cently published by Mr. Waring. 
 
 " The founder of this religion, Ubdool Wuhab, was a native of Ujunu, a 
 town in the province of Ool tlrud. Some have been of opinion, that Moola 
 Moohumviud, the son of Ubdool Wuhab, was the first person who promulgate 
 ed doctrines subversive of the Mussulman faith. However this may be, it is 
 certain that one or other of these persons was the founder of the religion of 
 the Wuhabees ; and the name inclines me to believe Ubdool Wuhab. Both 
 these persons w^ere great travellers. They studied under the principal Mo- 
 hammedan doctors at Bussora and at Bagdad ; and afterwards went to Da- 
 inascus, where Ubdool Wuhab first began to avow his religious principles. 
 The priests were alarmed at the tendency of his doctrines ; he was obliged 
 to fly from this city ; and, on his arrival at Mousul, he publicly supported the 
 purity, excellence, and orthodoxy, of his tenets. This new religion, which 
 had sprung up in the midst of Arabia, excited the attention and roused the 
 indignation of the orthodox Sheikhs, who could not bear the notion of the 
 Wuhabees ridiculing with contempt the legends and tales whicli they so con- 
 scientiously believed. The Wuhabees are accused of professing the follow- 
 ing belief: That there is one just and luise God; that all those persons called pro' 
 phets are only to be co?isidered as just and virtuous onen ; and that there never 
 existed an inspired ivork 7ior an inspired ivriter. A party of the Wuhabees last 
 
209 
 
 that all, who have come out of the mystic Babylon and 
 have separated themselves from her, shall not partake of 
 her plagues*. Such being the case, and such likewise 
 
 year (1802) attacked Xnrbulu, celebrated among the Persians as being tlie 
 burial place of the sons of Ali ; destroyed tlie tombs ; and plundered the towa 
 and pilgrims. 1 met several of the people who had been there at that period, 
 and they all agreed in complaining most bitterly of the cruelty of the reform-v 
 ers. It must be recollected that the destruction of the holy sepulchres would 
 alone be considered as an enormous act of impiety and cruelty. The force 
 of the Wuhabees is very considerable, probably eighty or ninety thousand ; 
 and, as their expeditions are conducted with great celerity and secrecy, they 
 keep all the neiglibouring countries in perpetual apprehension. — Since finish- 
 ing this, inteUigence has been received of their having attacked and plunder- 
 ed TyetJ, Mecca, and Medina. They have, in consequence, violated the sacred 
 law which forbids armed men approaching within a certain distance of the 
 temple. Thus have they destroyed the foundation stone of Mo hammed ism ; 
 and this miglity fabric, which at one period bade defiance to all Europe, falls, 
 on the first attack, at the feet of an Arab reformer. The event may make a 
 gieat change in the Moliammedan world ; for it appears to me almost certain, 
 that the pilgrimages to Mecca liave had nearly as great an effect in support- 
 ing this rehgion as the first victories and conquests of Mohaonmed— The 
 Wuhabees are now a considerable people, sufficiently powerful to resist the 
 divided eftorts of the Turks, whose power in Arabia must decrease in pro- 
 portion to the aggrandisement of this roving race of reformers. Indeed the 
 Turks have already found it expedient to court and even purchase the friend- 
 ship of their Arab subjects. They have extended their depredations over the 
 greatest part of Arabia ; tlie fate of Bassora may be said to depend upon the 
 clemency of the conqueror, or rather on liis being engaged in other pursuits. 
 Many places in the Red sea have been obliged to purchase the good will of 
 the reformer." Tour to Sheeraz, p. 119—125. 
 
 In the tinie of Niebuhr this sect of infidels was in its infancy. *' Some time 
 since," says he, "a new religion sprang up in the district of El Ared. It has 
 already produced a revolution in the government of Arabia, and will probably 
 hereafter influence the state of this country still farther. The founder of 
 this religion was one Abd ul Wahheb, a native of Aijiene, a town in the district 
 of El Ared— Abd ul Wahheb taught, that God is the only object of worship 
 and invocation, as the creator and governor of the world. He forbade the 
 invocation of saints and tlie very mentioning of Mohammed or any other pro- 
 phet in prayer, as practices savouring of idolatry. He considered Moham- 
 med, yesus Christ, Moses, and many others respected by the Sunnites in the 
 character of prophets, as merely great men whose history might be read with 
 improvement ; denying, that any book had ever been written by divine inspi- 
 ration, or brought down from heaven by the angel Gabriel." Travels, vol. ii. 
 p. 131, 134. 
 
 It is a remarkable circumstance, that, as the two apostasies of Popery and 
 Moham-medism, arose together in the same year and attained their zenith at 
 the same period, so Voltaire should have begun systematically to propagate 
 his infidel principles in the west exactly about the same time that Abd ul 
 Wahheb began to advance nearly the same doctrines in the east. So many 
 curious coincidences serve to confirm my opinion, that Daniel's two little 
 horns are the two apostasies of Popery and Mohammedism, and that the year 
 606 is the most probable date of the 1260 years. 
 
 Sliotild the sect of the Wahabees continue to increase in numbers, Mohant- 
 medism must fall eventually by mere force of opinion. If its votaries gradu- 
 ally abandon it, we may easily conceive how, at the tim,e of the end, it will be 
 broken without hand. 
 
 * " Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and 
 that ye receive not of her plagues" (Rev. xviii. 4). Hence apparently we 
 
 27 
 
210 
 
 being the office of the great maritime power at the time of 
 the end, we cannot reasonably or consistently with pro- 
 phecy suppose, that it is destined to perish in the com- 
 mon wreck of Popish, Infidel, and Mohammedan, na- 
 tions : and therefore we of course cannot suppose it to be 
 the antitypical Tyre, which does then perish. 
 
 Hitherto the question has only been answered nega- 
 tively, we must now endeavour to answer it positively. 
 Since we have no sufficient ground to think, tliat the list, 
 which Daniel and St. John give us, of those enemies of 
 God, who aie destined to fall at the close of the 1260 
 years is imperfect ; ^ve are obliged to conclude, that the 
 antitypical Tyre, which Ezekiel represents as falling at 
 the very same period or the period of the incipient resto- 
 ration of Israel, is some one or other of those enemies. 
 But how can the maritime Tyre be a fit type of any of 
 those nations, when they are all (even according to my 
 owTi interpretation) continental poxvers, and when their last 
 expedition into Palestine (even according to my own opi- 
 nion) is to be undertaken by land, because the decided 
 superiority of the great naval state prevents them from 
 undertaking it by sea ? 
 
 To this I answer, that either a nation or a thing may be 
 used as a type of direct opposites, according to the light 
 in which they are viewed by the sacred writer who uses 
 them. Thus the serpent and the lion are at once types 
 of Christ and Sata7i, of the clean and the unclean : and 
 3'et no confusion arises from this circumstance, because 
 the context always sufficiently shews the light in which 
 the writer views his type. When we are directed to 
 look up to the serpent in the wilderness for salvation, we 
 are in no danger of supposing that the devil is meant ; 
 we at once see plainly, that the wisdom of the serpent was 
 the only characteristic in the mind of the Holy Spirit, 
 and therefore that the serpent considered in that point of 
 view was a fit type of the divine TVisdom, the eternal 
 Logos. On the other hand, when the temper appears un- 
 der the form of a so-pent, and when St. John styles the 
 
 must conclude, that all such as do come out of her will not receive of her 
 plagues ; provided only they have refrained from defiling themselves with 
 the atheistical abominations iyi Antichrist. See 2 Pet. ii. 18. 
 
211 
 
 devil tluit old serpent^ we are in as little danger of sup- 
 posing that Christ is meant; we immediately see, that 
 the had qualities of the sequent were alone in the contem- 
 plation of the writer ; his perverted wisdom or his cun- 
 ning whereby he deceiveth the whole world, the deadly 
 malignity of his poison, and the subtlety with which he 
 attacks his unsuspecting prey. In a similar manner, when 
 Christ is styled the lion of the tribe of Jiidah ; the cou- 
 rage, the strength, the activity, the generosity, of that 
 animal are solely considered : and, when the devil is des 
 cribed as a roaiing and a rainping lion goitig about ir* 
 search of whom he may devour ; the ferocity of the lion, 
 his rapacity, his mode of lying in wait for his prey, the 
 suddenness with which he springs upon it, the ^^•onder- 
 ful strength with which he holds it in his gripe, his prowl- 
 ing about in darkness, are as evidently his only proper- 
 ties which engage the attention of the writer *". This 
 being the case, Tijre may be used as a type either of a 
 great commercial nation of faithful worshippers^ or of a 
 great superstitious empire xvhich drives an iniquitGus traf- 
 fic in indulgences^ pardons^ relics and such like trumpery / 
 just as the writer considers the vast commerce of ancient 
 Tyre literally or mystically. In what light he does con- 
 
 * " As clean and unclean animals are not realities of good and evil, but 
 only fig-ures ; notliing' hinders, but that, like other figures, they should sig- 
 nify differently, when under some different acceptation : as the same object, 
 according to every new direction of the light that falls upon it, will project a 
 different shadow. 
 
 "My meaning will be best e?:plained by some examples borrowed from" 
 the style of the Holy Scripture. Water, as a medium of purification, is a fit 
 image of the Spirit of regeneration in baptism, which washes away sin : but, 
 in its capacity of overflowing bodies with its waves, it becomes a figure of 
 affliction, destruction, and even death itself. The same water, which bore up 
 the ark of Noah in safety, and exhibited a pattern of the salvation of the Chris- 
 tian Clmrch, destroyed the world of the ungodly. The light ofthesun'is be- 
 neficial to the whole creation, and is emblematic of that divine light of life, 
 which enlightens every man that coraeth into the world : but the parching 
 heat (if its rays is used in the parables of Christ to express the fiery trial of 
 persecution and tribulation for the triith's sake. 
 
 " With the same variety of allusion, and withovit any danger of impropriety 
 or confusion in the language of Scripture, the lion, considered as a hvmgry 
 and blood-thirsty beast of prey, is an image oi the devil, who as a roaring lion 
 lualketh about seeking ivhom he inay devour. But, in regard to his strength, 
 power, generosity, and the majesty of his countenance, he is highly expres- 
 sive of t^e re^a/ cAflrocfer, and is therefore assumed to dewoie the po^ver and 
 majesty of Christ himself the lion of the tribe ofjudah." Jones's Works, voV. 
 iii. p. 108. 
 
h2 
 
 sider it iii any particular instance, we must be tauglit by 
 the context. 
 
 The context then in the present instance teaqhes us, 
 that Ezekiel, in the description of his ajititypical Tyre, 
 does not mean literal but mystical^ commerce: because 
 the antityfncal Tyre is some one of God's enemies who 
 perish at the close of the 1260 years^ and not one of those 
 enemies holds the rank in the modern commercial Avorld, 
 that Tyre did in the ancient; they all being continental 
 powers, and some state decidedly in opposition to them 
 being the great maritime power of the day, and conse- 
 quently {\i literal commerce be considered) in that point 
 of view being the antitype of Tyre likewise. 
 
 But one prophecy, relative to any given period, will al- 
 ways be best explained by other parallel prophecies rela- 
 tive to the same period. Do we find then, that any one 
 of the powers, destined to fall at the close of the 1260 
 years and at the era of the restoratioji of the Jews, is 
 elsewhere described under the same imagery that Eze- 
 kiel uses to depict the antitypical Tyre? If we do, the 
 union of chronological coincidence and symbolical ima- 
 gery will afford us as much certainty as perhaps, can be 
 attained in these matters, that the antitypical Tyre is in- 
 tended for the power thus perishing at the same era and 
 thus similarly described. 
 
 Now it is remarkable, that St. John, as if to teach us 
 the right inteqDre cation of this typical prediction of Eze- 
 kiel, purposely uses the very same imagery to rejjresent 
 the downfal of the papal Babylon. If Tyre be exhibited 
 as a great trading city in Ezekiel; so is Babylon in the 
 Apocalypse. If the merchandise of Tyre be gold, silver, 
 iron, all precious stones, purple, broidered work, fine 
 linen, ivory, ebony, vessels of brass, the chief of all 
 spices, cassia, calamus, honey, oil, balm, wheat, wine, 
 w^ool, lambs, rams, goats, horses, mules, precious clothes 
 for chariots, horsemen, and the souls of men ; so is the 
 merchandise of Babylon gold, and silver, and precious 
 stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, 
 and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner of vessels 
 of ivory, and all manner of vessels of most precious wood, 
 and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and 
 
213 
 
 ©doiirs, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and 
 oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and 
 horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. If 
 the wares of Tyre filled many people, and enriched the 
 kings of the earth ; so the kings of the earth, those great 
 ones who were the merchants of Babylon, waxed rich 
 through the abundance of her delicacies. If they of Per- 
 sia, and of Lud, and of Phut, enrolled themselves in the 
 armies of 7)/r^,and became her men of war; so the ten 
 Roman horns gave for a season their strength and power 
 to Babylon^ and contributed all their force to uphold the 
 empire of the beast. If Tyre proudly sit at the entrance 
 of the sea, and her prince in the midst of the seas; so 
 Babylon is the great Avhore, that sitteth upon many 
 waters. If all the merchants and mariners of Tyre be- 
 wail her fall, saying, TVhat city is like Tyre, like the de- 
 stroyed in the midst of the sea ? so all the merchants and 
 shipmasters of Babylon exclaim, weeping and wailing, 
 IVhat city is like unto this great city? If the kings are 
 sore afraid on account of the overthrow of Tyre; so the 
 kings of the earth, when they see the smoke of Babylon^ 
 stand afar off" for fear of her torment, saying, Alas, Alas, 
 that great city Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour 
 is thy judgment come! If Tyre is to become a terror, and 
 never to be any more ; so Babylon is to be violently thrown 
 down, and to be found no more at all. Lastly, as Eze- 
 kiel, by connecting the fall of the antitypical Tyre with 
 the restoration of the Jews, plainly shews us, that he can- 
 not mean the literal Tyre; and yet leaves it uncertain 
 whether we are to understand her commerce literally or 
 mystically: so St. John, while he effectually precludes 
 the possibility of our mistaking the antitypical Babylon 
 for the literal Babylon, chooses this city rather than Tyre^ 
 as a type of the power which he is describing, in order to 
 shew us, that no common trade is intended, but some 
 mystic trade for which the power in question was notori- 
 ous ; Babylon never having been, like Tyre, a commercial 
 city, in the literal sense of the words. 
 
 Thus we see, that a power, destined to perish at the 
 close of the 1260 years, and consequently at the era of the 
 restoration of the Jexvs, is represented by St. John under 
 
2U 
 
 the image of a great trading city ; and tliat a porucr, like- 
 vise destined to perish at the era of the restoration of the 
 Jezvsy is represented by Ezekiel under the very same 
 imsigc oi a great tradifig citt/: whence, I think, it must 
 necessarily follo-w that the same power is intended by both 
 those prophets. But that Babylon is the spiritual empire 
 of the Papacy^ ^ and that her ti-affic relates to the sale 
 of relics and indulgences^ to the gainful absurdities of pur- 
 gatory^ and to the pompously ridiculous .worship of the 
 Romish churchy cannot reasonably be doubted: Tyre 
 therefore, and her trafficy must mean the same ?nonsfrous 
 superstition^ and the same nefarious trade. As if indeed 
 to give us a clear insight into the nature of this trade^ 
 both Tyre and Babylon are equally said to deal in the 
 souls of men. 
 
 Ezekiel however does not only give us a most ample 
 description of the antitypical Tyre^ but likewise a no less 
 ample and particular one of her prince ; consequently, if 
 I be right in supposing Tyre to mean the spiritual em- 
 pire of the Papacy y the prince of Tyre must necessarily 
 mean the Pope. Do we find then, that the character of 
 the Bishop of Rome accords with the character of this 
 prince ? 
 
 The heart of the prince is so lifted up, that he declai'es 
 himself to be a god, that he sitteth in the seat of God in 
 the midst of the seas, that he sets his heart as the heart of 
 God. The papal man of sin sitteth as God in the tem- 
 ple of God, shewing himself that he is God; he is wor- 
 shipped by his cardinals on the day of his inauguration, 
 proudlv seated on the altai' of the Lord; he styles him- 
 self the Lord God, another god upon earth, king of kings, 
 and lord of lords ; he places himself, as it was predicted 
 his symbol the little Roman ho?'n should do, by the side 
 of the most High, affecting an equality with God; he sits 
 in the seat of God, claiming to be his vice-gerent upon 
 earth; he sits upon many waters, or rules by the influ- 
 
 * The apocalyptic Babylon, or the great city, is the luhole papal Roinaii em- 
 pire, temporal and spiritual. Hence it is exhibited to vis under the compound 
 &ymho\ o{ a harlot riding upon a seven-headed and ten-horned beast; the harlot 
 represcntiug the spiritual Babylon, which is the same as the spiritual Tyre here 
 described by Ezekiel ; and the beast, the temporal Babylon. 
 
215 
 
 dice of a tyrannical superstition over peoples, and multi- 
 tudes, and nations, and tongues — The prince is told by 
 the Almighty, in a strain of lofty and contemptuous irony,, 
 that he is wiser than Daniel, that there is no secret which 
 they can hide from him. The Pope is wont to boast of 
 his infallibility, and therefore claims a degree of know- 
 ledge equal to inspiration — The prince amasses vast riches 
 by his wisdom, and his traffic. No set of men have been 
 so distinguished for their policy as the Popes, by which 
 they gradually acquired the astonishing influence which 
 they once possessed in Europe: and they have been 
 equally distinguished for their infamous spiritual trade in 
 relics and indulgences, and in masses to deliver souls out 
 of purgatory, by which an immense revenue accrued to 
 them from every country under their control — The heart 
 of the prince was lifted up because of his riches and power. 
 The little papal horn had a mouth speaking great things ; 
 and his insolence arose to such a pitch, that he would not 
 have even kings to be familiar with him, but boasted that 
 he possessed the power of deposing both kings and em- 
 perors, bestriding like some huge colossus the globe 
 itself in the plenitude of his power — The prince is said 
 to be an anointed cherub. If a cheriih mean one of the su- 
 perior order of angels, the import of the expression will 
 be, that the person typified by the prince should be a 
 chief-bishop, an angel in the language of symbols denot- 
 • ing a bishop or principal minister ofreligioji; nay, that he 
 should be more than a chief-bishop, that he should be 
 a prince -bishop, one that united in his own character the 
 two functions of temporal and spiritual sovereignty. If, 
 on the other hand, there be any truth in the opinion of 
 some learned men, that a cherub is an hieroglyphical 
 representation of God himself, and that the word signi- 
 fies a resemblance of the mighty One *; then the per- 
 son typified by the prince will be some one who holds 
 himself forth as the resemblance and representative of 
 the Deity. In either case, it is obvious how accurately 
 the character of the Pope is delineated by the term cw 
 mwirUed cherub. He is a chief aiigel, or a metropolitan 
 
 * See Parlthurst's Hebrew Lexicon, Vox aii- 
 
216 
 
 iii the church ; he is an anointed chief-angel^ or a prince- 
 metropolitan ; he claims to be the representative of the 
 Deity : he is exhibited in paintings as God ; and, when 
 the Romanists impiously depict the Almighty, he appears 
 as an old man with a triple crown on his head*. — The 
 prince is further said to be an anointed cherub that 
 spreadeth a veil. The word, here used by the prophet 
 to describe the action of the anointed cherub, is the 
 same as that which Isaiah uses, when he declares, that, in 
 the last days, at the period of the restoration of Israel, 
 God will destroy in his holy mountain the face of the 
 covering that is cast over all the peoples, and the veil 
 that is spread over all the nations f. The veil therefore, 
 which God will then destroy, is the veil, which the anoint- 
 ed cherub had long been employed in spreading ; that is 
 to say, it is the veil of gross ignorance which the Popes 
 had long and successfully been labouring to spread over 
 the face of all men. Finding Scripture altogether against 
 them in their controversies with the protestants, " the 
 Popes^'' says Mosheim, " permitted their champions to 
 indulge themselves openly in reflections injurious to the 
 dignity of the sacred writings, and, by an excess of blas- 
 phemy almost incredible (if the passions of men did not 
 render them capable of the greatest enormities), to de- 
 clare publicly, that the edicts of the pontiff's, and the 
 records of oral tradition, were superior in point of autho- 
 rity to the express language of the Holy Scriptures." 
 And. in perfect accordance with such impiety, the church 
 of Rome, the mystic Tyre of which the Pope is the prince, 
 obstinately affirms, as the same historian observes, that 
 *' the Holy Scriptures were not composed for the use of 
 the multitude, but only for that of their spiritual teach- 
 ers ; and, of consequence, has ordered these divine re- 
 cords to be taken from the people in all places, where it 
 was allowed to execute its imperious commands." — The 
 prince was full of violence by reason of the multitude of 
 his merchandise, and defiled his sanctuaries by the mul- 
 titude of his iniquities and the iniquity of his traffic. The 
 
 • See the plate opposite p. 413 of the Breviarium, Homamnn Antverpiae 
 1698. A full account of it is g'iven in the Supplement to Burton's Essay on thf 
 numbers of Daniel and St. John p. 96, 97. 
 
 f Issued XXV. 7. 
 
217 
 
 Pope is drunken with the blood of the saints and the blood 
 of the martyrs of Jesus, who protested against the scan- 
 dalous spiritual trade which he was carrying on: and even 
 his chief sanctuary, the church of St. Peter, was polluted 
 by the same vile traffic, Leo having recourse to an unli- 
 mited sale of indulgences to raise money for the erection 
 of it — Yet was the prince once perfect in his ways from 
 the day that he was created ; he was once in Eden the 
 garden of God ; he was once in the holy mountain of the 
 Lord ; and, the prophet adds, speaking as a Jew in allu- 
 sion to the precious stones of Uiim and Thummim on the 
 breast-plate of the high-priest, he once walked up and 
 down in the midst of the stones of fire *. The Popes fell 
 by degrees from the purity and perfection of primitive 
 Christianity to their present steite of depravity and apos- 
 tasy. Clemens, one of the earliest Bishops of Rome, is 
 declared by an apostle to have his name written in the 
 book of life. The Popes then were once in the holy 
 mountain of God, in the inclosed garden of his Church, 
 till iniquity was found in them, till their hearts were lift- 
 ed up because of their beauty, till they corrupted their 
 wisdom by reason of their brightness, till they wandered 
 into the wilderness of ignorance and error and worldly- 
 mindedness and heresy f- — After the prince had fallen 
 from his perfection, he exhibited himself as one of the 
 great ones of the earth. Every precious stone was his 
 covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the bery], 
 the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, tie 
 carbuncle, and gold. Instead of making melody in his 
 heart to the Lord, he delighted himself in a pompous 
 pageantiy of worshijD, in the sound of tabrets and pipee. 
 And the prophet adds, that even this was prepared in him 
 from the very day that he was created, although he was 
 originally perfect in his ways. The Pope, after his apos- 
 tasy, sought to cover his spiritual nakedness with splen- 
 did attire and gaudy devotion. He arrayed himself in 
 
 * " Such was thy eminent distinction, that thou wast, as it were, placed 
 in the temple of God on his holy mountain. Thou wast, as it were, conver- 
 sant among the twelve precious stones on the breast-plate of the high-priest, 
 which shone like fire." ISIr. Lowth in loc, 
 
 I Rev. xvii. 1, 2, 3. 
 
 28 
 
^18- 
 
 purple and scarlet, and decked himself with gold and 
 precious stones and pearls *. He allured his votaries 
 with the charms of music and the multifarious rites of a 
 splendid superstition f. Though six centuries elapsed ere 
 the man of sin was revealed, the mystery of iniquity was 
 already working even in the apostolic age %, *' The seeds 
 of corruption were sown, but they were not yet grown 
 up to any maturity. The leaven was fermenting in some 
 parts, but it was far from having yet infected the whole 
 mass §." 
 
 We have seen how accurately the character of the mys- 
 fie prince of Tyre answers to that of the Bishop of Rome; 
 and we may safely ^ enture to assert, that there is no other 
 potentate of these last days, either popish or protestant, 
 to whom the character will at all answer : let us now at- 
 tend to the predicted time and method of his overthrow- 
 When the prince shall perish, there shall be no more a 
 rankling thorn to the house of Israel of all those that de- 
 spised them ; but they shall be gathered to their own land 
 from the people among whom they have been scattered. 
 Hence it will necessarily follow, both that the prince was 
 a rankling thorn or great persecutor of the Jews^ and that 
 he will perish at the era of their restoration. In modern 
 histor}' we find, that the papal little horn has been the 
 great promoter of all the persecutions and oppressions, 
 which the Jexvs have suffered, compelling them to apos- 
 tatise and bow doAAn before idols and relics, taking their 
 children from them in order that they may be educated 
 in the superstitions of Popery, robbing them of their 
 })roperty, banishing and even murdering them \\. And 
 from prophecy we find, tliat this little horn is to be de- 
 stroyed at the close of the 1260 yea7's ; that is to say, at 
 the peiiod wlien the Jexvs begin to be restored \^ . — The 
 
 * iRev. xvu. 4. xviii. 16. Platina relates, that "in his pontifical vestments 
 Pope Paul II. outwent all his predecessors, especially in his regno or mitre, 
 u]Jon which he laid oat a syreat deal of money in purchasing at vast rates dia- 
 monds, sapphires, emeralds, chrysoliths, jaspers, unioiis, and all manner of 
 ])recions stones ; wherewith adorned like another Aaron, he would appear 
 abroad somewhat more augvist than a man, dehgliting' to be seen and admired' 
 by every one." Lives of the Popes, P. 414. cited by B. Newton. 
 
 t Rev. xviii 22. * 2 Thess. ii, 7. 
 
 § See Bp. Newton's Dissert, xxii. 
 
 ^ See Bp. Newton's Dissert, vii. 
 
 Jl Dan. vii. 11, 25, 26. xii. \,7 
 
219 
 
 prince is to be destroyed by the instrumentality of thi 
 strangers, the terrible of the nations. The Scriptures 
 abundantly testify, that the Jews, who have long been 
 wanderers upon the face of the earth whence they may 
 emphatically be styled the strangers *, will at the titne of 
 the end become a principal instrument in the hand of God 
 of punishing all their oppressors ; the chief of whom, 
 because the instigator of all the rest, has ever been the 
 Pope \. — The prince is to die the death of the uncircum- 
 cised by the hand of the strangers. The pope, or false 
 JRomish prophet, is to perish in Palestine ; as the Jews for-^ 
 merly inflicted the vengeance of God, in the same coun- 
 try, on the various wicked uncircumcised nations of the 
 Canaanites, — The prince is to die the death of them that 
 are slain in the midst of the sea. The Pope, who has so 
 long sat upon the many symbolical waters, is to perish 
 during a time of unexampled trouble and confusion, the 
 waves and the sea roaring, men's hearts failing them 
 through fear^ — The prince is to be devoured by a fire 
 from the midst of him, and to be cast to the ground a 
 spectacle to all the kings of the earth. The Papacy is to 
 waste a\vay by an internal fire ; which has already begun 
 to consume it ; the ten horns of the Roman beast, are to 
 hate the whore, and to make her desolate and naked, and 
 to eat her flesh, and to burn her with fire ; she is finally 
 to be completely destroyed by a fire, which may likewise 
 be said to come out of her, eren the house of Judah, 
 which will be gathered out of her empire, and which will 
 become like a hearth of fire among the wood and like a 
 torch of fire in a sheaf \ ; and then all the kings of the 
 earth, who have committed fornication and lived deli- 
 ciously with her, will bewail her and lament for her, when 
 
 * I wish this remark concerning- the strangers to be considered only in the 
 light of a conjecture. It is possible, that by them may not be intended the 
 yews, but some fierce northern nation, which there is reason to expect from 
 prophecy will be very instrumental in punishing- the sins o£the Soman Baby- 
 Ion during the time that Antichrist is engaged in his expedition against Pal- 
 estine. This matter will be discussed more at large, when I treat of the 
 prophecies of Daniel and St. John. It is worthy of remark, that Vitrjnga, in 
 summing up the particulars wherein the literal Babylon is typical "of the 
 •ynystical Bai)ylon, enumerates the attack made upon it by fierce northern na- 
 tions, the Medo-Persians and their allies, which terminated in its destruc- 
 tion. See the passage cited in the notes on prophecy V. 
 
 t Isaiah xli. 15, 16l— Obad. 18.— Zechar, xij. 6. i: Zechar. xii. 6, 
 
22e 
 
 the)'- shall see the smoke of her burning *": — The mystic 
 Tyre is to be brought by her rowers into deep waters, 
 and to be broken by the east wind in the midst of the sea. 
 The power of the Papacy is to be brought by its sup- 
 porters, the beast and the kings of the earthy into great 
 trouble ; and to be broken by a violent wind^ or dread- 
 ful war, in the midst of the syrnbolical sea, in the eastern 
 region of Palestine f, — Finally God will cast the prince 
 cut of his holy mountain as profane, and will make him 
 a terror among the nations, and will cause that he shall 
 never be any more. In a similar manner the dominion 
 of the little papal horn shall be utterly consumed and de- 
 stroyed ; and the kingdom shall be given to the siiints of 
 the Most High, or those who constitute that pure millen- 
 nian church out of which the horn shall be for ever cast : 
 the man of sin shall be consumed by the spirit of the 
 Lord's mouth, and shall be destroyed by the brightness 
 of his coming : the beast and the false prophet shall be 
 taken in arms against the Lord, and shall be cast alive 
 into a lake of lire burning with brimstone : Babylon the 
 great shall become the habitation of devils, and the hold 
 of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hate- 
 ful bird, and shall be thrown down, and shall be found 
 no more at all : in short the papal tyrant, who had so 
 often excommunicated and thrust out of what he termed 
 the catholic church, all who refused to partake of his idol- 
 atr}' and to pollute themselves with his abominations, shall 
 now himself be cast with ignominy out of the true church 
 of Christ ; and shall be for ever separate from those, who 
 had come out of his spiritual empire, in order that they 
 might not be partakers of his sins, nor receive of his 
 plagues %. 
 
 * Rev. xviii. 9. 
 
 f " Tempestuous viinds, or die motion of clouds, for wars." Sir Isaac Newton's 
 Observ. on Dan. and St. John. P. 18. 
 
 i For tlie manner in which the character of this prince is applied to the 
 literal prince of Tyre, the reader may consult Abp. Newcome's translation of 
 Ezekiel. I confess it appears to me totally inapplicable either to Ithobal 
 ^or any other Phenician sovereign. According to his grace, the rankling thorn 
 ■was removed when Nebuchadnezzar subdued all the ancient enemies of the 
 ^ezvs. But this falls very far short of the plain import of the prophecy. 
 The terms, in which it is expressed, extend it to the restoration of the ivhole 
 house of Israel, Ephraim&s well as jfitdah ; and it positively asserts, that af- 
 ter the doHunfal of Tyre, there should be no more a rankling thorn to afflict the 
 
221 
 
 When the thorn, that had so long goaded the house of 
 Israel, shall be removed ; when the Lord shall have ex- 
 ecuted judgments upon all those that despised his people: 
 then will he gather them from all the countries of their 
 dispersion, and bring them into the land which he gave 
 unto his servant Jacob. There they shall dwell safely, 
 and shall build houses, and shall plant vineyards : they 
 shall dwell with confidence, and shall know that the Lord. 
 is their God. 
 
 PROPHECY XXV. 
 
 The dispersion of Israel through the tyranny of their shepherds — 
 God will require his people at their hands — The restoration of 
 Judah partly in a converted and partly in an unconverted state — 
 The opposition of the unconverted to the converted, a proof that 
 the unconverted will be restored by Antichrist — Downfal of the 
 mystic Edom — The political revival, restoration, and final union, 
 of Israel and Judah — ^The overthrow of Gog and Magog at the 
 end of the Millennium. 
 
 Ezekiel xxxiv. 1. And the word of the Lord came 
 unto me, saying, 2. Son of man, prophesy against the 
 shepherds of Israel * — should not the shepherds feed the 
 
 ancient people of God. Novv,from Babylon yudah alone returned ; and, so far 
 from afterwards enjoying a state of uninterrupted tranquillity, or (in the lan- 
 guage of the prophet) being freed from the stings of rankling briars and ul- 
 cerating thorns, the yews, after having been subjected to the persecutions of 
 the Syro-Macedonian kings, were at length scattered b}' the Romans over 
 the face of the whole earth. Formerly they were only chastised with whips ; 
 latterly they have been chastised with scorpians. 
 
 Mr. Bicheno 1 believe to be right in referring this prophecy to the yet fu- 
 ture era. oi the restoration of yndah, hut I th'mh him mistaken in supposing 
 that Tjre is the type of some great modern coontnercial nation. He censures 
 Mr. Fraser for conceiving, like myself, tliat the prediction relates to tlie ozrr- 
 throvj of papal £ome, merely because Rome is not a commercial city and 
 possesses not any naval power. I have not read Mr. Fraser's work, and 
 therefore know not by what arguments he supports his opinion : but this, 
 which Mr. Richeno brings against liim, is certainly inconclusive If it prove 
 any thing, it will prove equally that the apocalyptic Babvlon cannot be the Pa- 
 pacy ; because the apocalyptic Babylon is described, like Tyre, as being a great 
 commercial city, and as having many trading vessels out at sea. But I have 
 already most fully stated my reasons for interpreting the prophecy as I have 
 done. The reader will find Mr. Bicheno's arguments in favor of his opinion, 
 in his Signs of the 'tim^s, partiii. p. 172 — 176. 
 
 * The shepherds of Israel.'] These 5A(y!)Aerc/.j must certainly be, not theolo- 
 gical, hut political, shephtrds. Corrupt as the Jewish priests, scribes, and 
 
222 
 
 flock? — 3. But ye feed not the flock. — 5. They art 
 scattered so that they have no shepherd f; and they are 
 become meat to all the beasts of the field when they were 
 scattered. 6. My sheep wander through all the moun- 
 tains, and upon every high hill; yea, my flock is scat- 
 tered upon all the face of the earth, and none searcheth 
 or seeketh after them.-— 9. Therefore, O ye shepherds, 
 hear the word of the Lord: 10. Thus saith the Lord 
 God ; Behold, I am against the shepherds : and I will 
 require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease 
 from feeding the flock ; neither shall the shepherds feed 
 themselves any more: for I will deliver my flock from 
 their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. 
 
 11. Wherefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold I, 
 even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. 
 12. As the shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that 
 he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek 
 out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places 
 where they have been scattered in the dark and cloudy 
 day. 13. And I will bring them out from the peoples *, 
 
 Pharisees, were In the days of our Saviour, I know not with wliat propriety 
 it can be said, that they scattered the flock upon tlie face of the whole earth 
 in the dark and cloudy day, and that from rAe/V hands the flock will be re- 
 quired In the day of their restoration : ^o\',i\\ni the scattering h^vQ spoken of 
 means a literal and not a spiritual dispersion (as that In Isalali HII. 6. All vje 
 like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned every one to his own ivayj, Is mani- 
 fest from its being placed in opposition to the literal gathering together and re- 
 turn of the ye'Ms. Those then, who literally scattered the jfeins, and from 
 ■whose hands they will be required at their restoration, must undoubtedly be 
 the shepherds here Intended. The shepherds therefore must be the Romaii 
 ieast under his sixth and last heads. The passage is exactly parallel witli two 
 prophecies already considered : Jerem. xli. 9 — IT ; and xxiil. 1—8. Abp. 
 Newcome and Ml chaelis justly understand the shepherds In a temporal sense ; 
 but suppose them to mean the king, his counsellors, and tlie heads of the people. 
 These however do not answer to the proplietlc character of the shepherds ,• 
 because they certainly never scattered the Israelites- The terms of the pre- 
 diction are such as to make it vej-y unnatural and far-fetched to say, that the 
 Jewish rulers scattered the people, by so provoking' God with their sins as 
 to induce him to send nations against them who did literally scatter them. 
 See Mr. Lowth In loc. 
 
 I They have no shepherd."] They are under no Independent government of 
 their own ; but have been long subject to the tyranny of shepherds, who 
 preyed upon them, Instead of feeding them. The sceptre Is departed from 
 Judah ; and they have abode many days without a king, and without a prince, 
 and without a sacrifice. See Gen. xlix. 10. and Hosea III. 4. 
 
 * I ivill bring them out from the peoples."] "This prophecy may have been 
 in some degree fulfilled In the return of the j^ews from tlie Babylonish captivi- 
 ty ; but seems still to look further, even to the general restoration of the 
 whole nation, which most of the prophets foretell shall come to pass in the 
 latter days." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
223 
 
 and will gather them from the countries," and will bring 
 them to their own land, and feed them upon the moun- 
 tains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the inhabited 
 places of the country. 14. I will feed them in a good 
 pasture, and u])on the high mountains of Israel shall their 
 ibid be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat 
 pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. 
 15. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie 
 down, saith the Lord. 16. I will seek that which was 
 lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and 
 will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen 
 that which was sick r but I will destroy the fat and the 
 strong ; I will feed them with judgment. 
 
 17. And, as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord 
 God; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between 
 the rams and the he-goats. 18. Seemeth it a small thing 
 unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must 
 tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures ? 
 and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul 
 the residue with your feet ? 19. And, as for my flock, 
 they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet, and 
 they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet. 
 
 20. Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them,. 
 Behold I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and 
 the lean cattle. 21. Because ye have thrust with side 
 and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your 
 horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; 22. Therefore 
 ■will I save my flock, and they shall be no more a prey, 
 and I will judge between cattle and cattle. 23. And I 
 will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed 
 them, even my servant David: he shall feed them, and 
 he shall be their shepherd. 24. And I, the Lord, will 
 be their God; and my servant David shall be a prince 
 among them : I, the Lord, have spoken it. 25. And I 
 will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause 
 the evil beas'.s to cease out of the land : and they shall 
 dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods* 
 
 26. And I will make them and the places round about 
 my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come 
 down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. 
 
 27. And the tree of the field shall yield \w fruit, and 
 
224 
 
 the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe 
 in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord when I 
 have broken the bands of their yoke*, and delivered 
 them out of the hand of those that caused them to serve 
 among them. 28. And they shall be no more a prey to 
 the nations, neither shall the beasts of the earth f devour 
 them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make 
 them afraid. 29. And I will raise up for them a plant of 
 renown:!: ; and they shall be no more consumed with hun- 
 ger in the land, neither shall they bear the shame of the 
 nations any more. 30. Thus shall they know, that I, the 
 Lord their God, am with them ; and that they, even the 
 house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God. 
 31. And ye, my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, 
 and I am your God, saith the Lord God. 
 
 XXXV. 1. And the word of the Lord came unto me, 
 saying, 2. Son of man, set thy face against mount S ir, 
 and prophesy against it, 3. And say unto it. Thus saith 
 the Lord God ; Behold, O mount Scir, I am against 
 thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and 
 I will make thee a desolation and a desolation. 4. I will 
 lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate; and thou 
 shalt know that I am the Lord. 5. Because thou hast 
 had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the 
 children of Israel by the force of the sword, in the time 
 of their iniquity in the end: 6. Therefore, as I live, saith 
 the Lord God, I will prepare thee for blood, and blood 
 shall pursue thee : sith thou hast not hated blood, even 
 blood shall pursue thee. 7. Thus will I make mount 
 Seif a desolation and a desolation ; and cut off" from it 
 him that passeth out, and him that returneth. 8. And I 
 will fill his mountains with his slain men : in thy hills, and 
 in thy vallies, and in all thy rivfcrs, shall they fall that are 
 slain w4th the sword. 9. I will make thee a perpetual 
 
 • when I have broken the bands of their yoke.'] "The same expression which 
 is used concerning f/(e deliverance of Israel out of Eg^pt (l.evit. xxvi. 13. 
 Jereni. ii. 20.) ; tlieir /?;a/ rcsforafzon being' represented as the greater deli- 
 verance of the two. See Jerem. xxiii. 7, 8." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 f Thebeastsof the earth. ~\ Tyrannical empires ; the nations mentioned in 
 the former clause of the verse. See Mr. Lowth's Comment, on ver. 25. 
 
 + A plant of renown.] " The Messiah is often described under the name 
 of the branch, and the rod ov shoot growing out of the stem of Jesse." Mr. 
 Lowth in loc 
 
225 
 
 desolation, and thy cities shall not return : and ye shall 
 know, that I am the Lord. 10. Because thou hast said, 
 These two nations, and these two countries, shall be 
 mine, and we will possess it : whereas the Lord was 
 there. 11. Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, T 
 will even do according to thine anger and according to 
 thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against 
 them; and I will make myself known among them, when 
 I have judged thee. 12. And thou shalt know, that, 
 I the Lord, have heard all thy contemptuous speeches 
 which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, 
 saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to 
 consume. 13. Thus with your mouth ye ha\'e boast- 
 ed against me, and have multiplied your words against 
 me : I have heard. 14. Thus saith the Lord God : 
 When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee deso- 
 late. 15. As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance o£the 
 house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto 
 thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir and all Edom, 
 even all of it; and they shall know, that I am the Lord. 
 xxxvi. 1. And thou, son of man, prophesy unto the 
 mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel *, 
 hear the word of the Lord : 2. Thus saith the Lord God : 
 Because the enem.y hath said against you, Aha, even the 
 ancient high places are ours in possession: 3. Therefore 
 prophesy, and say. Thus saith the Lord God ; Because 
 they have made you desolate, imd swallowed you up on 
 every side, that ye might be a possession unto the resi- 
 due of the nations, and ye are taken up in the lips of 
 talkers, and are an infamy of the people : 4. Therefore, 
 ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God ; 
 Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains and to the 
 hills, to the rivers and to the vallies, to the desolate 
 wastes and to the forsaken cities, which became a prey 
 
 * Te mountains of Israel.'] It is worthy of notice, that the present compa- 
 ratively barren state of Palestine has not unfrequently been ui-ged by infidels 
 ■with contemptuous triumph ag'ainstthe scriptural descriptions of it as a land 
 flowing with milk and honey, a land capable of supporting an astonishing de- 
 gree of population. Here we behold their taunts anticipated with the decla- 
 ration, that He, who can make a fruitful land barren for tlie wickedness of 
 them that dwell therein, can again with equal ease make a barren land fruit- 
 ful when he gathers his ancient people into the country of their fathers. 
 Psalm, cvii. 33—37. See Bp. Newton's Dissert, viii. 3. 
 
 29 
 
226 
 
 and derision to the residue of the nations round about. 
 
 5. Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; Surely in the fire 
 of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the 
 nations, and against all Edom, which have appointed my 
 land unto them for a possession, with the joy of all their 
 heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey. 
 
 6. Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and 
 say unto the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and 
 to the vallies. Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I have 
 spoken in my jealousy and in my furj^, because ye have 
 borne the shame of the nations : 7. Therefore thus saith 
 the Lord God ; I have lifted up mine hand. Surely the 
 nations that are about you, they shall bear their shame. 
 8. But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth 
 your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel : 
 for they are at hand to come. 9. For behold, I am for 
 you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and 
 sown: 10. And I will multiply men upon you, all the 
 house of Israel even all of it : and the cities shall be in- 
 habited, and the wastes shall be builded : 11. And I will 
 multiply upon you man and beast ; and they shall increase 
 and bring forth fruit ; and I will settle you after your old 
 estates, and will do better unto you than at your begin- 
 nings: and ye shall know, that I am the Lord. — 
 
 16. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying; 
 17. Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their 
 own land, they defiled it — 18. Wherefore I poured my 
 fury upon them, — 19. And I scattered them among the 
 nations, and they were dispersed through the countries : 
 according to their way, and according to their doings, I 
 judged them. 20. And, when they entered unto the 
 nations whither they went, they profaned my holy name, 
 when they said to them. These are the people of the 
 Lord, and ai'e gone forth out of his land. 21. And I had 
 pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had 
 profaned among the nations whither they went. 22. There- 
 fore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord 
 God ; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, 
 but for mine holy name's sake, vv^hich ye have profaned 
 among the nations whither ye went. 23. And I will 
 sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the 
 
227 
 
 nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them j 
 and the nations shall know, that I am the Lord, saith the 
 Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their 
 eyes. 24. For I will take you from among the nations, 
 and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you 
 into your own land. 25. Then will I sprinkle clean 
 water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all your 
 filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 
 26. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit 
 will I put within you : and 1 will take away the stony 
 heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of 
 flesh. 27. And I will put my Spirit within you, and 
 cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my 
 judgments, and do them. 28. And ye shall dwell in the 
 land that I gave to your fathers ; and ye shall be my peo- 
 ple, and I will be your God — 31. Then shall ye remem- 
 ber your own evil ways, and your doings that were not 
 good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for 
 your iniquities and for your abominations. 32. Not for 
 your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God ; be it known 
 unto you : be ashamed and confounded for your own 
 ways, O house of Israel — 
 
 xxxvii. 1. The hand of the Lord was upon me, and 
 carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down 
 in the midst of a valley which was full of bones, 2. And 
 caused me to pass by them round about : and behold, 
 there were very many in the open valley ; and lo, they 
 were very dry. 3. And he said unto me. Son of man, 
 can these bones live ? And I answered, O Lord God, 
 thou knowest. 4. And he said unto me. Prophesy upon 
 these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones *, hear 
 
 * Dry bones.'] The extreme accuracy of symbolical prophecy is very re- 
 markable. St. John, wishing' to describe the short extinction of the Sinalcal- 
 dic -ivitnesses which continued only three years and a half, describes them as 
 being slain indeed, but as lying' unburied during- the space of three days and 
 a half; after whicli life entered into them, and they stood again upon tlieir 
 feet (Rev. xi. Z — 10. See my Dissert, on the 1260 years, vol ii. p. 60. 2d edit, 
 p. 62.) Isaiah, on t)»e other hand, exhibiting- to us the long political extinction 
 ofyudah, represents his children, as not only dead, but buried. (Isaiah xxvi. 
 19.) While Ezekiel, treating both of the long extinction of yudah and the yet 
 longer extinction of Israel, calls us to behold the resurrection of a heap of dry 
 bones ; of bones, all whose covering even of putrid flesh had long since de- 
 cayed away ; whose very sinews were wasted : of bones altogether bare ; 
 and, not only altogether bare, but which had so long been bleaching in the 
 
228 
 
 the word of the Lord. 5. Thus saith the Lord God unto 
 these bones ; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, 
 and ye shall live. 6. And I will lay sinews upon you, and 
 will bring up flesh upon }'ou, and cover you with skin, 
 and put breath in you ; and ye shall live, and ye shall 
 know that I am the Lord. 7. So I prophesied as I was 
 commanded : and, as I prophesied, there was a noise ; 
 and, behold, a shaking; and the bones came together, 
 bone to his bone. 8. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews 
 and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered 
 them above : but there was no breath in them. 9. Then 
 said he unto me. Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son 
 of man, and say to the wind; Thus saith the Lord God; 
 Come from the four winds, O breath *, and breathe upon 
 these slain that they may live. 10. So I prophesied as 
 he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and 
 they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding 
 great army. 
 
 11. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones 
 are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, our 
 bones are dried, and our hope is lost ; we are cut off" for 
 our parts. 12. Therefore prophesy, and say unto them. 
 Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, O my people, I will 
 open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your 
 graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13. And 
 ye shall know, that I am the Lord, when I have opened 
 your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of 
 your graves. 14. And I will put my Spirit in you, and 
 ye shall live, and I will place you in your own land : then 
 shall ye know, that I the Lord have spoken it, and per- 
 formed it, saith the Lord. 
 
 15. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 
 16. And thou, son of man, take thee one stick, and write 
 upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his com- 
 
 sun and in tlie wind, that lo, they ivtre very dry. The prophet adds. These bones 
 are the whole house of Israel, Epiirahn, as well as yiidah ; and puts tliese 
 emphatic words into tlie mouth of tint nation, which separately or wholly 
 has heen expecting, expecting, and trampled under foot, more than 25 centuries. 
 Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost. 
 
 * Come from, the four IV in ds, O breath'] "The words fig-uratively repre- 
 sent the restoration of the ^nuish nation from the several countries whither 
 they were dispersed over the world, expressed by their being scattered to- 
 ward all winds." Mr. Lowlh in loc 
 
229 
 
 panions. Then take another stick, and write upon it, 
 For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of 
 Israel his companions * : 17. And join them one to 
 another into one stick , and they shall become one in 
 thine hand. 18. And, when the children of thy people 
 shall speak unto thee, saying-. Wilt thou not shew us 
 what thou meanest by these ? 19. Say unto them, Thus 
 saith the Lord God ; Behold I w'ill take the stick of Jo- 
 seph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of 
 Israel, his fellows, and will put them upon him with the 
 stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall 
 be one in mine hand. 20. And the sticks, whereon 
 thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. 
 21. And sayunto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, 
 I will take the children of Israel from among the nations 
 whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, 
 and bring them into their own land : 22. And I will 
 make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of 
 Israel ; and one king shall be king to them all ; and they 
 shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divid- 
 ed into two kingdoms any more at all. 23. Neither 
 shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, 
 nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their 
 transgressions : but I will save them out of all their dwel- 
 ling places wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse 
 them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their 
 God. 24. And David my servant shall be king over 
 them, and they shall all have one shepherd : and they 
 shall walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, 
 and do them. 25. And they shall dwell in the land that 
 I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fa- 
 thers have dwelt ; and they shall dwell therein, even they 
 and their children, and their children's children, forever : 
 
 * yudah, and the children of Israel his companions — Joseph, and all the house 
 of Israel his companions.'] This remarkable expression might alone ])rove, 
 that the restoration of the house of Israel, so often predicted by the prophets, 
 did not take place, to the degree that it ever will take place, at tlie return 
 from the Babvloniaii captivity. Judah is here mentioned, with the children 
 of Israel his companions ; or Levi, ^e/yam/n, and such individuals of ^^e ten 
 tribes as followed iiim from Babylon : while foseph is separately mentioned, 
 as having all the house of Israel for his companions ; or tJie great body of the ten 
 tribes. After the destruction of Antichrist, Judah so circumstanced, and Jo- 
 scph so circumstanced, are to coalesce into people. 
 
230 
 
 and my sen^ant David shall be their prince for ever, 
 26. And I will make a covenant of peace with them : it 
 shall be an everlasting covenant with them : and I will 
 place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary 
 in the midst of them for evermore. 27. And my taber- 
 nacle shall be with them : and I will be their God, and 
 they shall be my people. 28. And the nations shall 
 know, that I the Lord do sanctify Israel *, when my 
 sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore. 
 
 xxxviii. 1. And the word of the Lord came unto me, 
 saying, son of man, set thy face against Gog of the land 
 of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Mesech, and Tubal f, and 
 prophesy against him: 3. And say. Thus saith the Lord 
 God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the prince of 
 Rosh, Mesech, and Tubal. 4. And I will turn thee back, 
 and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, 
 and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them cloth- 
 ed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with 
 bucklers and shields, all of them liandling swords: 5. Per- 
 sia, Ethiopia, and Libya, with them ; all of them with 
 shield and helmet ; 6. Gomer and all his bands ; the house 
 of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands ; and 
 many people with thee. 7. Be thou prepared, and prepare 
 for thyself, thou and all thy company that are assembled 
 unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. 
 
 8. After many days thou shalt be visited : in the end 
 of years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back 
 
 • The nations shall knoiv, that I the Lord do sanctify Israel.'\ " The conver- 
 sion of tlie Jewish nation, and their being' restoretl to their former state of 
 favour and acceptance with God, will he a work of Providence taken notice 
 of by the heathens themselves, who shall join themselves to the yews, as the 
 church of God and temple of truth. See Cliap. xxxvi. 23." Mr. Lowtii 
 in loc. 
 
 ■j- Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Mesech, and Tubal. ~\ So the 
 j,xx. Ap^ovToe, ^Vu<i, Me-o^, Kcti ©off^. Our translation takes CNT to be a 
 common name, and thence reads chief prince, wliich is a manifest tautology : 
 •wliereas b»k-i is the name of a people, like Mesech, and Tubal. The Russians 
 and Muscovites seem to be colonies of Hosh and Mesech or (as the name may 
 be pronounced) Mosch; but 1 know not, that we have any reason for suppos- 
 inp;- that they are here intended (See Bochart. Geog. Sacr. L. iii. C. 12, 13. or 
 VV ell's Geography of the Old Testament. Vol. i. p. 78.) We may infer from 
 Daniel, that we ought to look for the confederacy of Gog and Magog within the 
 ancient territories of the three Jirst beasts : there accordingly we find the ori- 
 ginal settlements of all the nations enumerated by Ezekiel. But let us forbeaj- 
 to speculate on this obscure subject, further than we have the express war- 
 rant of Scripture. See Abp. Newcome's Ezek. in loc. 
 
231 
 
 from the sword, and gathered out of many peoples, agamst 
 the mountains of Israel, which have been perpetually for 
 a desolation : yet it is brought forth out of the nations, 
 and they are dwelling in confident security all of them. 
 9. Thou shalt ascend, and come like a storm, thou shalt 
 be like a cloud to cover the land, thou and all thy bands, 
 and many people with thee. 10. Thus saith the Lord 
 God ; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time 
 shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an 
 evil thought. 11. And thou shalt say, I will go up to 
 the land of unwalled villages : I will go to them that are 
 at rest, that dwell in confident security, all of them dwel- 
 ling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates ; 
 12. To take a spoil, and to take a prey ; to turn thine 
 hand upon the once desolate places that are now inhabit- 
 ed, upon the people gathered out of the nations, which 
 have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of 
 the land. 13. Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of 
 Tarshish* with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto 
 thee. Art thou come to take a spoil ? hast thou gathered 
 thy company to take a prey ? to carry away silver and 
 gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? 
 14. Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say unto 
 Gog ; Thus saith the Lord God; Shalt not thou knowf 
 in that day when my people Israel dwelleth in confident 
 security ? 15. Yea, thou shalt come from thy place out 
 of the north-parts, thou and many people with thee, all 
 of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a migh- 
 ty army. 16. And thou shalt come up against my peo- 
 ple Israel, as a cloud to cover the land : in the end of 
 
 • The merchants of Tarshish."] I know not who can be here intended ex- 
 oepl the great maritime nation of faithful worshippers, which had so vigorous- 
 ly opposed the tyranny of Antichrist, and which had been so instrumental in 
 bring-ing back the converted division of yudah. It is pleasing to behold them, 
 »t the end of the Millennium, still preserving their ancient character, and 
 refusing to cast in their lot with Gog and Magog, as they had heretofore re- 
 fused to do with Edom. Faithful to their old principles and their old alli- 
 ance, they ask, in astonishment at this new impiety, " Art thou come to take 
 a spoil ? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey ? to carry away silver 
 and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil ?" 
 
 \ Shalt not thou kno'w.'\ Abp. Newcome translates this passage Shalt thou 
 not rise up? instead of Shalt thou not knovi? reading lyp o" the authority ot" 
 the Lxx. who translate the word, as it stood in their copy, eyepStf^. 
 
232 * 
 
 days * it shall be that I will bring thee against my land, 
 that the nations may know me, wlien I shall be sanctified 
 in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. 17. Thus saith the 
 Lord God, Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old 
 time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which pro- 
 phesied in those days many years, that I would bring 
 thee against them ? 18. And it shall come to pass at the 
 same time, when Gog shall come against the land of Is- 
 rael, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in 
 my l\ice. 19. For in my jealousy and in the fire of my 
 wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a 
 great shaking in the land of Israel ; 20. So that the fish- 
 es of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts 
 of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the 
 earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, 
 shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be 
 thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every 
 wall shall fall to the ground. 21. And I will call for a 
 sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith 
 the Lord God : every man's sword shall be against his 
 brother. 22. And I will plead against him with pesti- 
 lence and with blood : and I will rain upon him, and up- 
 on his bands, and upon the many people that are with 
 him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and 
 brimstone. 23. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanc- 
 tify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many 
 nations ; and they shall know, that I am the Lord. 
 
 xxxix. 1. And thou, son of man, prophesy against 
 Gog, and say. Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I am 
 against thee, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Mesech, and 
 Tubal : 2. And I will turn thee back, and leave but the 
 sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from 
 the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains 
 of Israel : 3. And I will smite thy bow out of thy left 
 hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right 
 
 * The end of days."] Since Antichrist is destroyed at the end of days, and 
 since Go^ and Magog likewise perish at the end of days ,- and since Antichrist 
 is destroyed previous to the ccmmenceincnt of tlie Millennium, and Gog and 
 Magog ut the close of it: the end of davs must necessarily mean, as I have else- 
 where arg'ued, that portion of time ivhich begins at the termination rf the great 
 mpostasy of V260 years, and which expires at the end of the Millenniinn. Sec my 
 Dissert, on the 1260 years. Vol. i. p. 85—88, 2d edit. p. 89—92. 
 
233 
 
 hand. 4. Thou shah fall upon the mountains of Israel, 
 thou and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: 
 I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and 
 to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5. Thou shalt 
 fall upon the open field : for I have spoken it, saith the 
 Lord God. 6. And I will send a fire on Magog, and on 
 those that dwell in the isles in confident security ; and 
 they shall know that I am the Lord — 
 
 17. And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord God; 
 Speak unto every feathered fowl*, and to every beast of 
 the field ; Assemble yourselves, and come; gather your- 
 selves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice, 
 even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that 
 ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. 18. Ye shall eat the 
 flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes 
 of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, 
 of all the fatlings of Bashan — 
 
 22. And the house of Israel shall kno^v, that I am the 
 Lord their God from that day and forward. 23. And 
 the nations shall know, that the house of Israel went into 
 captivity for their iniquity : because they trespassed against 
 me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them 
 into the hand of their enemies : so fell they all by the 
 sword. 24. According to their uncleanness and accord- 
 ing to their transgressions have I done unto them, and 
 hid my face from them. 25. Therefore thus saith the 
 Lord God ; Now will I bring again the captivity of Ja- 
 cob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel*, and 
 will be jealous for my holy name ; 26. And they have 
 borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they 
 trespassed against me, when they dwelt in their land in 
 confident security, and none made them afraid. 27. When 
 I have brought them again from the people, and gathered 
 
 * speak unto every feathered Joiul.'] St. John has borrowed the imag'ery of 
 this passage in his description of the overthroiu of the Antichristian Roman con'' 
 Jederacy (Rev. xix. 17 — 21.) : but a mere adaptation will not prove the iden- 
 tity of the tvio confederacies against positive argument. This allegory of 
 Ezekiel has called forth in a very singular manner the critical powers of an 
 unbeliever. Voltaire quoted it to prove, that the ye=ivs of old times eat the 
 flesh of horses and even of men : and, "though cautioned that not ^evis, 
 nor men, but taild beasts and birds, were invited to this feast of slaughter, 
 that is, to the consumption of ti\e slain, yet insisted to the last on his strange. 
 accusation." Michaelis cited by Abp. Newcome in loc. 
 
 30 ' 
 
234 
 
 them out of the lands of their enemies, and have been 
 sanctified in them in the sight of many nations ; 28. Then 
 jjhall they know, that I am the Lord their God, which 
 caused them to be led into captivity among the nations : 
 but 1 have gathered them unto their o\mi land, and have 
 left none of them any more there. 29. Neither will I 
 hide my face any more from them : for I have poured out 
 my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 The principal difficulty in the exposition of this pro- 
 phecy is to ascertain, what people^ and what sovereign^ 
 Ezekiel means by Magogs and Gog : M^hethcr they be 
 the same, or not the same, as the apocalyptic Gog and 
 Magog ; whether their expedition will be undertaken at 
 the beginning, or at the end, of the Millennium. 
 
 Mr. Mede supposes, that they are not the same as the 
 apocalyptic Gog arid Magog, but only typical of them ; 
 that their expedition takes place at tlie beginning, not at 
 the end, of the Millennium ; and that the iiafion intended 
 by them is that of the Turks. The reason, which he as- 
 signs for his opinion, is this : that Ezekiel's Gog and 
 Magog come out of the north-parts, where the posterity 
 of Magog was scattered ; whereas St. John's Gog and 
 Magog are said to be nations, which are in the four quar- 
 ters of the earth : that EzekiePs Gog and Alagog are to 
 be some terrible enemy, which should come against 7^- 
 rael at the time of their return, and should be destroyed 
 by the Lord with a dreadful slaughter; whereas St. John's 
 Gog and Magog are not brought upon the stage till the 
 close of the Millennium*. 
 
 Bp. Newton expresses himself much to the same pur- 
 pose as Mr. Mede, though somewhat more guardedly 
 and indecisively, as if it were possible that the Gog and 
 Magog of Ezekiel might be the same as the Gog and 
 Magog of St. John. " At the expiration of the thousand 
 years,'''' says he, "^^ the restraint shall be taken off from 
 wickedness. For a little season, as it was said before, 
 Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and make one ef- 
 
 * Mede's Works, B. ili. C. 12. and B. iv. Epist. 41, 
 
23B- 
 
 fort more to re-establish his kingdom. As he deceived 
 our first pai'ents in the paradisaical state, so he shall have 
 the artifice to deceive the nations in this millennial king- 
 dom, to shew that no state or condition upon earth is ex- 
 empted and secured from sinning. The nations, whom 
 he shall deceive, are described as living in the remotest 
 parts of the world, in the four quarters of the earth; and 
 they are distinguished by the name of Gog and Magog, 
 and are said to be as numerous as the sand of the sea. 
 Gog and Magog seem to have been formerly the general 
 name of the northern nations of Europe and Asia, as the 
 Scythians have been since, and the Tartars are at present. 
 In Ezekiel there is a famous prophecy concerning Gog 
 and Magog ; and this prophecy alludes to that in many 
 particulars. Both that of Ezekiel and this of St. John 
 remain yet to be fulfilled ; and therefore we cannot be 
 absolutely certain that they may not both relate to the 
 same event ; but it appears more probable that they re- 
 late to different events. The one is expected to take ef- 
 fect before, but the other will not take place, till after the 
 Millennium. Gog and Magog in Ezekiel are said ex- 
 pressly to come from the north-quarters and the north- 
 parts ; but in St. John they come from the four quarters 
 or corners of the earth. Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 
 bend their forces against the Jews resettled in their own 
 land ; but in St. John they march up against the saints 
 and church of God in general. Gog and Magog in Eze- 
 kiel are with very good reason supposed to be the Turks; 
 but the Turks are the authors of the second woe ; and the 
 second woe is past before the third woe; and the third 
 zvoe long precedes the times here treated of. It may 
 therefore be concluded, that Gog and Magog, as well as 
 Sodom and Egypt and Babylon, are mystic names in this 
 book ; and the last enemies of the Christian church are 
 so denominated, because Gog and Magog appear to be 
 the last enemies of the Jewish nation*." 
 
 To these opinions I can by no means subscribe f. In 
 the language of prophecy, a type is usually borrowed from 
 
 * Bp. Newton's Dissert, on Rev. xx. 
 
 f Mr. Lowman and Abp. Newcoms suppose, like myself, that the Geg and 
 Magog of Ezeljiel are tUe same aS the Cog and Magog of St. John. But, ^s 
 
^36 
 
 some state eithct already destroyed or shortly about to be 
 destroyed, and applied to a nation the destruction of which 
 is remotely future. Thus Tyre, Sodom, Babylon, and 
 Egypt, are all used as types of the spiritual empire of the 
 Papacy : and no confusion can arise from such a mode 
 of speaking, because all these powers had either fallen 
 when the predictions that literally concerned them were 
 delivered, or fell shortly after. But, if we suppose Eze- 
 kiePs Gog and Magog to be typical of St. John's Gog 
 and Magog, we must then admit, that a power, the de- 
 struction of which was most remotely future even iu the 
 days of the apostle, may be typical of another power the 
 destruction of which is still more remotely future ; and 
 consequently we must advance through an infinite series 
 of types and antitypes, till we are bewildered in a confu- 
 sion of ideas from which it will be no easy matter to ex- 
 tricate ourselves. Viewing the matter then in this light, 
 I can scarcely think it probable, that St. John would adopt 
 a type so necessarily and so needlessly ambiguous. In 
 the case of his using Babylon as a type, all is perfectly 
 clear: but can an instance be produced in the whole 
 Bible, except the present as it is explained by Mr. Mede 
 and Bp. Newton, in which a ?iation, the very existence 
 of which was future when St. John wrote (supposing 
 with these commentators that Ezekiel's Gog and Magog 
 are the Turks J, is used to typify another nation, the rise 
 of which is yet more remotely future ? 
 
 On this argument however I do not wish to lay too 
 great a stress ; for wdiat appears to myself a complete an- 
 
 they do not bring forward any arg-uments to prove the point, what I am about 
 to say upon it will not be altogether superfluous. See Lowman's Paraph, of 
 the Revelation in loc. and Abp. Nevvcome's Ezek. xxxviii. 8, 22. His grace 
 very justly refers the latter of these verses to Rev. xx. 8, 9 : but I cannot think 
 that the enemies, who assail the yeivs at the close of the Millennium, will be 
 a mixture of Pagans and Mohammedans ; because the religion of Mohammed, 
 or the little horn of the he-goat, will be destroyed previous to the commence- 
 ment of the Millennium. It is worthy of observation, that the Rabbies them- 
 selves consider ^Ae ivar of Gog and Magog to be perfectly distinct from, and 
 posterior to, the destruction of theyourtk or Jioman beast; but they conceive 
 that it will take place soon after their restoration. In this particular, as it 
 appears from the Apocalypse, they are mistaken. Indeed, from the data af- 
 forded them by Ezekiel, they had no right to draw such a conclusion. He 
 simply places the war of Gog and Magog after the destruction of the mystic 
 Edom, and after the restoration of the whole house of Israel ; hoiv long after, 
 he no where determines. Mede's AVorks, B. iv. Epist. 24. 
 
237 
 
 ©mally in the very principle of typical language, may not 
 strike others with equal force : let us see then how far 
 the assertion, that EzekieVs Gog a?id Magog will invade 
 Palestine at the era of the restoration of the Jews, and 
 consequently previous to the commejicement of the Millen- 
 nium, is well founded. Now so far is this assertion from 
 being at all warranted by any thing which the prophet 
 says, that he leads us to conclude tliat the very reverse of 
 it is the truth. He represents both the house of Judah 
 and the house of Israel as having coalesced into one peo- 
 ple ; as having both been restored a considerable length of 
 time, for they are said to have gotten cattle and goods, to 
 have rebuilt their desolate cities, and to be dwelling in 
 the land in all the carelessness of confident security : that 
 is to say, he represents them as being in that very state 
 of confident security, with which God had promised to 
 bless them when the rankling thorn of all their enemies 
 should have been removed *. Such then is the condi- 
 tion, in which the united kingdom of Judah a?id Israel wWi 
 be at the era of t/ie great invasion of Gog and Magog. 
 Now the whole of this certainly implies, that the inva- 
 sion will take place after the Millennium has commenc- 
 ed : but, if it take place after the Millennium has com- 
 menced, we must necessarily fix it either to some inde- 
 terminate period in the course of the Millennium, or to the 
 end of the Millennium. We learn however from St. John, 
 that nothing of the kind will take place in the course of 
 the Millennium : it follows therefore, that it must take 
 place at the end of it. This matter will be yet more de- 
 cidedly evident, if we consider that Ezekiel places the in- 
 vasion of Gog and Magog after the return of the house of 
 Israel, and its coalition with the house of Judah. Now 
 we learn from Isaiah, that Judah will be first restored ; 
 that he will be attacked by a confederacy of God^s ene- 
 mies ; that those enemies will be completely overthrown ; 
 that such as escape will be scattered into all countries ; 
 and that they will be an instrument of bringing about the 
 subsequent restoration oi Israel -f. Since then Gog and 
 Magog are to invade Palestine after the restoration, not 
 
 • Ezek. sxviii.24, 25, 2G. r Isaiah Ixv!, 5-^-24. 
 
238 
 
 only of Judah^ but of Israel ; since consequently they arc 
 to invade it, not previous^hut subsequent, to the commence- 
 ment of the Millennium ; and since they are to invade 
 it after the overthrow of the Antichristian confederacy 
 (which synchronizes with the restoration ofJudah and pre- 
 cedes that of Israel), when the united tribes have long 
 been dwelling confidently in their own land : I see not 
 what they can be except the Gog and Magog of St. John *. 
 But Mr. Mede and Bp. Newton urge, that Ezekiel's 
 Gog a?id Magog come from the north, whereas St John's 
 Gog and Ma'-'og come from the four quarters of the earth; 
 and that the former attack the Jews only, whereas the lat- 
 ter attack the saints and church of God in general. To 
 this I reply, that Ezekiel no doubt represents Gog and 
 Magog as issuing from the northern regions of Rosh, 
 Mesech or Mosoch, and Tubal ; but he likewise repre- 
 sents the invading army as composed, not only of these 
 northern warriors, but of auxiliaries both from the east, 
 the south, and the west. Gog is indeed the chief of the 
 confederacy, but he musters under his banners the future 
 inhabitants of Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya. He comes 
 up as a cloud to cover the land, both he and all his bands 
 from their place out of the north-parts, and many people 
 with him from the three other quarters of the globe. And, 
 when he thus comes up in number like the sand of the 
 sea, against whom is his attack dii£cted ? Ezekiel tells 
 us. The Israelites noxv divelling confidently in their ow?i 
 land ; St. John tells us, The camp of the saints, and the 
 beloved city. Now where is the fancied discordance be- 
 
 * Though Mr. Lowth tliinks wiUi Mr. Mede, that Ezekiel's Gog and Magog 
 are most probably the Turks, yet he fully acknowledg'es that their invasion of 
 Palestine will take place some time after the restoration of the y^Ji's ; a cir- 
 cumstance, wliich amply proves, as 1 shall presently shew, that tliey cannot 
 be either the Turks or the Antichristian confederacy, and consequently that 
 they must be the same as St. John's Gog and Magog. Commenting' on Ezek. 
 xxxviii. 8, Mr. Lowtli justly observes, that "the sense is, that, after the re- 
 turn of the people of iirae/ into their own country and their having lived 
 there for some time in peace and safety, this enemy will think to take ad- 
 vantage of their security, and fiill upon them imexpectedly." He adds, that 
 ver. 11 contains " a description of a people tliat live securely without any ap- 
 prehension of danger Compare Jerem. xlix. .jl." And he further remarks, 
 that hwer. 12. yudea is described as a country that lay desolate before the 
 jfeii's* return into it. After it had been for some time reinhabited, Gog and 
 his associates designed to fall upon it with all their forces," See likewisfe 
 his Comment, on ver. 14. 
 
239 
 
 tween these two accounts ? If the Jews arc to be restor- 
 ed to the countiy of their fathers, and to dwell there dur- 
 ing the period of the Millennium, the beloved city can 
 only be Jerusalem ; and, if the Jews are to be converted 
 to Christianity, they are undoubtedly, though perhaps^ 
 not exclusively, the saints that inhabit that beloved city. 
 It appears then, that both Ezekiel and St. John equally 
 foretell an invasion of Palestine by some powers which 
 they equally term Gog and Magog ; that this invasion is 
 to take place ajiei' the Millennium has commenced ; and 
 that it is totally to fail of success, God raining down up- 
 on the conductors of it fire from heaven *. Such being 
 the case, what authority have we for saying, that the one 
 Gog and Alagog is a type of the other ; that the two in- 
 vasions are two entirely different events ; and that they 
 take place, the one at the beginning and the other at the 
 end of the Millennium ? 
 
 If from this statement it be allowed, that the expedi- 
 tioji of Gog and Magogs predicted by Ezekiel, takes 
 place at the end of the Millennium, and is consequently 
 the same as that predicted by St. John, it will be almost 
 superfluous to shew that Ezekiel's Gog and Magog can- 
 not be the Turks. Nevertheless, that my position may 
 be the more fully established, I shall point out why it is 
 utterly impossible that they should be the Turks, even if 
 we place their expedition at the era of the restoratio?t of 
 the Jews, and immediately before the commencement of 
 the Millennium. Mr. Mede himself supposes (what I 
 think, consistently with the analogy of the apocalyptic 
 phraseology, cannot be doubted f), that the exhaustion 
 of the Euphrates under the sixth vial means the subver- 
 sion of the Turkish empire ; and he inclmes to believe 
 (very justly, in my opinion), that the kings, for whom a 
 way is prepared by this exhaustion, are the Jews, or (to 
 speak more accurately) the Israelites, scattered through 
 the East. Now, if such an interpretation be well-found- 
 ed, it is obvious, that the Ottoman monarchy will be sub- 
 verted previous even to the beginning of the restoration 
 
 * Compare Ezek. sxxviii. 22. with Rev. xx. 9. and see Abp. Newcome's^ 
 Ezek. in loc. 
 t See my Dissert, on the I'i&O yean, vol. ii. p. 344 ("2(1 Editj, p. 381;) 
 
^2i6 
 
 ol' the Israelites, And it is equally obvious, that it will 
 be subverted previous to the hcgmning of the restoration 
 of the Jeivs: because it will be subverted before the con- 
 federacy of the Roman beast, the false prophet, and the 
 kings of the earth, is gathered to Armageddon ; which 
 confederacy will be broken contemporaneoushj with the 
 return of the Jeivs, under the seve?ith vial, and at the close 
 of the 1260 years *. This being the case, it is manifest, 
 that the Turks can have no concern, at least nationally, 
 in an invasion of Palestine at the era either of the resto- 
 ration of Judah or of Israel (even allowing, that the expe- 
 dition of EzekiePs Gog and Magog then takes place) ; 
 and for this plain reason : they will have been broken as 
 a people a certain length of time before either the Jews 
 or the Israelites even begin to return ; and their subver- 
 sion will be instrumental in preparing a way for the Is- 
 raelites at least to return. But, according to Ezekiel, the 
 expedition of Gog and Magog takes place after the resto- 
 ration both of Israel and Judah, and when they have long 
 been dwelling confidently in their land : the restoration of 
 Israel however does not take place till after the over- 
 throw of the Antichristian confederacy ; and the very 
 gathering together of the Antichristian confederacy to the 
 place of its destruction does not commence till after the 
 overthrow of the Ottoman empire f : what possible con- 
 nection then can Gog and Magog have with the Turks, 
 whether we place their expedition before or after the 
 Millennium ? A commentator, who lives in the present 
 day, might further observe, that we have little cause in- 
 deed to believe that Turkey will ever head% a grand ex- 
 pedition like that of Ezekiel's Gog and Magog: but mere 
 probabilities or improbabilities, deduced from the passing 
 aspect of affairs, and as yet hid in futurity, I am unwil- 
 ling to build upon ; we have sufficiently decisive scrip- 
 tural evidence without them. 
 
 * Compare Dan. xi. 40, 45 xii. 1, 6, 7 — Rev. xiii. 5. xvi. 17.xlx. 19, 20. 
 
 t Isaiah Ixvi. 19, 20— Rev. xvi. 12—16. 
 
 I It is not impossible, that some individual Turks and other Mahommedans 
 may be in the army o? Antichrist ; but this falls very far short of Ezekiel's de- 
 scription, which plainly represents Gog, whoever he may be, as the head of &n 
 expedition undertaken by various different nations. 
 
241 
 
 Here it may be asked, How are we to understand the 
 reference which Ezekiel himself gives us to others who 
 have foretold this same war of Gog and Magog, if we 
 place it at the end rather than at the beginning of the 
 Millennium ? " Thus saith the Lord : Art not thou he, 
 of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the 
 prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many 
 years, that I would bring thee against them?" Mr. Mede 
 is of opinion, that Ezekiel alludes in this passage to 
 Jsaiah xxvii. 1. with the two last verses of the foregoing 
 chapter; to Jeremiah xxx. 23, 24; to Joel iii. 1. and the 
 following verses ; and to Micah v. 5, 6, 9, 15. In all 
 these references I certainly think Mr. Mede mistaken, 
 because I believe that the xvar of Gog and Magog will 
 take place at the close of the Millennium, whereas the 
 events predicted in the passages to which he refers will 
 come to pass immediately before the commenceinent of 
 the Millennium. Isaiah xxvii. 1. relates to the subversion 
 of the Egyptian government^ at the period of the restora- 
 tion ofJudahy and during the time of unexampled trouble 
 mentioned by Daniel*. Jeremiah xxx. 23, 24. relates 
 to the overthrow of the Antichristian confederacy at the 
 same era, that is to say, at the end of the 1260 years: and, 
 after it is thus overthrown, the prophet foretells, in per- 
 fect accordance with Isaiah f, the restoratioji of Ephraim 
 or the Jdngdom of the ten tribes. Joel iii. 1. likewise 
 relates to the overthrow of the Antichristian confederacy. 
 And Micah v. 5, 6, 9, 15, equally relates to the same 
 event, describing the chief of the Roman Babylon, as he 
 is elsewhere described by Isaiah |, under the mystic 
 name of the Assyrian. On the whole, since \yq. undoubt- 
 edly find nothing in our present Hebrew Scriptures that 
 at all resembles the remarkable prophecy of Ezekiel 
 respecting Gog and Magog ; whence Eichhorn naturally 
 observed, that, as far as we can discern, this great piece 
 is entirely new and peculiarly his own \ : on the whole, I 
 
 * Compare Isaiah xi. 10 — 16. xvU. xvlii. six. xxvl. 19, 20, 21. xxvii. 1, 6, 7, 
 12, 13. Dan. xi. 42, 43. xii. 1, 2, 7. 
 
 f Isaiah Ixvi. 7 — 24. i Isai.ah xiv. 4, 25. 
 
 § " In 7iiany poems, as far as we can discern, he is really new. The great, 
 piece of Gog and Magog is his own." Eiclihoi-n's Introduct. to tlie Old Tes- 
 'amont. cited bv Ahp. Newrome, Pref to E/picicU p. x'cvii. 
 .31 
 
242 
 
 sa\ , Abp. Newcomers opinion seems to mc the most i^ro- 
 bable, that the prophets of Israel, aJUided to by Ezekiel, 
 are those, " whose predictions on this subject were never 
 committed to writing, or are now lost *." Yet I think 
 we may discover a remote hint of the war of Gog and 
 Magog in Daniel vii. 12, 13, 14. The prophet, having 
 foretold the destruction of the great Roman beast in all 
 his members and of his tyrannical Uttle horn, in other 
 words, of the Antichristian confederacy of the beast, the 
 false prophet, and the kings of the Latin earth, informs 
 us concerning the rest of the beasts j namely the Babyloni- 
 an, the Medo- Persian, and the Macedonian, that, although 
 their dominion should be taken away, yet their lives 
 should be prolonged for a season and a time ; and he 
 afterwards declares, that he beheld in the night visions 
 the son of man cominsr in the clouds of heaven. How 
 then can we understand the prolongation of the lives of 
 these three beasts after the overthrow of the Roman con- 
 federacy by the Ancient of days, and to the period of a 
 certain subsequent revelation of the Son of man, except 
 that the future inhabitants of those three empires should 
 be preserved after the destruction of Antichrist, and dur- 
 ing the millennian reign of the saints, and that they should 
 at length make their appearance upon the stage as a se- 
 cond grand Antichristian confederacy termed by Ezekiel 
 and St. John Gog and Magog ? 
 
 Still on a subject, so confessedly difficult and myste- 
 rious as that respecting which we are treating, the reader 
 may continue to have his doubts, and may be disposed 
 to ask ; TFhy may not J^zekiePs Gog and Magog be, not 
 indeed the Turks, for that is plainly impossiblcj but the 
 grfcat Antichristian confederacy which rvill be destroyed 
 at the era of the restoration of Judah ? They have cer- 
 tainly many points of resemblance in comnioji : they both 
 invade Palestine from the north ; they both attack the 
 Jews ; and they both perish partly supernattwally, and 
 partly by internal discord^. TFhy then may we not sup- 
 pose them to be the same: and consequently that Mr. Mede 
 is at least right in that part of his scheme, which makc^ 
 
 Traiislalion of Ezekiel in loc. 
 1 Compare Ezck. xxwiii. 'Jl, 22. with Zccliar. xii. 4. xiv. 3, 4, 12, 1"^ 
 
243 
 
 the Gog and Magog of Ezekiel to be entirely different 
 from the Gog and Magog o/*/SV. John ? 
 
 To this I answer, that the two expeditions of Ezeki- 
 el's Gog and Magog and the Antichristian coiifederacij 
 certainly resemble each other in these points, although 
 even in these the resemblance is far from being perfect ; 
 for Gog ami Magog invade Palestine, not merely from 
 the norths but (as it appears from the description of their 
 allies) from the east, the south, and the west, that is (in 
 the language of St. John) from the four quarters of the 
 earth ; whereas the Antichristian confederacy invades Pa- 
 lestine solely from the north, and, after passing through it 
 in tire full tide of success, subjugates Egypt, Libya, and 
 Ethiopia*. But, whatever /?arfi«/ resemblance there may 
 be between the two expeditions, since they differ in the 
 three grand points of time, oi persons, and of circumstan- 
 ces, it is not easy to conceive how they can be identifi- 
 ed — Their difference in time has already been shewn. 
 The Antichristian expedition takes place during the resto- 
 ration of Judah, and prior to the restoration of Israel : 
 the Magogian expedition takes place after the restoration 
 both of Judah and Israel, after they have coalesced into 
 one people, after they have been long securely dwelling 
 in their own land under David their prince — Their dif- 
 ference in the persons, respectively engaged in each, is 
 even yet more remarkable. The Jezvs begin to be re- 
 stored at the close of the 1260 years ; the power of the 
 Roman beast and his little horn begins to be broken at 
 the same period ; the confederacy of the Roman beast, the 
 false prophet, and the khjgs of the Latin earth, begins 
 to be overthrown under the seventh vial, likewise at the 
 same period ; the infidel king, or the atheistical Anti- 
 christ of the last days, comes to his end also at the same 
 period ; the Jews themselves, as we have seen, under- 
 stand the mystic Edom, which the Lord destroys at the 
 time of their restoration, to mean the Roman empire: 
 from all which we must unavoidably conclude, that the 
 great confederacy, which is destined to be overthrown at 
 the close of the 1260 years, and which is noticed more or 
 
 * Dan. xi, 43. • 
 
2U 
 
 less explicitly by almost every prophet who foretells the 
 return of Judah, will be composed of powers situated 
 within the limits of the anciejit Roman empire. If then 
 Ezekiel's Gog a?id Magog be the same as the Antichris- 
 t'lan confederacy, we may expect to find both them and 
 their allies described as being Roman powers, and as an- 
 swering exactly to the ten-horned beast, the little horn or 
 false prophet, the infidel king, and his associated vassal 
 kings. Not the least similarity however can be discover- 
 ed between the persons who compose the confederacy of 
 Gog and Magog, and those who compose the confederacy 
 of Antichrist, On the contrary, as the Antichristian con- 
 federacy is plainly a Ro??ian one ; so the Alagogian con- 
 federacy does not comprehend a siiigle Roman power, but 
 is tntirely composed of the relics of the three first em- 
 pires, which Daniel assures us should have their lives pre- 
 served after the destruction of the Roman beast, though 
 their dominion of power of injuring the Church should 
 be taken away. According to Ezekiel, the confederacy 
 of Gog will consist of Magog, Rosh, Mesech, Tubal, Per- 
 sia, Cash, Phut, Gomer, and Togarmah. Now let the 
 reader consult the map which Bochart has prefixed to the 
 first book of his Sacred Geography, and he will find eveiy 
 one of these nations seated within the limits of the three 
 first great empires, although some of their colonies doubt- 
 less extended beyond them. In Asia Minor he will per- 
 ceive Gomer, Tubal, and Togarmah ; close to Tubal he 
 will see the Moschic hills; a small distance further east he 
 will find 7?o^A or Rhos; due north oi Rosh, Mesech, Gog 
 and Magog ; in Syria, another colony of Magog ; in the 
 region of Babylon and in Arabia, Chut or Cush * ; and 
 
 * " Nos asserimtis omnes Chusi filios, quos hic nominat IMoses habitasse 
 circa mare Fersicum, prseter Nemi'odum, quern Babylonem migrasse testatur 
 Moses" (Bochart. Geog. Sacr. L. iv. C. 3.). In after ages tlie posterity of 
 this patriarch astonishingly spread themselves. We find them in Colchis upon 
 the Euxine ; in Egj'pt; in Thrace, in Thessaly, and in Greece, the seat of the 
 third great empire ; in Babylon and in Persiy, the two other great empires. 
 (See Bryant's Anal. vol. iii. p. 443—601.). " The laird of Cush in holy Writ 
 (commonly, but by mistake, rendered Ethiopia J is properly th.at district of 
 Arabia, where the sons of Cush fir.st settled. But, as this race multiplied 
 exceedingly, and spread, not only into otlier parts of Arabia, but eastward, 
 round the head of the Persian gulph, to the confines of Susiana ; and west- 
 ward, across the Arabi.an g'ulj^h, into the region since called Abyssinia, which 
 extended along the coast from Plolemais to Arsinoe, and inland \o the very 
 
245 
 
 iu Africa immediately west of Egypt, Phut. Peres or 
 Persia, which completes EzekiePs catalogue, was itself 
 the head of the second of the four great empires. Having 
 thus ascertained the situation of these powers, let the rea- 
 der next fix his eye upon Palestine, and imagine a joint 
 invasion of it to take place from all these coiuitries at 
 once ; and he will plainly see how exactly St. John's ac- 
 count tallies with Ezekiel's, that is to say, he will per- 
 ceive that an invasion of Palestine jointly undertaken by 
 the nations wnich Ezekiel enumerates would necessarily 
 come from the four quarters of the earth, north, south, 
 east, and west. Since then the Antichristian confederacy is 
 a Roman one, and since the Magogiaii confederacy is not 
 a Roman one, they certainly cannot be the same. And, 
 since the Magogian confederacy is composed of the re- 
 lics of the three first empires, since the lives of those 
 empires are to be preserved after the fall of the Roman 
 empire, and since the confederacy itself is not to be formed 
 till some time after the restoration of Israel; I know not 
 what it can be except the confederacij , which St. John 
 similarly terms Gog and Magog ^ — The circumstantial 
 difference between the Antichristian and the Magogian 
 confederacies will close the argument. The Antichristian 
 
 sources of the Nile : the land ofCush Is often taken more larg-ely for a great 
 tract of country, not only comprehending the whole of Arabia Felix, but hav- 
 ing for its eastern boundary the branch of the Tigris below the town of Asia, 
 and for its western boundary the Nile." Bp. Horsley's Letter on Isaiah 
 xvili. p. 93. 
 
 * The discussion of this interesting propliecy serves to shew, that I was 
 right in lassigning the expedition, foretold in Dan. xi. 40—45, to the infidel 
 king, and not (with Bp. Newton) to the king of the North. Since that expedi- 
 tion is contemporary with the restoration ofjudah at the close of the l^SQ years 
 (Dan. xii. 1,7.), it can only be an expedition undertaken hy some Soman 
 poiver, which shall then either be the last head of the beast, or at least his most 
 povjerfil horn. Now the ivilfil king is allowed on all hands to be a JRotnan 
 poxver, whether he be the empire in general, the Pope, or Antichristian France; 
 whereas the northern king seems plainly not to be a Rovian poiver. But the 
 expedition during the restoration of the yeivs is to be undertaken by a Ronnan 
 povier ; and the luilful king, confessedly a Fonan po^xer, is at this very era 
 engaged in hostilities with the northern king : hence it is plain, that, in or- 
 der to avoid a palpable contradiction, we must ascribe the expedition in 
 question, not to the northern king, but to the viilful king. Thus, wiiat the con- 
 cinnity of Daniel's prophecy evidently required, is proved by the instrumen- 
 tality of another prophecy. The only expedition into Palestine at the era of 
 ■the restoration of the ^eius is the Rovian one ■ the expedition therefore, here 
 predicted by Daniel, must undoubtedly be ascribed to the Antichristian Ro- 
 vnn king, not to his northern antagonist. Sec my Dissert, on the 1260 yxars, 
 yol. i. p. 352—356 (2d Edit. p. 384—400.) 
 
246 
 
 confederacy will at first prove successful, will overrup 
 the whole of Palestine, will take Jerusalem, will conquer 
 Egypt, and will reduce the Libyans and Cushim to some 
 kind of subjection*. The Magogian confederacy will 
 not be at all successful : at least Ezekiel does not give 
 us the slightest hint that it will ; and St. John, if it be 
 allowed that he speaks of it, explicitly declares, that, 
 although it will encamp around the beloved city, it shall 
 not be able to take it, but shall be destroyed by fire from 
 heaven. Of the Antichyistian confederacy a third part 
 will be spared and converted, and when scattered through 
 all nations will be instrumental in bringing about the re- 
 storation of Israel^. Of the Magogian confederacy a sixth 
 part only will be spared; for, although God will not even 
 then forget to be merciful, yet the superior guilt of this 
 last, as having the fate of its audacious precursor before 
 its eyes, and therefore not being able to plead an equal 
 degree of ignorance, will doubtless deserve a more se- 
 vere punishment I . 
 
 The sum of the whole is this : since the Magogian con- 
 federacy of Ezekiel can neither be the Ottomon empire^ 
 nor the Roman Antichristian confederacy ; since it does 
 not commence its expedition till so long afi;er the resto- 
 ration both of Judah and Israel^ that they have coalesced 
 
 * Isaiah xi. 15. xix. 4. xxvii. 12. Dan. xl. 41 — 45. Zechar. x. 11. xiv. 2. 
 
 f Compare Zechar. xiii. 8. and Isaiah Ixvi. 19. 
 
 % Ezek. xxxix. 2. It is proper however to observe, tliat the word v.'ifti, ren- 
 dered by our translators ta leave a sixth part, is rendered by the lxx as 
 meaning' to lead, by the Vulgate to bring out, and by the Targum to seduce. 
 But in this case the difference will still be no less strikint^ between the fate of 
 "Ae fao covfederaciea ; for of the one we are plainly taug-ht that a third part 
 shall be spared, whereas of the other we may infer that o// will perish (See 
 Ezek. xxxviii. 21, 22. xxxix. 4, 5, 9—16.). Buxtorf translates the word, to 
 drag ivith a six-pronged hook, supposing- it to allude to Chap, xxxviii. 4 : and 
 R. D. Kimchi, to afflict vsith a six-fold punishment, supposing- it to allude to 
 the six plag-ues mentioned in Chap, xxxviii. 22. The fact is, the word only 
 occurs once in the whole Bible : hence we have this uncertainty of interpre- 
 tation, and hence I did not think myself authorized in rejecting our present 
 translation. Yet, when we recollect that the destruction of Gog is at the end 
 of the Millennium, and immediately before the general day of judgment, I 
 cannot refrain from thinking, that our translation (although I have retained 
 it) is of all the otiiers the least likely to be the right one. The most obvious 
 derivation of KCB' is nevertlieless from cu' six; whence I much incline to 
 think, that Buxtorf's interpretation is the best. Kimclii's seems too much 
 laboured, and too far fetched. .A.bp. Newcome retains, as I have thought 
 ;t most prudent to do, our common English version. 
 
247 
 
 into one people, and are dwelling securely in their land; 
 since therefore it must begin to act after the commence- 
 ment of the Millennium ; since we have every reason to 
 believe, that it will not begin to act during the Millenni- 
 um, so that one part of the Millennium should precede 
 and the other succeed it ; since consequently it will not 
 begin to act till the close of the Millennium ; since we 
 find it composed of the relics of the three first empires, 
 the lives of which Daniel declares shall be preserved af- 
 ter the overthrow of the Roman beast ^ and therefore during 
 the Millennium, for there is no other period during which 
 they can be preserved, if they be preserved beyond the 
 destruction of the Roman beast ; since St. John predicts, 
 that, at this very era, namely the close of the Millennium^ 
 when we may expect the expedition of Ezekiel's Gog and 
 Magog to be undertaken, a similar expedition will be un- 
 dertaken by a confederacy which he similarly terms Gog 
 and Magog, and that too from the regions marked out 
 by Ezekiel, the four quarters of the earth ; and lastly, 
 since both Ezekiel and St. John agree, that each expedi- 
 tion will totally fail of success, and that the respective 
 Gog and Magog of each will be miraculously destroyed 
 by lire from heaven : when the whole argument in short 
 is considered in all its bearings, what conclusion can we 
 arrive at, except that the Gog and Magog of Ezekiel arc 
 the Gog and Magog of St. John? 
 
 Having now sufficiently anticipated any objections that 
 might have been made, so far as Gog and Magog are con- 
 cerned, to my proposed interpretation of the present pro- 
 phecy, I shall proceed to discuss it at large. And here 
 I apprehend, the parallel prediction of St. John will be 
 found of essential use, inasmuch as it treats of the game 
 CAcnts in precisely the same order. The only difference 
 indeed JDetween the two prophets is this : Ezekiel pecu- 
 liarly directs our attention to the children of Israel, and 
 connects the history of their restoratioji with, the successive 
 confederacies of Antichrist and Gog and Magog, the one 
 previous to the commencement of the Millennium, the other 
 at its close ; whereas St. John, writing the prophetic his- 
 lor}' of the church in general, docs not notice the Jews 
 otherwise than as involved in that churchy but simnlv 
 
248 
 
 gi\ es us an account of tlie overthrow first of the Romatt 
 Antickristian confederacy y and afterwards of the Magogian 
 confederacy. 
 
 I consider the whole of Ezekiel from the SA^th to the 
 39th chapter inchisive, as one continued prophecy : for, 
 if we attempt to divide these evidently connected chap- 
 ters from each other, where shall we draw the line? 
 where shall we say that the one prophecy ends, and that 
 the other begins ? 
 
 Ezekiel first notices the dispersion of Israel through the 
 tyranny of their shepherds or rulers, who, after grinding 
 their faces and treating them in all respects as a conquered 
 and debased people, instead of ruling them with gentle- 
 ness and consulting their political happiness, at length be- 
 came instruments in the hand of God of dispersing them 
 through all countries. From these shepherds, or (in li- 
 teral exactness of speech) from their successors and re- 
 presentatives the powers of the Roman empire in its last 
 or broken form, God, at the time of the end, will require 
 his flock. He will set his face against these tyrannical 
 shepherds, who have so long persecuted his scattered 
 people, and will cause them to cease from feeding the 
 flock. He will not suffer them to feed themselves any 
 more, or to harrass, like their Roman predecessors, the 
 wretched Jeivs M'ith endless extortion and oppression : 
 but he ^\•ill deliver his flock from their mouth that they 
 may be no more meat for them. As soon as the ap- 
 pointed period shall arrive, he will search his sheep, and 
 bring them back into their own land from all the coun- 
 tries whither they have been dispersed. He will feed 
 them in a good pasture upon the mountains of Israel, by 
 the rivers, and in all the inhabited places : and will set 
 up one shepherd over them, the mystical David, even 
 Christ the Lord. 
 
 At this era howc\'cr of their first restoration, or the 
 restoration of Judah, the prophet notices a remarkable 
 distinction in the flock, which will serve to explain an 
 apparent contradictoriness of some prophecies to others- 
 We are generally led to conclude, that the Jews will be 
 eouA'crted previous to their restoration, but Zechariah un- 
 
249 
 
 doubtedly speaks of their being converted after it*; 
 How then are we to reconcile this discrepancy ? Ezekiel 
 teaches us, that at the time of the restoration God will 
 judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and 
 the he-goats. He will make a marked distinction be- 
 tween the fat cattle f, and between the lean cattle ; be- 
 tween those that trample down the pastures and foul the 
 waters, and between those who are constrained to eat 
 what is trodden down and to drink what is fouled ; be- 
 tween those that push with the shoulder and thrust with 
 the horn, and between the weak who are scattered abroad 
 by this imnatural cruelty of their fellows. Yet both 
 these different descriptions of cattle are equally consider- 
 ed as the fock ; and are placed in contradistinction to the 
 beasts of the earthy or the tyrannical Roman powers under 
 the influence of Antichrist and the false prophet. By the 
 goats therefore we must obviously understand certaiji un- 
 converted Jervs ; and by the ranis^ such as are conve7'ted. 
 Now it manifestly appears from the tenor of the prophe- 
 cy, that both the rams and the goafs will equally return to 
 Palestine ; and that, when they have thus returned, there 
 will be a bitter dissention between them, the goats la- 
 bouring by all possible means to injure and expel the 
 rams. It further appears from other prophecies, that the 
 rams or converted Jews will be restored by the instru- 
 mentality of the then prevailing protestant European mar- 
 itin'M power ; and that Antichrist and his host will at that 
 period invade Palestine, and occupy Jerusalem. Thus 
 we learn, from comparing these several prophecies with 
 each other, xh^tfour different descriptions of persons will 
 then be collected together in Palestine : the great mari- 
 time power ; the converted Jews ; the Antichristian con- 
 federacy ■> and the unconverted Jews. The converted Jews 
 
 * See Zechar. xii. 9—14. 
 
 j- Abp. Newcome translates Chap, xxxiv. ver. 16. / ixsill keep the fat and 
 the strong, instead oi'Itoill destroy the fat ar.d the strong ; substitutipg" noCN for 
 the common reading ■i>C!j'f< This alteration appears to me verv injudicious, 
 for the prophet is plainly distinguishing between th.e fat and the strong and 
 the lean and the feeble. Accordingly the distinction in question is afterwards 
 pointed out again, and the reasons for making it are stated at large. See ver, 
 20. and ver. 17--23. But liis grace's alteration entirely destroys the distinc- 
 tion ; and. as it seems to me, materially injures, instead of improving, the 
 s*nse of the passage. 
 
 32 
 
250 
 
 we know will be restored by the agency of the marit'une 
 power: and how are we to account for the appearance of 
 the unconverted Jexvs^ at the same time, in the same coun- 
 try, and in direct opposition to their converted brethren^ 
 except by supposing that they are in league with ^w?z'- 
 christ^ and have been brought back into their own land 
 for political purposes by his instrumentality? In the dread- 
 ful conflict many of the goats will perish ; for God hath 
 declared, that he will destroy the fat and the strong : 
 many also of the rams will be slain; for God hath taught 
 us, that, although he will surely chasten his people in 
 exact measure, yet he will not make a full end of them, 
 as he will of the nations their enemies. But at length, 
 w^hen the appointed time shall come, such goats as sur- 
 vive the slaughter of their fellows will perceive their er- 
 ror, and repent them of their sins. They will look upon 
 him whom they have pierced, and mourn for him as one 
 that mourneth for his only son *. They will acknow- 
 ledge their fault to their converted brethren^ and will be 
 reconciled to them. And they will jointly form only one 
 flock, under one shepherd, David their king. 
 
 Thus, so far as matters of this kind are capable of 
 proof, the opinion of Bp. Horsley, or at least something 
 very like his opinion, seems to be proved f. " I have an 
 unfashionable partiality," says he in his letter to Mr. 
 King, " for the opinions of antiquity. I think there is 
 gi'ound in the prophecies for the notion of the early 
 fathers, that Palestine is the stage, on which Antichrist, 
 in the height of his impiety, will perish. I am much 
 inclined too to assent to another opinion of the fathers ; 
 that a small band of the Jexvs will join Antichrist, and be 
 active histriiments of his persecutions :{:. And I agree with 
 
 * Zechar. sii 10. 
 
 I Vide supra C.inimcnt. on Propli. VII. 
 
 i- Tl)e reader will find tlie viirious sentiments of the fathers, relative to 
 Antichrist, collected tog'ctlier by Calmrt in his Dictionarv. Among' other 
 matters he mentions the supposition, " that the ^eivs will be the first, who will 
 declare for him, acknowledii^e his dominion, and enjoy the principal employ- 
 ments in his g'overnment. He will win upon them by his delusions, his ca- 
 resses, and false miracles, and by all tlie appearances of goodness, piety, and 
 clemency; so that tliis unhappy people will take him for tlie Messiah, and 
 will flatter themselves with the expectation of seeing the kingdom of Isra^ 
 restored, by his means, to its former splendor." 
 
251 
 
 you, that it is not unlikely, that this small part of the 
 Jews will be settled in Jerusalem, under the protection 
 oi Antichrist, But it is not to the settlement of this apos- 
 tate band, that the prophecy of the I8th chapter of Isaiah 
 relates. — The people, brought as a present to Jehovah to 
 mount Zion, will be brought thither in a converted state. 
 The great body of the Jeivish people will be converted 
 previous to their restoration ; and, being converted, will 
 be assisted, by Christian nations of the uncircumcision, 
 in settling themselves in their ancient seats. I agree with 
 you, that some passages, in Zechariah in particular, make 
 strongly for this notion of a previous settlement of worse 
 than unconverted Jexvs. But I am not without hope, from 
 the same passages, that the great body of the converted 
 Jews returning will find those first settlers, broken off from 
 the Antichristian faction, in a state of deep contrition, and 
 ready to receive their brethren with open arms. So the 
 whole race shall be offered to Jehovah at mount Zion, and 
 not one of Israel shall be lost. And so far, but no farther, 
 I can admit an inchoate restoration of the Jews, antecedent 
 to their conversion ; and a settlement of a small body of 
 them, in the Holy Land, by the Antichristian powers ^ 
 
 In some points of less moment I cannot quite agree 
 with his Lordship, but I am persuaded that his opinion 
 itself is perfectly well-founded. He seems to consider 
 the destruction of Antichrist as h€\\\^ past, and the uncon- 
 verted Jews as being penitent, at the time when their con- 
 verted brethren arrive under the protection of the mari- 
 time power. Whereas Ezekiel leads us to conclude, 
 that the goats will war upon the rams ; and, not content 
 with acquiring a settlement themselves, will do all in their 
 power to prevent their return. He likewise inclines to 
 believe, that only a small body of the Jews will be re - 
 stored in their unbelieving state by Antichist ; and that 
 
 In ray Dissertation on the \2&0 years, I have conjectured that tlie primary 
 revelation of Antichrist took place in the year 1789, when the French revolu- 
 tion commenced. It is somewhat remarkable, that Peter Dailly was of opi- 
 nion, that, according- to his observations. Antichrist must appear in this very 
 year 1789 ; but 1 know not on what his observations were grounded (Cal- 
 met's Diet. Vox Antichrist). It is equally remarkable, that the present head 
 of ^Ae Antichristian faction has recently been hailed by the ye-.u.? of Frankfort 
 as their long-expected Messiah. 
 
253 
 
 bj^far the greatest part of them will be brought back by 
 the maritime power in a believing state. But when we 
 consider the almost exclusive influence which Antichris* 
 tian France alreadi/ extris over the papal Roman empire ; 
 and when we further consider, that at the close of the 
 1260 7jears it will have succeeded in completely organ- 
 izing a vast confederacy of the whole of that empire*: 
 we can scarcely suppose, that its power will be so limited 
 as to extend only to a small body of the Jews. After the 
 formation of this tremendous confederacy^ it is not easy to 
 conceive how the protestant maritime power will be able 
 to take under its protection any Jeivs excepting such as 
 are out of the reach of the confedei'acy ; those, for in- 
 stance, who will then be scattered throughout Britain, 
 Sweden, the maritime parts of Russia, America, Africa, 
 and the coasts of Asia. Those therefore, who are within 
 the reach of the confederacy, that is to say, those who are 
 scattered through the papal Roman empire, can hardly be 
 thought to constitute only a small body ; unless some 
 very remarkable emigration of the Jews from popish into 
 protestant countries should previously take place. This 
 opinion seems to be confirmed by what Zechariah says 
 on the subject. He represents the Jews, who will be 
 converted after their return, as constituting a very large 
 hody of men; so large indeed, that, were we not prevented 
 by the^explicit declarations of other prophecies, we should 
 be in danger of fancying, as some actually have fancied, 
 that the general conversion of the whole house of Judah 
 would succeed their restoration. What proportion in- 
 deed the converted Jeivs restored by the mariti?ne power 
 will bear to the unconverted Jexvs restored by Aritichrist, 
 it is impossible, and therefore it would be absurd, to at- 
 tempt to determine: but we may venture to say, arguing 
 at least from probabilities, that a very large body will be 
 brought back by each; and that the goats, or unconverted 
 Jews, will attempt, in conjunction with the armies ofAn- 
 
 * See Joel iii. 2. Zechar. xn, 2. Dan. ii. 34, 35, 44, 45— vii. 11. Rev. xvi. 
 14. — six- 18, 19, 20. The general expression of the beast, the false prophet^ 
 and the kings of the earth, that is the Latin earth or habitable world (oijcsi^e^rj) 
 as the Romans were wont to term their extensive dominions, certainly teaches 
 tis, that the confederacy will comprehend the 'xhoie empire of the revived beas* 
 or the whole papal Maman empire. 
 
255 
 
 tichrist, to prevent the return of the ramsy or the uncon- 
 verted Jexvs. 
 
 The prophet havmg foretold the restoration of Jiidah 
 partly in a converted and partly in an uiiconverttd state, 
 is now directed to set his face against Edom and mount 
 Seir, as he had been commanded in the beginning of his 
 prediction to set his face against the tyrannical shepherds 
 who had scattered and oppressed God's flock. We hiive 
 already seen, that Edom is used as a type of the Roman 
 empire ; and, from his immediate connection in the pre- 
 sent instance with the restoration ofJudah^ we are obliged 
 to conclude that he typifies that empire here also. Edom 
 then is the same as the shepherds ; who scattered the Jexvs 
 while Pagan, and who will be destroyed in the act of 
 fighting against them while papal. Against this Roman 
 Edom God will stretch out his hand, and will make him 
 a desolation and a desolation ; because he has had a per- 
 petual hatred against the children of Israel^ and has shed 
 their blood by the force of the sword, in the time of their 
 iniquity in the end, or during the period of their last (that 
 is, their present) apostasy and dispersion. The Jexvs in- 
 deed were evidently objects of the divine wrath ; they 
 were scattered throughout all countries; and were a pro- 
 verb and a by-word among the nations: but that circum- 
 stance afforded no warrant fiDr the atrocities of popish 
 persecutors, nor did the wickedness of Judah exculpate 
 them from blood-guiltiness. Edom therefore is prepared 
 for blood. Since, in every period of his history from his 
 first rise to the formation of his last Antichristian confe- 
 deracy^ he hath not hated blood, even blood shall pursue 
 him*. In the pride of his political speculations he had 
 
 * Behold Edom in liis pagan days of conquest and ambitious affectation of 
 universal empire. '• After this I saw in the night-visions, and behold, a fourth 
 beast, dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly ; and it liad great iron 
 teeth : it devoured, and brake in jiieces, and stamped the residue with the 
 feet of it" — A^iew liim next while under tiie influence of his little apostate 
 horn. " It was g'iven unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome 
 them"— Consider the adulttrous church, for whose polluted communion he ex- 
 changed his ancient pagan abominations, and to wliom he hath ever lent him- 
 self an indefatigable tool of persecution •'! saw tlie woman drunken with 
 the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus""-See liim 
 lastly, under the united influence of Antichrist and the false prophet, intro- 
 ducing, as yet unsated with slaughter, new scenes of havock, blood, and de- 
 solation, ills, haxder, the i?ijidel iijig, «' shall go forth with great fuiy to d.e- 
 
'254, 
 
 said. The land of these two nations Israel and Judah shall 
 be mine : I will possess it : I will make it a province of 
 my empire^ conveniently subservient from its central situ- 
 ation to my future schemes of yet more extensive aggran- 
 disement. Thus he : whereas the Lord was there. The 
 Lord, who hath heard all his contemptuous speeches 
 ag.dnst Israel, and all his words which he hath multi- 
 plied even against the Lord, M-ill suddenly go forth in 
 his great wrath to judge him. As he rejoiced at the 
 desolation o^ Jacob, so shall he become a desolation of 
 desolations while the whole earth rejoiceth. 
 
 The fall of Edoni shall be the rise of the house of Israel. 
 They, who had long been scattered through all the lands, 
 monuments of God's vengeance ; they, who had profaned 
 his holy name by calling themselves his people, when they 
 were manifestly rejected of him : shall now be restored, 
 though not for their own sakes ; and shall be admitted 
 into a new and spiritual covenant with the Lord. Judah 
 and Israel shall both be brought back ; but the house of 
 Judah first. Although they have so long been politically 
 and nationally dead, that they may be compai^ed, not 
 merely to putrid corpses, but to dry bones: yet they shall 
 assuredly rise again, bone to his bone; shall resume their 
 rank among the nations ; and shall become, in the highest 
 sense of the words, God's own people, a peculiar people 
 zealous of good works, a people constantly living under 
 the gi"acious influences of the Holy Spirit. Judah and 
 Israel however shall be no longer, as formerly, tivo king- 
 doms. As the two sticks became o?ie in the hand of Eze- 
 kiel ; so shall the two kindred nations become one in the 
 hand of the Lord. And, as the literal David reigned first 
 over Judah separately, and afterwards over Judah and Is- 
 rael iomtly ^ ; so shall the mystical David ^wiiX. reign over 
 
 stroy, and with a bitter religious anathema to devote many to utter destruc- 
 tion. He shall plant the curtains of his pavilion between the seas in the g'lo- 
 rious holy mountdn : and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and 
 the women ravished. And I saw the beast," and the false prophet, " and 
 the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war 
 against him that sat on tlie horse, and against his army." 
 
 After such multiplied deeds of violence and bloodslied, can we wonder, 
 that vengeance, however slow-footed, should at length overtake him ? " He, 
 that killeth with the sword, must be killed with th^ sword," £dom hath 
 not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue him, 
 
 * 2 Sam. V. 5. 
 
255 
 
 the House qfJudali for a short time separately, and after- 
 wards over Judali and Israel now for ever united. When 
 Judah is restored and converted, and when the confede- 
 racy of Antichrist is broken ; " then shall come all the 
 tribes of Israel unto David, and shall speak, saying; 
 Thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel ; 
 thou shalt henceforth therefore feed the Lord's people; 
 thou shalt be a captain over Israel ; thou art the anointed 
 king, the Messiah of God*." With this united kingdom 
 the Lord will make an everlasting covenant of peace. He 
 will establish them, and set his sanctuary in the midst of 
 them for evermore. He will be their God, and thev shall 
 be his people. 
 
 We have seen the restoration of Judah partly in a con- 
 verted and partly in an unconverted state, the destruction 
 of the mystic Edom or the Roman Antichristiafi faction, 
 the political resurrection of Judah and Israel after their 
 long national extinction, their coalition into one people un- 
 der one king the Messiah, and their unexampled prospe- 
 rity and happiness in the land of their fathers while living 
 in covenant with God and beholding his sanctuary in the 
 midst of them : we have seen, in short, the cotnmejice- 
 ment of that season of blessedness, which is usually deno- 
 minated the Millennium, The prophet now directs our 
 attention to a new enemy of the Church, whom he styles 
 Gog and Magog, That this nexv enemy cannot be the 
 same as Edom or the Roman confederacy, is plain, both 
 from the time when he makes his appearance, namely at 
 some indefinite period after the commencement of the 
 Millennium ; from the countries whence he draws his 
 forces, which are xvithout the limits of the papal Roman 
 empire ; and from various circumstances in his prophetic 
 history, which do not accord vv^ith the prophetic history 
 of the Roman Antichristian confederacy as elsewhere de- 
 tailed: to all which may be added the improbability, 
 that Ezekiel, after he has described the downfal of that 
 confederacy under the mystic name of Edom exactly at 
 the era where other predictions had taught us to look 
 for it, the era of the restoration of Judah ; should no\; 
 afresh describe its do\vnfal under a different mystical 
 
 "= ?. Sam. r, 3, 2, ". 
 
256 
 
 flame not used b}^ any one of the ancient prophets, and 
 that too at an era vvhere no othei* predictions had taught 
 us to look lor it, an era posterior to the restoration of the 
 house of Israel imd. the coinmencement of the Mille7mium, 
 Kzekiel only teaches us, that the expedition of Go^ and 
 Magog should be undertaken, when the united Jews and 
 Israelites were dwelling in careless security luider David 
 their king in their own !and, when they had spread them- 
 selves through all the unwalled villages, when they had 
 become rich in cattle and goods, and when living under 
 the immediate protection of heaven they little expected 
 any assault from man ; in other words, that it should be 
 undertaken at some indefinite period after the commence- 
 ment of the Millennium : but St. John is more explicit ; 
 he fixes this period to a thousand years ^ either natural or 
 prophetic, alter the season of great blessedness has com- 
 menced. The confederacy however of Gog and Magog 
 will be even less successful than that of Antichrist. While 
 these apostates surround the beloved city, fire from hea- 
 ven will descend upon them ; God will rain upon them 
 an overflo^^ing rain, a rain of hail- stones, fire and brim- 
 stone ; and, agitated with the madness of terror, those, 
 who escape the devastating tempest, will turn every man 
 his sword against his brother. Yet even of these incor- 
 rigible ofienders will God mercifully spare the sixth 
 part^, as he had already spared the third part oithe Anti- 
 christian confederacy. Thus magnifying his great name, 
 will the Lord shew to all nations, that, as he scattered the 
 children of Israel for their sins, so, after he has restored 
 them at once to their own land and to the privileges of 
 his covenant, he will cause them to dwell in confident 
 security, and will suffer none to make them afraid. 
 
 Thus, it appears, that Ezekiel arranges the events 
 W'hich are to take place during the latter days.^, in the 
 
 * I have already stated the uncertain meaning of the word Ntt'tf ; and liave 
 observed, that, liovvever it be translated, the present argument will not be at 
 all affected. Whether Gog and Magog be totally destroyed, or whether a 
 sixth part he \eh,\hcTe \v\\\ he no correspondence between their fate and 
 Xh'aX of the Antichristian confederacy; of wliich Isaiah teaches us that a consi- 
 derable number shall be spared, while Zechariah more definitely limits that 
 number to a third part of tiie wliole. See Isaiah Ixvi. 19. and Zechar. xiii. 8. 
 
 f The latter davs, or the end of the days, denotes in the Old Testament that 
 portion of time, lahich begins at the tennir.aticTi of th^ great Apostasy tf 126(* 
 
257 
 
 following* order : 1. The restoration of yi/r/ir/z partly in 
 a converted and partly in an unconverted state, and the 
 contemporary war between the two parties supported by 
 their several allies the maritime nation and Antichrist ; 
 2. The destruction of Antichrist and his Roman colleagues 
 luider the general mystic name of Edom, and the Lord's 
 vindication of himself for restoring so stubborn a race as 
 that of the Jews ; 3. The national resurrection of Jndah 
 and Israel to ^vhich the overgrown power of Antichrist 
 was the only impediment, and their everlasting union 
 under the mystic David their prince; 4. The commence- 
 ment of the Millennian season of blessedness and tran- 
 quillity ; 5. The destruction of Gog and Magog, 
 
 Precisely the same order is observed by St. John, with 
 this only difference, that, treating of the Church at large, 
 he does not particularly notice the restoration of Israel^ 
 but contents himself with only obscurely intimating that 
 the exhaustion of the symbolical Euphrates, or the over- 
 throw of the Ottoman empire, should prepare a way for 
 the kings from the east : 1. The gathering together of 
 the Antichristian confederacy to Megiddo in the land of 
 Palestine, the country which extends 1600 furlongs, the 
 region between the two seas ; 2. Its overthroAV in that 
 country by the miraculous intervention of the personal 
 Word of God; 3. The first resurrection, either literal 
 or symbolical *, of the saints, and their reign with Christ 
 during the period of the Millennium; 4. The expedition 
 and destruction of Gog and Magog. 
 
 It is impossible to avoid being struck with the exact 
 correspondence between Ezekiel and St. John, in tlie 
 order of their respective details. If then the arguments, 
 \\hich I have already adduced, be ^vell-founded ; and if 
 this correspondence be allowed to exist : we must come 
 to the conclusion, that the Gog and jMagog of Ezekiel 
 are the same as the Gog and Magog of St. John ; ancf 
 consequently that their expedition will take place, not 
 before the coinmen cement, but at the end of the Millen- 
 nium. 
 
 years, and ivhich expires at the end of the Millennium and at the consimimatian 
 of all things. See the meaning of tli is plirtise discussed in iDy Dissert, on tjir 
 1260 years, Ch:\\>.'n\. ■ . 
 
 * See my Dissert, on the 1260 rears, Vol. I. p. 56. Note ■■ (2d TAUt.}. 
 
■25B 
 
 PROPHECY XXVI. 
 
 Descriptive character of the potvers that will compose the Anti- 
 christian confederacy— The progress of Antichrist to Palestine 
 —His overthrow there. — The restoration of Judah during a time 
 of great trouble at the close of the 1260 years. 
 
 Dan. ii. 40. The fourth kingdom shall be strong as 
 iron : forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdu- 
 cth all things : and, as iron that breaketh all these, shall 
 it break in pieces and bruise. 41. And,' whereas thou 
 sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay and part of 
 iron, the kingdom shall be divided : but there shall be 
 in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou saw- 
 est the iron mixed with the miry clay. 42. And, as the 
 toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so 
 the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken. 
 43. And, whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry 
 clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: 
 but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is 
 not mixed with clay, 44, And in the da3's of these kings 
 shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall 
 never be destroyed : and the kingdom shall not be left to 
 other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all 
 these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever : 45. Foras- 
 much as thou sawest— 34, — till that a stone was cut out 
 without hands, which smote the image upon his feet 
 that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 
 35. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, 
 and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like 
 the chaiF of the summer threshing floors ; and the Avind 
 cai'ried them a^vay, that no place \i-as found for them : 
 and the stone, that smote the image, became a great 
 mountain, and filled the whole earth. 
 
 vii. 7. After this I saw in the night- visions, and, be- 
 liold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong 
 exceedingly ; and it had great iron teeth : it devoured 
 and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the 
 feet of it : and it was diverse from all the beasts that went 
 before it; and it had ten horns. 8. I considered the horns, 
 
259 
 
 and behold, there came up among them another little 
 liorn, before whom there were three of the first horns 
 plucked up by the roots : and behold, in this horn there 
 were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking- 
 great things. 9. I beheld, till the thrones were set, and 
 the ancient of days did sit: — 10. — the judgment was set, 
 and the books were opened. 11. I beheld then, because 
 of the voice of the great words which the horn spake : I 
 beheld even till the beast w^as slain, and his body des- 
 troyed, and given to the burning flame — 23. The fourth 
 beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall 
 be diverse from all kingdoms, and shiill devour the whole 
 earth, and shall tread it down, and brake it in pieces. 
 24. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings 
 that shall arise : and another shall rise behind them, and he 
 shall be diverse froiji the first, and he shall subdue three 
 kings. 25. And he shall speak great words by the side 
 of the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most 
 High, and think to change times and laws : and they shall 
 be given into his hand until a time, and times, and the 
 dividing of a time. 26. But the judgment shall sit, and 
 they shall take away his dominion, to consume, and to des- 
 troy it unto the end. 27. And the kingdom, and dominion, 
 and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, 
 shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; 
 whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all domi- 
 nions shall serve and obey him. 
 
 Rev. xiii. 1. And I stood upon the sand of the sea, 
 and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads 
 and ten horns, ^nd upon his heads the name of blasphe- 
 my — 3. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded 
 to death ; and his deadly wound was healed ; and all 
 the world wondered after the beast — 5. And there was 
 given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blas- 
 phemies ; and power was given unto him to practise for- 
 ty and two months. 6. And he opened his mouth in 
 blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his 
 tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7. And it was 
 given unto him to make war with the saints, and to over- 
 come them : and power was given him over all kindreds, 
 ;md tongues, and nations — 10. He, that leadeth into cap- 
 
260 
 
 tivity, sIkiII go into captivity : he, that killeth with the 
 sword, must be killed with the sword. 
 
 11. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the 
 earth ; and he had t^vo horns like a lamb, and he spake 
 as a dragon. 12. And he exerciseth all the power of the 
 first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them 
 Avhich dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose 
 deadly Avound was healed. 13. And he doeth great won- 
 ders, that he may make fire come down from hca\"en on 
 the earth in the sight of men. 14. And he deceiveth them 
 that dwell on the earth by those miracles Avhich he had 
 power to do in the sight of the beast, saying tothemtnat 
 dwell on the earth, that they should make an image for 
 the beast, which had the Avound by a sword, and did live. 
 15. And he had power to give life unto the beast's 
 image, that the beast's image should both speak, and 
 cause that as many as would not worship the beast's 
 image should be killed. 16. And he caused all, both 
 small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive 
 a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads : 17. And 
 that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, 
 or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 
 18. Here is M'isdom. Let him tliat hath understanding 
 count the number of the beast. For it is the number of 
 a man. And his number is 666. 
 
 xvii. 1. And there came one of the seven angels which 
 had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, 
 Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the 
 great whore, that sittcth upon many Avaters : 2. With 
 whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, 
 and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk 
 with the w'me of her fornications. 3. So he carried me 
 awa}' in the spirit into the ^vilderness : and I saw a A\^oman 
 sit upon a scarlet- coloured beast full of names of blasphe- 
 my, having seven heads and ten horns. 4. And the 
 woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and 
 decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having 
 a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and filthi- 
 ness of her fornication: 5. And upon her forehead was a 
 name written. Mystery, Babvlcn the great, the mother of 
 harlots and abominations of the earth. 6. And I sav/ the 
 
261 
 
 woman drunken wdtli the blood of the saints, and witli 
 the blood of the martyrs of Jesus : and, when I saw her, 
 I wondered with great admiration. 7. And the angel 
 said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel ? I will tell 
 thee the mystery of the M-oman, and of the beast that car- 
 rieth her, \\hich hath the seven heads and ten horns. 
 8. The beast, that thou sawest, was, and is not ; and 
 shall ascend out of the abyss, and go into perdition : and 
 they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names 
 were not written in the book of life from the foundation 
 of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is 
 not, and yet is. 9. And here is the mind which hath 
 wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on 
 which the woman sitteth. 10. And they are seven kings: 
 five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come ; 
 and, when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 
 11. And the beast, that was, and is not, even he is that 
 eighth king, and yet is of the seven ; and he goeth into 
 perdition. 12. And the ten horns, wJiich thou sawest, 
 are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; 
 but receive power as kings in one season with the beast. 
 13. These have one mind, and shall give their power and 
 strength unto the beast. 14. These shall make war with 
 the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them : for he 
 is Lord of lords, and King of kings ; and they that are 
 with him are called, and faithful and chosen. 15. And 
 he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where 
 the whore sitteth, are peoples and multitudes, and nations 
 and tongues. 16. And the ten horns, which thou sa^vest 
 upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make 
 her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall 
 burn her with fire : 17. For God hath put in their hearts 
 to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom 
 unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 
 18. And the woman, which thou sawest, is that great 
 city which reigneth over the kings of the eartli. 
 
 Dan. xi. v36. And (after the second persecution of the 
 men of understanding, or the era of the Reformation) a 
 king shall do according to his will ; and he shall exalt 
 himself, and magnify himself above every god; and shall 
 .speak mai-vellous things against the God of gods ; and 
 
262 
 
 shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished : for 
 that, that is determined, shall be done. 37. Neither shall 
 he regard the God of his fathers, nor him who is the de- 
 sire of women, nor regard any god : for he shall magnify 
 himself above them all. 38. Yet, when he is established 
 in power, he shall honour tutelary gods together with a 
 god ; even, together with a god whom his fathers knew 
 not, he shall honour them with gold, and silver, and pre- 
 cious stones, and pleasant things: 39. And he shall practice 
 prosperously/. Unto the upholders of his tutelary gods, 
 together with the foreign god ^vhom he shall acknow- 
 ledge, he shall multiply glory : and he shall cause them 
 to rule over many ; and he shall divide the land among 
 them, selling it for a price. 
 
 40. And at the time of the end a king of the south 
 shall butt at him : and a king of the north shall come 
 against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with 
 horsemen, and with many ships. Yet he shall enter into 
 the countries, and shall overflow, and pass over. 41. He 
 shall enter also into the glorious land ; and many coun- 
 tries shall be overthrown : but these shall escape out of 
 his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the 
 children of Ammon. 42. He shall stretch forth his hand 
 also upon the countries : and the land of Egypt shall not 
 escape ; 43. But he shall have power over the treasures 
 of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of 
 Egypt : and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at 
 his steps. 44. But tidings out of the east and out of the 
 north shall trouble him : therefore he shall go forth with 
 great fury to destroy, and to devote many to utter des- 
 truction under the pretext of religion. 45. And he shall 
 plant the curtains of his pavilion between the seas in 
 the glorious holy mountain : yet he shall come to his 
 end, and none shall help him. 
 
 xii. 1. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the 
 great prince which standeth for the children of thy peo- 
 ple : and there shall be a time of trouble such as never 
 was since there was a nation even to that same time: 
 and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one 
 that shall be found written in the book. 2. And man}' 
 that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake ; some to 
 
263 
 
 everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting 
 contempt. 3. And they that be wise shall shine, as the 
 brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn many 
 imto righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever. 4. But 
 thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, 
 unto the time of the end ; many shall run to and fro, and 
 knowledge shall be increased. 
 
 5. Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold there stood 
 other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, 
 and the other on that side of the bank of the river. 6. And 
 it was said to the man clothed in linen, which was above 
 the waters of the river. Until how long shall be the end 
 of the wonders ? 7. And I heard the man clothed in 
 linen, which w^as above the waters of the river, when he 
 held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and 
 sware by Him that liveth for ever, that it shall be until a 
 a time, and times, and a half ; and, when he shall have 
 finished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these 
 wonders shall be finished *. 8. And I heard, but I under- 
 stood notf. Then said I, O my Lord, what is the end of 
 these things? 9. And he said, Go thy way, Daniel, for the 
 words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 
 10. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried ; 
 but the wicked shall do wickedly : and none of the wicked 
 shall understand ; but the wise shall understand. 1 1 . And 
 from the time of ^le taking away of the daily sacrifice 
 even by the setting up of the abomination that maketh 
 desolate, there shall be computed 2i thousand two hundred 
 and ninety days. 12. Blessed is he that waiteth, and 
 Cometh to a thousand three hundred and five and thirty 
 days. 13. But go thou thy way until the end : for thou 
 shalt rest, and stand in thy lot, at the end of the days. 
 
 * And, ivhcn he shall have finished to scatter the power of the holy people, all 
 these wonders shall be finished.^ Mr. Wintle ti'anslates this passage, And, after 
 the accomplisliment of the dispersion of the holy people, all these things shall be 
 fulfilled. For his reasons, which are founded on a shg'ht alteration of the 
 text, see his note in loc. The sense according; to either translation will be 
 the same, though Mr. Wintle's, if his alteration be allowable, is more clear. 
 He understands the passage in the same manner that I do ; namely, that the 
 jfews will begin to be restored at the close of the 1260 years. See Mr. Lowth 
 in loc. 
 
 ■f I heard, but I understood ■not.'] " I did not understand what time was allot- 
 ted for bringingto pass this event, namely the restoration of the Jewish nation." 
 Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
264 
 
 Rev. xvi. 12. And the sixth angel poured out his vial 
 upon the great river Euphrates ; and the water thereof 
 was dried up, that a way might be prepared for the kings 
 Avho are from the rising of the sun. 13. And I saw three 
 unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the 
 dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the 
 mouth of the false prophet. 14. For they are the spirits 
 of demons working signs, to go out to the kings of the 
 earth even of the whole habitable world "'% to gather them 
 together to the ^var of that great day of God Almighty. 
 15. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watch- 
 eth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and 
 they see his shame. And he gathered them together f 
 into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon 
 (or the ciu'sing to utter destruction at Megiddo.) 
 
 17. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the 
 air : and there came a great voice out of the temple of 
 heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18. And 
 there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings : and 
 there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men 
 were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so 
 gi'eat. 19. And the great city was divided into three 
 parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and great Baby- 
 lon came in remembrance before God, to give unto 
 her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his -WTath. 
 20. And every island lied away, and tlie mountains were 
 not found. 21. And there fell upon men a great hail out 
 of hea^'en, every stone about the weight of a talent; and 
 men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail : 
 for the plague thereof was exceeding great. 
 
 xviii. 1. And after these things I saw another angel 
 come down from heaven, having great power ; and the 
 earth was lischtened ^vith his dorv. 2. And he cried 
 
 * The tv/io/e habitable ivorld.'] Tluit is, the Rovian empire, whicli was wont 
 to best} led oAsj or ■ztcctx, jj oikh/^cvij. See Parkhurst's Greek Lex. ox o<;cy,M.fVi;, 
 aiul Mede's Daniel's "Weeks, ver. 26. p. 70.5. 
 
 j He gathered them together.'] Or, as tlie passat^e mig-lit perhaps be more 
 properly translated, thev, that is tlie unclean sp'ivits, gathered them together. 
 According- to a well known rule of the Greelvg-rammar, "tlie verb sing-ular 
 fwrr/xyey ag-rees with the neuter plural XKxdaprx T^vivy.x.r:if whose office it 
 was to collect the king's (ver. 14.) This is observed by Daubuz." Arch- 
 deacon "Woodhoiise's Apocalypse translated ^ p. 410. 
 
265 • 
 
 mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the gi*eat 
 is fallen, is fallen; and is become the habitation of devils, 
 and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every un- 
 clean and hateful bird. 3. For all nations have drunk of 
 the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kuigs of 
 the earth have committed fornication with her, and the 
 merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abun- 
 dance of her delicacies. 4. And 1 heard another voice 
 from heaven, saying, Come out of her my people, that 
 ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of 
 her plagues. 5. For her sins have reached unto heaven, 
 and God hath remembered her iniquities. 6. Reward 
 her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her dou- 
 ble according to her works ; in the cup which she hath 
 filled fill to her double. 7. How much she hath glorified 
 herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sor- 
 row give her. For she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, 
 and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 8. There- 
 fore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourn- 
 ing and famine : and she shall be utterly burned with fire > 
 for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. 9. And 
 the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication 
 and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her and lament 
 for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning; 
 10. Standing afar off" for the fear of her torment, saying, 
 Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city ! for 
 in one hour is thy judgment come. 11. And the mer- 
 chants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her ; for 
 no man buyeth her merchandise any more. 12. The 
 merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and 
 pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, 
 and all thyme wood, and all manner of vessels of ivory, 
 and all manner of vessels of mosi precious wood, and of 
 brass, and iron, and marble. 13. And cinnamon, and 
 odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and 
 oil, and fine flour, and wheat; and beasts, and sheep, and 
 horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men — - 
 21. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great 
 millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with 
 violence shall that great city Babylon be thro^vn down, 
 'and shall be found no more at all — 23. For thv mer- 
 3.4 ' 
 
266 
 
 chants ivere the gr^at men of the earth: for by thy sorce- 
 ries were all nations deceived. 24. And in licr was found 
 the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were 
 slain upon the earth, 
 
 xiv. 17. And another angel came out of the temple 
 which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18. And 
 another angel came out from the altai', which had power 
 over fire ; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the 
 sharp sickle, saying, Tlirust in thy sharp sickle, and 
 gather the clusters of the vine of the earth ; for her grapes 
 are fully ripe. 19. And the angel thrust in his sickle into 
 the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it 
 into the great wine-press of the wrath of God. 20. And 
 the wine-press was trodden without the city ; and blood 
 came out of the wine-press even unto the horse-bridles^ 
 by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. 
 
 xix. 11. And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a 
 white horse ; and he that sat upon him was called Faith- 
 ful and true ; and in righteousness he doth judge, and 
 make war. 12. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on 
 his head were many crowns : and he had a name written 
 that no man knew but he himself: 13. And he was 
 clothed with a vesture dipped in blood : and his name is 
 called The Word of God. 14. And the armies which 
 were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed 
 in fine linen white and clean. 15. And out of his mouth 
 goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the 
 nations : and he shall rule them with a rod of iron ; and 
 he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of 
 Almighty God. 16. And he hath on his vesture and on 
 his thigh a name "\vritten. King of kings and Lord of 
 lords. 17. And I saw an angel standing in the sun ; and 
 he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that 
 ily in the midst of heaven. Come, and gather yourselves 
 together unto the supper of the great God ; 18. That ye 
 may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and 
 the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of 
 them that sit on them, and the flesh of all, free and bond, 
 small and great. 19. And I saw the beast, and the kings 
 of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make 
 war against him that sat on the horse, and against his 
 
267 
 
 army. 20. And the beast was taken, and with him the, 
 false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with 
 which he deceived them that had received the mark of 
 the beast, and them that worshipped his image : these both 
 were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 
 21. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him 
 that sat upon the horse, which proceeded out of his 
 mouth : and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. 
 
 XX. 1. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, 
 having the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand. 
 2. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, 
 which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand 
 years, 3. And cast him into the abyss, and shut him up, 
 and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the 
 nations no more till the thousand years should be ful- 
 filled : and after that he must be loosed a little season. 
 
 4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and 
 judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls 
 of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and 
 for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the 
 beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark 
 upon their foreheads or in their hands : and they lived, 
 and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5. But the 
 rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years 
 were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6. Blessed 
 and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection : on 
 such the second death hath no power, but they shall be 
 priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him 
 a thousand years. 
 
 7. And, when the thoiSsand years are expired, Satan 
 shall be loosed out of his prison ; 8. And shall go to 
 deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of 
 the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to 
 battle : the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 
 9. And they went up on, the breadth of the earth, and 
 compassed the camp of tlie saints about, and the beloved 
 city : and fire came down from God out of heaven, and 
 devoured them. 10. And the devil that deceived them 
 was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the 
 beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented 
 day and night for ever and ever. 
 
268 
 
 11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat 
 on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away ; 
 and there was found no place for them. 12. And I saw 
 the dead, both small and great, stand before God ; and 
 the books were opened — 
 
 "xxi. 1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth : for 
 the first heaven and the first earth were passed away ; and 
 there was no more sea. 2. And I John saw the holy city 
 new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, 
 prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 
 
 Dan. vii. 12. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they 
 had their dominion taken away : yet their lives were pro- 
 longed for a season and a time. 13. I saw in the night- 
 visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with 
 the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days; 
 and they brought him near before him. 14. And there 
 was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that 
 all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his 
 dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass 
 away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Nearly every prophecy, that treats of the 7'estoration of 
 the Jews, treats likewise of the contemporary overthrow 
 of so jne great and impious combination ofGod^s enemies: 
 yet, were it not for the predictions of Daniel and St. John, 
 we never could have leamt, previous to the event, either 
 who those ene?mes of God are, or at what era the restora- 
 tio?i oftheJexvs would take place.* Hence they are pecu- 
 liarly valuable and curious ; and hence, from their near 
 relation to each other, I have thought it best to arrange 
 theni together, considering them as forming jointly only 
 one grand prophecy in nature and style perfectly distinct 
 from all other prophecies. 
 
 It would be superfluous for me here to enter into a full 
 examination of them, inasmuch as I have already discus- 
 sed them at large in another woi-k *. I shall therefore 
 only briefly observe, that we learn from them, that tht 
 
 * See a DUsertation on the Prophecies relative to the V2Q0 years. 
 
269 
 
 confederacy of God's enemies, about to be destroyed -at 
 the time of the return of Judah, will consist of the ten- 
 horned beast imder his last head ; an infidel power ^ which 
 should spring up after the era of the reformation, and 
 which at the time of the end should be so powerful as to 
 take the lead in the confederacy, thence warranting the 
 conjecture, a conjecture which recent events have proved 
 to be just, that sooner or later it would become identified 
 with the last head of the beast ; an ecclesiastical ponver, 
 which is represented under the various symbols of a little 
 horn, a tivo-horned lamb-like beast, and a harlot, and which 
 is sometimes styled a false prophet, and is sometimes con- 
 sidered as the spiritual part of the great mystical city Ba- 
 bylon ; and lastly certain kings of the earth, who are ap- 
 parently in a state of vassalage to these main promoters 
 of the confederacy. All these are said to come to their 
 end, and to be destroyed, after the expiration of a certain 
 period, which contains 1260 years. And wc further 
 learn, by comparing prophecy with prophecy, that they 
 will be destroyed in Palestine : that is to say, in some 
 region, which extends 1600 furlongs, as Palestine does; 
 in some region situate between two seas, as Palestine is ; 
 in the neighbourhood of the glorious holy mountain, or 
 mount Zion; and in the more immediate neighbourhood 
 of Megiddo, which is a tow^n of Palestine. Now, at the 
 close likew ise of this self-same period of 1260 years, we 
 are taught by Daniel, that the Jews are to be restored. 
 Whence it is evident, since the restoration of the Jews is 
 declared to be contemporary with the overthrow of the 
 confederacy thus particularly described by Daniel and 
 St. John, that the confederacy, which they describe, is 
 the same as that which all the other prophets represent 
 as being similarly overthrown in the very same countr}" 
 and at the very same era. Nor is this all : in order, as- 
 it were, to preclude the possibility of error, Daniel and 
 St. John at once describe the confederacy of which they 
 treat, as being overthrown by some divine interposition ; 
 ^nd depict its overthrow by the same imagery, as that 
 used by the other prophets who treat of the subject. A 
 stone, cut out without hands, smites the gigantic image 
 upon his feet J the ten-horned beast and his little horn are 
 
270 
 
 supeniaturally destroyed ; the mjidel king comes to hiis 
 end, apparently by no mere human instrumentality ; and 
 the ten-horned beast under his last head^ together with his 
 associates the false prophet and the kings of the earthy is 
 routed in a conflict with the victorious Word of God. 
 So again : does Isaiah represent a mighty conqueror as 
 ti'eadiffig the wdne-press, and as sprinkled with the blood 
 of his enemies ? so likewise does St. John *. Does Joel, 
 in a similar manner, exhibit that last dreadful slaughter 
 under the image oi a vintage? so likewise does St. Johnf. 
 Does Ezekiel symbolize one of the members of the con- 
 federacy by an opulent and corrupt trading city ? so like- 
 wise does St. John %. 
 
 Who are the enemies, thus hieroglyphically exhibited 
 to us by Daniel and St. John, it is perhaps not very dif- 
 ficult at the present day to determine. The ten toes of 
 the image, and the fourth beast after he has put forth his 
 ten horns, can only mean the Roman empire in its last or 
 divided state ; and we may add from St. John, the Roman 
 empire tinder its last or septimo-octave head^ by which I 
 think we must necessarily understand the Pat7'icio- Carlo- 
 vingian emperorship. The little horn, the false prophet, the 
 tivo-horned beast, the harlot, and the spiritual city Baby- 
 lon, are alike the ecclesiastical empire of the Pope, or the 
 adulterous church of Rome, The infidel tyrant, who was 
 to spring up after the Reformation, I scruple not asserting 
 to be France, whether democratical or imperial. And 
 the kings of the earth and the -whole world are, according 
 to the phraseology both of the Apocalypse and of the 
 Roman writers themselves, the kings of the bestial em- 
 pire, which was wont to be styled Ecumene, or the world. 
 But, since these are the enemies who (we are taught by 
 Daniel and St. John) will compose the confederacy about 
 to be destroyed at the era of the restoration of Judah, they 
 must likewise be the enemies who compose the confede- 
 racy which (all the other prophets teach us) will be 
 destroyed at the same era. 
 
 It is interesting to turn from prophecy to facts. We 
 m.ay now behold with our own eyes the rudiments of that 
 
 * Isaiah Ixlii. Rev. xlx. 11—21. f Joei iii. 13. Rev. xir. 17—20 
 
 •^ Ezek. xxvii. xxviii. Rev. xviii. 
 
271 
 
 confederacy, which (as we learn from St. John) will begin 
 to be gathered to the place of its destruction at some in- 
 definite period after the Ottoman empire shall have been 
 subverted ; the subversion of which may seem indeed to 
 further its views, but will in reality be overruled by God's 
 providence so as only to prepare a way for the kinp^'sfrotn 
 the east. The disastrous catastrophe of Austerlitz has 
 made the ruler of France, the master of papal Europe ; 
 and, effectively at least, the representative of Charlemagne^ 
 and therefore the last head of the Roman beast. His an- 
 cient title of Emperor of the Romans seems to be tacitly 
 resigned by the sovereign of Austria * : and we shall 
 probably soon learn, whether the last head will nominally, 
 as well as effectively, be identified with the infidel king. 
 Rumours of the speedy downfal of Turkey are afloat : 
 and we see a conspiracy of vassal kings rapidly forming 
 under the influence of their acknowledged and undoubted 
 head, the French emperor. The Roma?i beast, who in 
 every period of his existence has been dreadful and ter- 
 rible and strong exceedingly, \vho with his iron teeth has 
 devoured the whole earth and stamped the residue with 
 his feet t, seems now, as the era of his dissolution ap- 
 proaches, to arise and go forth with ten-fold fury. Nor 
 can we ^vonder at this circumstance, since his last head 
 may at present be considered as identified with the adoles- 
 cent Antichrist. Such is the prospect of Europe at the 
 moment that I am now writing J : and how accurately, 
 how wonderfully, does it accord with prophecy ! From 
 the past, and from the present, we may anticipate the 
 future. Whenever the Ottoman empire falls, we shall then 
 
 • At least no mention is made of this title in his treaty with France, and 
 even that of Germany seems to be nearly dropped, the Fi-ench studiously 
 terming him only Emperor of Austria, and himself apparently acquiescing in 
 it. It is observable, that by the 5th article of this treaty the French emperor 
 is acknowledged to be king of Italy ; and who shall deny, that he is also, hke 
 Charlemagne, sovereign of Rom,e? March 1806. 
 
 Since this was written, the Germanic constitution has been formally dis- 
 solved, and its cliief has solemnly renounced his title of Roman emperor. 
 Sept. 1806. 
 
 f Dan. vii. 7, 23. 
 
 i: March 6, 1806. "I fear I see too clearly," said Bp. Horsley in the year 
 1799, " the rise, instead of the fall, g^ the Antichrist of the West. Or rather, 
 I fear, I see him rapidly advancing to full stature and ripe age." (Letter on 
 Isaiah xviii.) How marvellous hath been his growth in these last seven years ! 
 Do we even yet behold his full adolescence ? 
 
272 
 
 definitively know our place in the Apocalypse ; and the 
 strong light of almost absolute certainty will be thrown 
 upon the third woe ^ and the six first vials. 
 
 Although these prophecies have already been discussed 
 at large, so far as the principal actors in them are con- 
 cerned, yet they contain some matters more immediately 
 connected with the restoration of the Jexvs which have not 
 received quite so full an examination. These shall now 
 be noticed in their order. 
 
 The succession of events, detailed in the joint predic- 
 tion of Daniel and St. John, is as follows. At the pouring 
 out of the sixth vial, the Ottoman empire, symbolized as 
 under the sixth trumpet by the waters of its principal 
 river the Euphrates, is overthrown ; and prepares by its 
 subversion a way for the kings from the east. These kings 
 I cannot but consider as being the Jexvs, or perhaps to 
 speak more accurately the ten t?ibes dispersed through 
 the east and lost in the ancient Assyrian empire. Such 
 an interpretation best accords with other parallel prophe- 
 cies, which concur in representing a verj^ considerable 
 body of the Israelites as being brought out of the east and 
 out of the north. The fall of the Ottomaji empire howe- 
 ver only prepares a way for them : no intimation is given, 
 that they then set out on their expedition ; which exactly 
 accords with what we are taught respecting the period, 
 when we may expect the return of Judah and Israel. 
 The restoration even of Judah, which will first take place, 
 will not commence till the 1260 years shall have expired: 
 and the Ottoman empire falls previous to the gathering 
 together of the confederacy to the great battle of the 
 Lord, which will be contemporary with the restoration 
 of Judah. 
 
 After the downfal of Turkey, the imperceptible agency 
 of three unclean spirits will begin to assemble the Lati7i 
 kings to the last war of Armageddon. We may conclude 
 from the language of tlie prophet, that the confederacy 
 itself will in some measure be already formed at this 
 era ; for the impure spirits are represented, as not so 
 much forming the confederacy, as directing its efforts 
 after its formation to a scheme of conquest which will 
 terminate only in its own destruction. I have already 
 
273 
 
 observed, that, wlien we consider the point to which 
 we now seem to be arrived in the Apocalypse, we can 
 scarcely doubt that we behold the rudiments of this con- 
 federacy rapidly acquiring form and stability ; and that, 
 whenever the Turkish empire is overthrown, there will 
 then be no doubt at all. 
 
 At the pouring out of the last vial the 1260 years ap- 
 parently expire, and the restoration nfJudah commences. 
 To this period therefore we must ascribe the expedition 
 of the wilful king * ; and at this same period the stone 
 begins to smite the image upon his feet, and the Ancient 
 of days to sit m judgment upon the Roman beast and his 
 
 * There is some reason for believing', that, during' the efiusion of the seventh 
 inal and the contemporaneous expedition of Aiitichrist into Palestine, the sins 
 of the papal einpire, tlien left in a manner defenceless, will be severely pun- 
 ished by tlie desolating invasion of a great northern nation. In the languag-e 
 of symbols, a storm of hail denotes a hostile invasion fro7ti the north, the re- 
 gion where the natural hail is generated. Accordingly it is used bj^ St. John, 
 in his description of the effects produced by the first trumpet, to typify the ir- 
 ruption of the northern tribes into the Eoman empire. Now it is wortliy of note, 
 thatanodier Afl//-iform is to be one of the plagues produced by the seventh 
 vial ; and it is equally worthy of note, tliat some gvea.t northern king is said by 
 Daniel to be engaged in hostilities with Antichrist at this very period. The 
 necessary conclusion seems to be, if I be right in supposing the northern king 
 to be Russia, tliat the hail-storm, of the seventh vial means some dreadful inva- 
 sion of the papal Roman empire by Russia and her northern allies during the 
 time that Antichrist is engaged in prosecuting his conquests in Palestine and 
 Egypt. This conjecture is founded upon Mr. Butt's paraphrase of Rev. xvi. 
 
 17, is, 19, 20, 21 ; which the reader may compare witii the text. 
 
 " 17. And the last minister poured out his vial upon the spiritual power of 
 mystical Babylon, and there came a great voice from the established church 
 fromjthe throne, saying, Tlie mystery of God is finished. Antichrist is crucified. 
 
 18. And tliere were thanksgivings, and languages, and the thunder of prea- 
 chers, and flaslies of light ; and tliere was a great revolution, such as never 
 was from the time that men were upon the earth (Comp. Dan. xii. 1.). 19. And 
 the great nation and empire was divided into three portions, and the com- 
 munities of the Christian Gentiles were revolutionized, and catholic Babylon 
 came in remembrance before God to give unto her the cup of crucifixion and 
 extreme wrath. 20. And every little state was revolutionized, and the king- 
 doms were levelled, the foundations of the great city annihilated. 21. And 
 great northern armies are caused to descend by the church and fall upon ci- 
 tizens • and the citizens blasphemed God for the plague of the northern ar- 
 mies, for it was inexpressibly heavy and dreadful." Butt's third part of notes 
 on the Revelation, p. 24. 
 
 I am no way singular in supposing, that the effusion of the seventh vial syn- 
 chronizes witli the expedition of Antichrist into Palestine and the contempo- 
 rary restoration of f/^e ye:-.'*. Commenting on Dan. xii. 1, Mr. Lowth ob- 
 serves, "that the Scriptures speak of the extraordinary appearances of God's 
 kingdom, as ushered in by great tribulations (See Isaiah xxvi. 20, 21. Jer, 
 XXX. 7. Matt. xxiv. 21.). This some learned men suppose to relate to the 
 times of the last vial (Rev. xvi. 18.), when there was a great earthquake, saitli 
 the text, such as ivas not since men ijsere upon the earth." 
 
 55 
 
274 
 
 tyrannical little horn. It is observable that the stone 
 smites the image upon his feet and his ten toes, previous 
 to his other members being smitten. Tliis exactly accords 
 with what Daniel says relative to the fa'^ of the four beasts. 
 The Ro7nan empire is to be first destroyed, and that in 
 its divided form : the lives of the other three beasts are 
 to be preserved for a season and a time. And both these 
 prophecies equally accord with the Apocalypse. After 
 the destruction of the Roman beast under his last head and 
 the downfal of his fiilse prophet or harlot-church, and after 
 the thousand years have expired, then at length perish Gog 
 and Magog; whose seats, together with those of their 
 associates, are, as we find from Ezekiel, within the limits 
 of the three first empires. I am much inclined to think, 
 that the season and the time, during which the lives of 
 the three beasts were to be preserved, is only another 
 mode of expressing the thousand years mentioned by St. 
 John. As a day in the pro]:>hetic language is a year, so 
 a great ti?ne or year of the Lord was thought by the Jews 
 to comprehend a thousand years; and xX-ns great ti?ne\\\ty 
 were wont to style the great day of judgment, shewing 
 thereby that days, and years, and millenaries, are equal in 
 the sight of God *^. At any rate the time, during which 
 the lives of the three beasts were to be preserved, un- 
 doubtedly coincides witli the thousand years ; whence we 
 are naturally led to conclude, that Daniel did not mean 
 an indefinite time, but a time or year of some description 
 or another. It cannot however be a time o/* 360 years, 
 because it coincides with the Mdlennium ; therefore it 
 must be a great time or year of 1000 years. 
 
 The whole war, which terminates with the battle of 
 Armageddon, is both minutely and geographically detail- 
 ed by Daniel. The confederacy under its leader the infidel 
 king will, at the time of the end or the clos^ of the 1260 
 years, be opposed by a king of the north and a king of 
 the south ; yet, in spite of their efforts, it will succeed 
 in overflowing man}' countries, and in conquering Pales- 
 tine, Egypt, Libya, and the land of Cush. In the midst of 
 these victories its chief will be disturbed by some unto- 
 
 * The reader will find some very curious remarks on this subject by Mr. 
 Mede in his AVorks, B. v. C. o. 
 
275 
 
 ward tidings out of the north and out of the east: tidings 
 probably of the arrival in Palestine of the navy of the 
 great maritime power with the converted ofJudah^ which, 
 supposing the infidel king to be then in Egypt and Libya, 
 would reach him from the north and north-east. Enraged 
 at such ungrateful news, he will go forth in his fury to 
 devote to utter destruction his opponents : and he will 
 succeed in taking Jerusalem. This however will be his 
 last victory. Advancing to Megiddo a town near the 
 shores of the Mediterranean, where (as we learn from 
 St. John) the conflict will be finally decided ; advancing 
 therefore (will the conjecture be deemed too unreason- 
 able?) against the forces of the maritime power ^ and such 
 of the Jews as shall be under its protection (the apostates 
 themselves perhaps, late the allies oi Antichrist, being now 
 of the number, and converted) : advancing, I say, against 
 this town, he shall there unexpectedly come to his end, 
 none being able to help him. The triumphant Word of 
 God shall break his confederacy, that Babel which he 
 had so long been carefully erecting ; and, at the head of 
 the armies of heaven, shall supernaturally overwhelm him 
 with sudden destruction. 
 
 During this period of unexampled trouble, which so 
 awfully terminates with the slaughter of Megiddo, we 
 are expressly taught by Daniel, in perfect harmony w^ith 
 the other inspired prophets, that the restoration of Judah 
 shall take place : consequently the v.'hole prophecy rela- 
 tive to the expedition of Antichrist must be so interpreted 
 as to harmonize with the many predictions which treat 
 oi the conversion arid retiwn of the ancient people of God, 
 
 Yet, at the time when the power of Antichrist is bro- 
 ken, all his followers will not be involved in indiscriminate 
 destruction. The least guilty will be spared, converted, 
 and scattered into all nations. Wherever they go, they will 
 carry the wonderful tidings, that God hath overthrown his 
 enemies, and accomplished the restoration of his people 
 Judah. One thing only remains to complete the grand 
 scheme of general redemption, and fulfil the sure word 
 of prophecy. Though Judah hath returned, the lost sheep 
 of the house of Is?-aelYC\n^in still to be gathered. But the)' 
 shall not long continue in the land of their captivit}'. 
 
276 
 
 Struck with the marv ellous tidhigs of those that had escap- 
 ed from the slaughter of Megiddo, all nations shall bring 
 the brethren of Judah^ an offering unto the Lord, to hig 
 holy mountain to Jerusalem; the stick of Joseph shall be 
 united with the stick ofJudah; one king, even the mysti- 
 cal David, shall be khig unto them all ; and they shall be 
 no more two nations, neither shall they be divided any 
 more into two kingdoms*. 
 
 This circumstance of a two-fold successive restoratio?i 
 will perhaps shew us, as I have already observed, why 
 Daniel divides the 75 years y M'hich will intervene between 
 the expiration of the 1260 years and the commencemejit of 
 the 1000 years or the season of millennian blessedness, 
 into 30 years and 45 years. The 30 years may be taken 
 up with the restoi'ation of Judah^ and the Antichrist ia7i 
 war of the infdel king and his associates at the time of the 
 end ; the 45 years may be occupied with the subsequent 
 restoration of Israel^ in consequence of the tidings cai'ried 
 far and wide by the converted fugitives from Armaged- 
 don. AVlien the 75 years ha\'e elapsed, and when the 
 whole house of Jacob has been brought back, then will 
 commence the thousand years of the reign of the saintsf. 
 None except vital Christians, none except protestants in 
 reality no less than in name, will then hold the reins of 
 government throughout the whole world ; the tyranny of 
 Popery and Infidelity will be every where subverted ; 
 earth wdll become a school for heaven in a far higher sense 
 than it has ever yet been ; and man, daily conversing 
 with his Maker, shall eat as it were angels' food, and 
 walk as it were upon the threshold of the world of spirits. 
 
 At the close of the Millennium, after the destruction 
 of Gog; and Mago^^^ the second or general resurrection 
 will take place. The first heaven and the first earth shall 
 
 * Isaiah Ixvi. 19— 24. Ezek.xxxvii. 19— ^5. 
 
 f "We iTiay vMitiue to say in general, tliat there inay be a considerable 
 space of time between the fall of J?U/c/;;7jf, and the last judg-ments which 
 sluiU be inflicted upon him. Some learned men, who have compared the 
 prophecies of Daniel and the Kevelation to(;;et]ier, suppose the interval of 
 lime betw^een the 1260 days and the 13 35 days to be included within the times 
 <>? the seventh trumpet, during- wliich the seven last pla!^-ties will be fulfilled." 
 (^rr. Lo-.vth's Coiliment. on Dan. xii. 12.) This interval of time appears to 
 me to bcloni>- exclusively to the seventh vial, as others have perhaps more, 
 justly imagiiitd. See Mr. Lowth on Dan. .xii. 1. 
 
277 
 
 pass away, aiid a new heaven and a new earth shalt 
 occupy their place. The Church of God shall be finally 
 translated to everlastmg rest and happiness ; tears shall 
 be wiped from every eye ; and death shall be swallowed 
 up in victory. 
 
 PROPHECY XXVII. 
 
 The restoration of Israel — Their instrumentality in converting the 
 Gentiles — The state of the Jews in the days of their dispersion. 
 
 Hosea i. 2. The beginning- of the word of the Lord by 
 Hosea was in this manner. The Lord said unto Hosea; 
 Go, take to thee a wife of prostitution, and children of 
 promiscuous commerce : for the land is perpetually play- 
 ing the wanton, forsaking the Lord. 3. So he went, and 
 took Gomer, daughter of Diblaim ; and she conceived, 
 and bare him a son. 4. And the Lord said unto him, 
 call his name Jezrael (a seed oj God); for yet a little 
 while, and I will visit the blood of Jezrael upon the house 
 of Jehu, and I will abolish the kingdom of the house of 
 Israel. 5. And it shall be in that very day *, when I 
 break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezrael. 6. And 
 she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God 
 said, Call her name Lo-Ruhamah (not beloved) : fori 
 will no more cherish with tenderness the house of Israel, 
 insomuch as to be perpetually forgiving them. 7. But 
 the house of Judah with tenderness I will cherish ; and I 
 will save them by the Lord their God \ ; and will not 
 
 * In that very day.'\ " This entire abolition of the ilvgdom of the ten tril/Qs 
 shall take effect at the time when I break the bo%v of Israel in the valley of 
 Jezrael." Bp. llorsley's Hosea in loc. 
 
 j I 'liiiU save them by Jehovah their God.'] "These expressions are too 
 magnificent to be understood of any thing' but thejinul rescue of the yciosfrovi 
 the pov^er rf Antichrist in the latter ages, h\< the incarnate God destroying the ene- 
 Tiiy ijaith the brightness of his coming ; of which the destruction of Sennacherib's 
 army, in the days of Hezekiah, might be a type, but it was nothing more. It 
 may seem perhaps, that the proj)hecy points at some deliverance peculi.ir to 
 the house of "J-udah, in which the ten tribes vf\]\.\vxve no share ; such as the over- 
 thruKt: rf Sennacherib actually was : whereas the de:tructioii rf Antichrist will 
 be an universal bk-ssing. But, in the diflerent treatment oi' the house of Ju- 
 tiah and the house of Israel, we see the prophecy hitherto i-emarkablj veriiied. 
 After the excision of the kingdom of the ten tribe.':, yudah, tliougli occayionaliy 
 
278 
 
 siWe them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by hor- 
 ses, nor by horsemen. 8» And she weaned Lo-Ruha- 
 mah ; and she conceived, and bare a son. 9. And God 
 said. Call his name Lo-Anmii fiiot a people of mine J, for 
 ye are no people of mine, and I will not be yours. 
 10. Nevertheless the number of the children of Israel * 
 shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measur- 
 ed, and cannot be counted; and it shall be, that, in the 
 place t where it was said unto them, No people of mine 
 aie ye, there it shall be said unto them. Children of the 
 living God. 11. And the children of Judah shall be col- 
 lected!, ^^^"^^ ^^^ children of Israel shall be united, and 
 they shall appoint themselves one head, and come up from 
 the earth. For eTcat shall be the dav of Jezrael \. 
 
 visited •with severe judgments, continued however to be clierished witli 
 God's love, till they rejected our Lord. Then yudali became Lo-Ammi ; but 
 still continues to be visibly an object of God's love, preserved as a distinct 
 race for gracious purposes of mercy. Perhaps in the last ages t'le converts of 
 i/ie house of yudah will be the principal objects of Aiitichri.st^s malice. Their 
 deliverance may be first wrouglit, and through them the blessing may be ex- 
 tended to their brethren of the ten tribes, and ultimately to the wiiole world. 
 This order of things the subsequent prophecy seems to point out." (Hp. Hors- 
 }ey in loc.) Other prophecies teach us, tliattiie deliverance of the converted 
 of Judah v:ill be first wrought. In fact, the ten tribes will have no share in the 
 deliverance from Antichrist. His wrath will be directed exclusively against 
 yudah : and the ten tribes will not be restored until after his final overtiirovr 
 between the seas in the land of Palestine. 
 
 * The number of the children of Israel. ~\ " I think this is to be understood 
 of the mystical Israel ,■ their numbers, consisting of myriads of converts, both 
 of the natural Israel, and their adopted brethren of the Gentiles, shall be im- 
 measurably great." (Bp. Ilorsley in loc). It may however relate, with per- 
 haps equal proprietA^ to the literal Israel. See Ezek. xxxvii. 2, 10. and 
 Isaiah xlix. 19, 20, 2i. 
 
 ■\ In the place.'] " That is at Jerusalem, or at least in Judea, where this 
 prophecy was delivered, and where tlie execution of the sentence took place. 
 There, in that very ])lace, they, to whom it was said, 2e are no people rfinine, 
 shall be called children of the living God. This must relate to the natural Israel 
 if the house nf y'udah, for to them it was said, Te are no people of mine. And, 
 •since they are to be acknowledged again as the children of the living God iir 
 the same place where this sentence was pronounced and executed, the pro- 
 phecy clearly promises their restoration to their own land." Bp. Horsley 
 in ioc. 
 
 t The children of yudah shall be collected.'] " Vv'Iicn converts of the house of 
 yudah shall have obtained a re-settlement in the Holy Land, tlien a general 
 conversion shall take place of the race of yudah, and the race of the ten tribes. 
 They shall unite in one confession, and in one polity, under one king-, Christ 
 the Saviour." Up. Horsley in loc. 
 
 § Great shall be the day of yezraelT] " Great and happy shall be tlie day, 
 when tlie lioly seed of bncii branches of tlie natural Israel shall be ])ublicly 
 acknowledged of their God ; united under one head, their kitig Messiah ; and 
 restored to the possession of tiie promised land, and to a situation of high 
 pre-eminence among the kingdoms of the earth." (Bp. Horsley in loc.) 
 
279 
 
 ii. 21. And it shall be in that day, I will perform m^ 
 part, saith the Lord. I will perform my part upon the 
 heavens ; and they shall perform their part upon the 
 earth ; 22. And the earth shall perform her part upon 
 the corn, and the wine, and the oil ; and they shall per- 
 form their part upon the Jezrael (the seed of GodJ. 
 23. And I will sow her* as a seed, for my own- self, in 
 the earth ; and with tenderness I will cherish her, that 
 had been Lo-Ruhamah fthe not belovedj; and I will say 
 to Lo-Ammi (no people of mine). Am mi (my own peo- 
 ple) art thou ; and he shall say, My God. 
 
 iii. 1. And the Lord said unto me again. Go, love the 
 woman addicted to wickedness and an adultress ; after 
 the manner of the Lord's love for the childreh of Israel, 
 although they look to other gods, and are addicted to 
 goblets of wine. 2. So I owned her as my own by 
 fifteen pieces of silver, and a homer and a half of barley. 
 3. And I said unto her. Many days shalt thou tarry for 
 me t ; thou shalt not play the wanton, and thou shalt not 
 have to do with a husband, neither will I with thee. 
 
 4. For many days shall the children of Israel tarr}', 
 without king, and without ruler J, and without sacri- 
 fice §, and without statue, and without ephod and tera- 
 phim II . 5. Afterward shall the children of Israel return, 
 
 Great likewise will this day be, as a day of judgment upon the Antichristian 
 faction. 
 
 * Ituili so%v her.'] " The myriads of the 7iatural Israel, converted by the 
 preaching- oftlie Apostles, were the first seed of the Universal Churcli. And 
 there is reason to believe, that the restoration of the coii'oerted yeivs will be 
 the occasion and means of a prodigious influx of new converts from the Gen- 
 tiles in the latter ages. (Rom. xi. 12, 15.) Tluis the yezrael of the natural 
 Israel from the first liave been, and to the last will prove, a seed sown of 
 God for himself in the earth." Bp. Horsley in loc. 
 
 f Many days shalt thou tarry for one.'] "The condition of the woman, re- 
 strained from licentious courses, owned as a wife, but without restitution of 
 conjugal rites, admirably re]5resents tlie present state of tlie 7"''"'^'*) "manifest- 
 ly owned as a peculiar people, withheld form idolatry, but as yet without 
 access to God through the Saviour." Bp. Horsley in loc. 
 
 \ Without king and 'Oiithojit ruler.] " Without a monarch, and without an\ 
 government of their own." Bp. Horsley in loc. 
 
 § Without sacrifice.] "Deprived of the means of offering the typical sacri- 
 fices of the law, and having as yet no share in the true sacrifice of Christ." 
 Bp. Horsley in loc. 
 
 U Without statue, ephod, and tcraphiin. ] " After much consideration of the 
 passage, and of much that has been written upon it by expositors, I rest in 
 the opinion strenuously maintained by the learned Pocock ; in which he 
 agrees with many tliat went before bam, and has the concurrence of many 
 
289 
 
 and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and 
 seek the Lord and his goodness, in the end of days. 
 
 COMMEXTAIIY. 
 
 God, having foretold by the mouth of Hosea the sub- 
 version of the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel^ declares, 
 with reference to the first restoration from Babylon^ that 
 he will no more cherish with tenderness the house of 
 Israel, but that the house of Judah he will cherish with 
 tenderness. Afterwards, with reference to the second 
 restoration, he promises that the number of the children 
 of Israel shdXl be as the sand of the sea; that the children 
 of Judah shall be collected, and that the children of Israel 
 shall be united with them ; and that they shall appoint 
 themselves one head, even Christ the Lord. For, although 
 they shall continue many days without any independent 
 polit)% without availing themselves of the great mediato- 
 rial sacrifice, and yet without relapsing into the idola- 
 try of their fathers; they shall nevertheless, at the end of 
 the days, — after the termination of the 1260 years, and 
 throughout the whole period of the Millennium, — return 
 from their captivity, and seek the liOrd their God and 
 the mystical David their king. 
 
 Hiat came after, Luther, Calvin, Vatabliis, Druslus, Livelye, Houbi^ant, and 
 Abp. Newcome, with many others of inferiornote : I rest, I say, ai"ter much 
 consideration in the opinion, that statue, ephod, and teraphim, are mentionecl 
 as principal implements of idolatrous rites. And the sum of tlie Ath verse is 
 this : that for many ag^es tJie ycivs would not be their own masters ; would be 
 deprived of the exercise of their own relig'ion, in its most essential parts ; not 
 rmbracing- the Cliristian, they would have no share in the true, service ; and 
 yet would be restrained from idolatry, to which tl\eir forefathers had been 
 sr) prone. It is to be observed, that this Ath verse is the exposition of the 
 tvpe of the prophet's dealing- with his wife. If the restriction of the ye^vs 
 from idolatry is not mentioned, we have nothing' in the exposition answerinf^ 
 lothat article of the typical contract with the woman. Thou shah not play the 
 wanton. And certainly the restriction from idolatry is not mentioned in this 
 4f/i verse at all, if it be not represented by tarrying 'without statue, withotii 
 ephod, and teraphim." Rp. Horsley in IcjC. 
 
 Tiie exposition of Vitrinp^a is to the same purpose. " Quxso jam, respice 
 Kortem hujus g-entis in prxsenti exilio. Est per divortium separata a Deo, 
 nectamcn facta alteri viro. Non transiit ad alias nuptias. Abstinet idolola- 
 tria, et vnlt etiamnv.m censeri populus Dei, expectaus s^ratiam sibi foedere 
 pfjodictam, ut clarissime pr^cinerat Haseas." Vitring. in Isai. 1. 2- 
 
281 
 
 PROPHECY XXVIII. 
 
 The captivity of Judah and Israel — The application of some of their 
 members to the mystic Assyrian to efl'ect their restoration — Their 
 distress — .Their final political revival. 
 
 Hosea v. 8. Blow ye the cornet In Gibeah, the trum- 
 pet in Ramah ; sound an alarm at Bethaven. L>ook be- 
 hind thee, O Benjamin. 9. Ephraim shall be given up 
 to desolation, in the day of rebuke, among the tribes of 
 Israel : I have declared what shall surely be. 10. The 
 rulers of Judah have been as those that remove the 
 bounds *. Upon them like a flood I will pour out my 
 fury. 11. Ephraim is hard pressed, ruined in judg- 
 ment t ; because he is self-willed, walking after a com- 
 mandment J. 12. Therefore am I as a moth in the gar- 
 ment to Ephraim, and as a worm in the flesh to the house 
 of Judah. 13. When Ephraim perceives his holes, and 
 Judah his corrupted sore, then Ephraim will betake him 
 to the Assyrian, and send to the king who takes up all 
 quarrels \ . But he shall not be able to repair the damage 
 for you, nor shall he make a cure of your corrupted sore. 
 14. For, I will be as a lion unto Ephraim, and as a young 
 lion to the house of Judah. I, I will seize the prey, and 
 begone ; I will carry off, and none shall rescue. 15. I 
 
 * Those that remove, the bounds.'] " That is, they have confounded the dis- 
 linctions of right and wrong. They have turned upside dovon all political orders 
 and all manner of religion. Englisli Geneva." Bp. Horsley in loc. 
 
 f Ephraim is — ruined in judgment.'] " That is, he has no defence to set up 
 ag-ainst tlie accusation brought against him ; he has nothing to say for him- 
 self." Bp. Horelcj' in loc. 
 
 ^ Self-ii'illed, walking after a com,mandment.'] "That is, although he has a 
 commandment to walk after, namely the divine law, yet he will take his owu 
 way; and this he does, notwithstanding he pretends to acknowledge the 
 authority of the commandment. The ten tribes pretended to be worshippers 
 of Jehovah ; but they worshipped him in the calves at Dan and Bethel ; and 
 they appointed a priesthood of their own, in prejudice of the prerogative of 
 the sons of Levi." Bp. Horsley in loc, 
 
 § The king luho takes up all quarrels.'] "This describes some powerful 
 monarch, who took upon him to interfere in all quarrels between inferioi* 
 powers ; to arbitrate between them, and compel them to make up their dif- 
 ferences, upon such terms as he thought proper to dictate : whose alliance 
 was of bourse anxiously courted by weaker states. Such was the Assyrian 
 monarch in the times, to which the prophecy relates" primarily ; and such 
 will be his antitype, the last head oj" the Roman Babylon, in the times, to which 
 it relates secondarily and ultimatelv. Bp. Horsley in I09. 
 
 36 
 
282 
 
 will begone, I will return unto my place * ; till what time 
 they acknowledge their guilt, and seek my face. When 
 distress is upon them, they will rise early to seek me. 
 
 vi. 1. Come, and let us return unto the Lord. For he 
 hath torn, but he will make us whole : he hath inflicted 
 the wound, but he will apply the bandage. 2, He will 
 bring us to life after two days ; in the third day he will 
 raise us up, and w^e shall live in his presence. 3. Then 
 we shall know, we shall pursue after the knowledge of 
 the Lord. His coming forth is fixed as the morning ; 
 and he shall come upon us as the pouring shower, as 
 the hai*vest rain, as the rain of seed-time upon the earth 
 — 10 — I have seen a horrible thing: fornications in 
 Ephraim ! Israel polluted! 11. Moreover, O Judali, 
 harvest- work is appointed for tliee, when I bring back 
 the -captivity of my people. 
 
 CO^VIMENTARY. 
 
 The prophet begins with foretelling the captivity of 
 Judah and Israel ; and declares, that in consequence of 
 their sins, they shall be deprived of their former great- 
 ness and prosperity. Sensibly feeling their degraded 
 situation, they shall at length endeavour to extricate 
 themselves from it by the undue means of applying to a 
 king, xvlio officiously takes up all quarrels, and of whom 
 the king of Assyria ^\'as a type, as the first restoration 
 from Babylon was a type of the second restoration from 
 the mystic Babylon or the Roman empire. Yet this king 
 shall not be able to repair their damages, nor to make a 
 cure of their corrupted sore. For the Lord will arise as 
 a lion in his WTath, and will execute vengeance botli 
 upon them and their presumptuous ally. 
 
 This ki?ig exactly answers to the description of Anti- 
 ch?'istf who w ill then be the last head of the Roman beasts 
 as the Assyria?! was the head of the Babylo7iian beast: and 
 such accordingly I take him to be. Certain of tlie uncon- 
 verted Jews will accept his offer to restore them to their 
 
 * I will begone, I ivill return unto ony place.'} "I will withdraw myself 
 from them, till by a sincere humiliation they implore my favour. The Chaldee 
 paraphrase expresses the sense thus, Iiuill take aivay my majestic presence or 
 Shechinah from, among them, and •will return into heaven.'* Mr. Lowth in loc 
 
283 
 
 own country ; and it appears likewise from the prophecy 
 (what indeed is highly probable in itself), that several 
 members of the kingdom of Ephraim or the ten tribes^ 
 now scattered through the east, will be both invited and 
 induced by him to join themselves to his confederacy. 
 Such however is not the way, in which God has decreed 
 to restore the main body of his ancient people. The king 
 shall be utterly overthrown ; and many of his Israelitish 
 allies shall perish with him *. 
 
 Yet the rest of these misguided wTetches, when dis- 
 tress is upon them, will rise early to seek the Lord. 
 They will look upon him whom they have pierced, and 
 they wall mourn for him as one that mourneth for an only 
 son. They will join their believing brethren, who had 
 been restored by the instrumentality of the great mari- 
 time power ; and with them wull say, Come, and let us 
 return unto the Lord. 
 
 To express the political revivification of the house of 
 Israel, Hosea, like Isaiah and Ezekiel, uses the allegory 
 of a resurrection -f. After two days God will bring life 
 into them ; yea, in the third day he wall raise them up, 
 and they shall live in his presence. These three days 
 mean, I apprehend, the three great days o{ Patriarchism, 
 Judaism, and Christianity ; that is, according to the tra- 
 dition of the house of Elias, the day before the law, the 
 day under the law, and the day of the Messiah. After 
 the two first, and in the evening ot the third, iininediatcly 
 before the commencement of the Millennium, the resur- 
 rection of the whole house of Israel will take place ; first 
 the resurrection of Judah, and afterwards the resurrection 
 of Ephraim. Then the ancient people of God shall know, 
 and pursue after the knowledge of the Lord : for his 
 coming forth is sure as the return of the morning ; and 
 he shall abundantly water with his Spirit that Church, 
 which has long been a waste and desolate wilderness J. 
 
 * This passage can only relate to certain individuals of the kingdom of the 
 ten tribes ; for the main body of the ten tribes will be restored after the over- 
 throw oi Antichrist, and in consequence of the fugitives from his army being 
 scattered through all countries. Isaiah Ixvi. 15 — 24. 
 
 -j- " The restoration of the Jewish nation is often described, as if it were a 
 new life from the dead." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 :t: Bp. Horsley interprets this passage somewhat differently from what, upon 
 s«v attentive consideration of it, I have ventured to do : we both however make 
 
284 
 
 Horrible indeed have been the spiritual fornications 
 both of Judah and Israel; yet, when the Lord shall bring 
 back the captivity of his people, great will be the harvest- 
 work appointed lor Judali^. While he shall be made, on 
 
 the period of this f.gurati>ve resurrection to be the same. *• Jehovali, who had 
 departed, will return ; and again exhibit Ihe sig'ns of his presence among' his 
 chosen people. So the converted and restored Jews will Use in Iiis presence- 
 The two days and the third day seem to denote three distinct periods of the 
 Jewish people. The first day is the captivity of the ten tribes by the Assyrians, 
 and of the two wider the Babylonians, considered as one judgment upon tiie 
 nation ; beginning with the captivity of the ten, and completed in that of the 
 two. The second day is the whole period of the present condition of the yews, 
 beginning with the dispersion of the nation with the Romans. The third day 
 is the period yet to coine, beginning with their restoration at the second advent. 
 R. Tanchum, as he is quoted by Dr. Pococke, was not far, 1 think, from the 
 true meaning of the place. The prophet, he s&ys, points out t-xo times, — and 
 those are the first captivity, and a second. After which shall follow a third time ; 
 Redemption : after which shall be no depression or servitude. And this 1 take to 
 be the sense of the propliecy in immediate application to the yews. Never- 
 theless, whoever is well acquainted with the allegorical style of prophecy, 
 when he recollects, that our Lord's sufferings were instead of the sufferings 
 and death of sinners ; tliat we are baptized into his death ; and by baptism 
 into his death are buried with him ; and that he, rising on the third day, rais- 
 ed us to the hope of life and immortality ; will easily perceive no very obscure, 
 though but an oblique, allusion to our Lord's resurrection on the third day : 
 since ever}' believer may speak of our Lord's death and resurrection, as a 
 common death and resurrection of all believers." Bp. Horsley in loc. 
 
 My objection to his Lordship's interpretation is this : the yews indeed have 
 gone into two captivities, which might in some sort be termed two days ; but 
 the ten tribes have gone only into one, from which they have never yet return- 
 ed. Now, since the propiiet directs us jointly to consider the captivity both 
 of yudah and Israel, are we warranted in dividing the unbroken captivity of 
 Israel into two days, merely because yudah has twice been led away captive ? 
 
 * " Harvest-work is cut out for yudah at the season of bringing back the 
 captivity. T/^e ?r/6e o/'^i/rAiA is in some extraordinary way to be an instru- 
 ment of the general restoration vi' the ytni-h/i people." (Bp. Horsley in" loc). 
 The Bishop adds, what I cannot refrain from esteeming rather too sweeping 
 a clause, " Observe, that the vintage is always an image of the season tfjudg- 
 ■tnent ; but the harvest, of the in-gathering of the objects of God's final mercy. I 
 am not aware, that a single unexceptionable instance is to be found, in which 
 the harvest is a type of judgment. In Rev. xiv. 15, 16. the sickle is thrust into 
 the ripe harvest, and the earth is reaped ; that is, the elect are gathered from 
 the four winds of heaven : the wheat of God is gathered into his barn (Matt, 
 xiii. 30.). After this reaping of the earth, the sickle is applied to the clusters 
 of ihe vine ; and they are cast into the great wine-press of the wrath of God 
 (Rev. xiv. 18, 19, 20.) : this is judgment. In Joel iii. 13. the ripe harvest is the 
 harvest of the vine, that is the grapes fit for gathering, as appears by the con- 
 text. In Jerem.h. 33. the act of threshing the corn vpon thefioor, not the harvest, 
 is the image of judgment. It is true, the burning of the tares in our .Saviour's 
 parable (Matt, xiii.) is a \vor]i. of judgment, and of the time of harvest, previ- 
 ous to the binding up of the sheaves. But it is an incidental adjunct of the 
 business, not tlie harvest itself I believe the harvest is never primarily, and 
 in itself, an image of vengeance." 
 
 Notwithstanding the deservedly high authority of Bp. Horsley, I still rest in 
 my former opinion, that the apocalyptic harvest is a harvest of judgment, not of 
 ^nercy (see my Dissert, on the 1260 years, Vol. II. p. 312, 313. 2d edit. p. 345 — 
 348) ; in which I ara supported by Bp. Newton, Lowman, Bengelius, Dod- 
 
^85 
 
 die one hand, a sharp threshing instrument having teeth 
 to thresh the mountains Uke chaff; while he shall arise 
 and thresh the enemies of the Lord with a horn of iron, 
 
 drldge, and particularly Mede, who has elaborately and minutely discussed 
 the point. He observes that the idea of a harvest includes three things ; the 
 reaping of the corn, the gathering of it in, and the threshing of it : whence it is 
 made a type in Scripture of two direct opposites ; oi' destruction, when the reap' 
 ivg and the threshing are considered ; oi restitution and salvation, when the zn- 
 ^rtf/itWn^ is considered (Mede's Works B. HI. p. 520). Bp. Horsley separates 
 the threshing from the harvest in Jerem. li. 53 ; allowing that the threshing de- 
 notes judgment, but denying that the harvest has ever such a signification. I 
 cannot think, that the text in question warrants this separation. " The daugh- 
 ter of Babylon is Uke a threshing floor, it is time to thresh her : yet alittle while, 
 and the time of her harvest shall come." Here the time of her harvest seems 
 manifestly to be used as synonymous with the threshing of her : and, if this be 
 the case, her hat vest m\xsX. be a harvest ofiurath. Or, if we deny that they are 
 sjTionymous, and separate them from each other, shall be authorized by the 
 plain import of the text to say, that the threshing of Babylon denotes indeed a 
 signal judginent about to befall her ; but that her harvest, which in a little 
 while is coming, means some signal onercy about to be vouchsafed to her? Does 
 not the text, on the contrary, force us to think with IMede, that the threshing 
 is considered as a part of the harvest ,■ and that they both alike typify God's 
 vengeance upon Babylon ? But, however this may be, there is another passage, 
 in which both the reaping and the in-gathering of the harvest are decidedly used 
 to symbolize an act, not oi mercy, hntoi judgment. Speaking of the dispersion 
 of the tvhole house of Israel, and of the very small remnant that should be left 
 in the land, Isaiah uses the allegory both of the harvest, and of the conclusion 
 of the vintage and olive-season. " In that day it shall come to pass, that the 
 glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean : 
 and it shall be, as when the harvest man gathereth the corn, and his arm 
 reapeththe ears ; and it shall be, as he that gathereth ears in the valley of 
 Rephaim. Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive- 
 tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in 
 the outmost branches of its fruitfulness" (Isaiah xvii. 4, 5, 6). In what his 
 Lordship says respecting the harvest mentioned by Joel, I believe him to be 
 perfectly right .• that harvest is plainly a harvest of grapes, not of corn,- and 
 the vintage of Joel undoubtedly relates to the same period as the vintage of the 
 Apocalypse : they both equally typify the overthroiv of the Antichristian confe- 
 deracy. 
 
 Thus, 1 think, it appears, that a harvest symbolizes the two opposites of 
 judginent and mercy. How we are to understand it in any particular passage, 
 must be determined by the context. Now the context of the apocalyptic /zar- 
 «e.r? seems to me most definitely to teach us, that a harvest of judgvient is 
 intended. Throughout the whole book of Revelation, with the exception of 
 a few places which sufiiciently explain themselves (such as Rev. xx. 8, 9, 
 11 — and xxi. 1, 24) the earth is used as a symbol of the Roonan empire pagan and 
 papal. Upon this earth all the vials of God's wrath are poured out, whatever 
 subsequent distinction may be made in their efiusion (Rev. xvi. 1. ). It is the 
 vine of this earth that is to be gathered, when her grapes are fully ripe : and it 
 is the ripe harvest of this self -same earth that is to be reaped, when the time for 
 reaping is come (Read attentively Rev. xiv. 14 — 20). Here we may note, that 
 it is not, as in our Lord's parable (Matt. xiii. 24, 38), said to be the harvest of 
 afield, which is afterwards formally explained to mean the world : but, as the 
 sickle is thrust into the earth to gather the vine of the earth, so is the sickle 
 likewise thrust into the earth to reap the harvest of the earth. If then the earth 
 mean the Rom,an empire in the case of the vintage, which cannot reasonably 
 be doubted, since those that are cast into the wine-press are the Roman beast. 
 
286 
 
 and with hoofs of brass* : he shall, on the other hand, 
 become in an eminent manner the seed of the Chiirch, 
 and shall be peculiarly instrumental in gathering the great 
 harvest of God's elect into the granary of the millennial! 
 church. 
 
 the false prophet, tandi the kings of that same earth, 9ix\6. since (according to the 
 acknowledged principles of symbolical imagery) the vine of the earth must 
 denote </ze corrupt church of the mystic Babylon, whose abominations, — whose 
 ripe c/Mj/er* of iniquity, — will eventually occasion the ruin of its supporter the 
 secular beast (Dan. vii. 11.) if, I say, the earth mean the Roman empire in the 
 case of the vintage, must we not conclude, from the almost studied similarity 
 of phraseology used by the prophet, that the earth means likewise the Rotnan 
 CTnpire in the case of the harvest ? And, if this be allowed, what idea can we 
 annex to a reaping of the harvest of the Roman empire, which, like the grapes 
 ffthat soTne empire, is declared to be ripe, except an idea of some tremendous 
 judgment that should precede the vintage and more or less affect the whole em- 
 pire I In such an opinion also we shall be the more confirmed by finding, that a 
 judgment about to befall Babylon, the constant apocalyptic tj'pe of the Roman 
 church and etnpire, is by Jeremiah expressly termed a harvest. This diffe- 
 rence indeed there is between the two prophets, that Jeremiah dwells upon 
 the third part of the harvest, the threshing ,- while St. John selects the imagery 
 of the first part, the reaping : yet I cannot but think, that the context of both 
 passages sufficiently shews, that a harvest of judgment, not ofinercy is intend- 
 ed. The apocalyptic harvest, by being confined to the earth or the Roman em- 
 pire, cannot denote either the general in-gathering of yudah and Israel, or the 
 universal infiux of ali nations to the Alillennian church : and since, like the 
 vintage, it is exclusively confined to the idolatrous and persecuting Roman 
 etnpire, since in both cases the sickle is equally thrust into this eonpire ,• I feel 
 myself compelled to conclude, that, like the vintage, it denotes some signal 
 judgm,ent. Tlas judgm,ent I have supposed to be the first part of the third '^oe ; 
 a -ivoe, which must be expected to mark a period in history no less striking 
 Ihan the successive founding of the Saracenic and Turkish empires ; a vjoe, 
 which is ushered in by an event no less singular than definite, the fall of a 
 tenth part of the great Roman city or of one of the ten original Gothico-Roman 
 kingdoms by an earthquake. This judgment in short I have supposed to be the 
 horrors of the French revolution, commencing on the I2th of August 1792, and 
 ushered in by the fall of the monarchy both arbitrary and limited which at 
 that time was the only one that remained of all the ten original kingdoms ; a 
 revolution, which in its consequences, or (to adopt the prophetic phraseology) 
 during tbe reaping of the harvest of the earth, has been felt to the remotest 
 parts of the Roman etnpire : and as jet I have seen no reason to alter my 
 opinion. 
 
 To return from this not unnecessary digression : the harvest-voork, appoint- 
 ed for jfudah, may be either of «iercv or of ^W^menf, perhaps of both. At 
 least we find, that, as Judah will probably be made an instrument of turning 
 many to righteousness, so lie wilUikewise be made a sharp threshing instru- 
 ment to thresh all the enemies of God, His harvest- work will be double and 
 opposite. It will consist both of an in-gathering of the good, and of a thresh- 
 ing of the wicked even with hoofs of brass. 
 
 * Isaiah xji. 15— Micah iv. 13— See also Zechpir. xii, 2—6. 
 
287 
 
 PROPHECY XXrX. 
 
 The successive restoration of Judah and Israel. 
 
 Hosea xi. 8. How shall I give thee up, O Ephrami; 
 abandon thee, O Israel? How shall I make thee as 
 Admah ; place thee m the condition of Zeboim ? My 
 heart is turned upon me ; my bowels yearn altogether. 
 9. I will not execute the fury of mine anger ; I will not 
 return * to make destruction of Ephraim. For God I 
 am, and not man ; the Holy One in the midst of thee, 
 although I am no frequenter of cities f. 10. They shall 
 walk after the Lord. Like a lion he shall roar J; verily he 
 himself shall roar ; and children shall hurry ^ from the 
 
 * I ivill not return.'] "W''hen I come a second time, it will not be to de- 
 stroy. An indirect promise of coming again, not for judgment, but for 
 mercy." Bp. Horsley in loc. 
 
 f I atn no freque7iter of cities.'] "Dwelling with thee, but in a peculiar 
 and extraordinary manner, not after the manner of men. I am no frequenter 
 of cities in general." Bp. Horsley in loc. 
 
 i Like a Hon he shall roar.] I fully agree with Bp. Horsley, that the pro- 
 phet speaks of two distinct successive roarings of the Lord : and that, as the 
 Jirst roaring brings children from the west, so the secotid brings them from 
 Egypt and Assyria. But I cannot think, tliat the one relates to the Jirst advent 
 of our Lord and the conversion of the Gentiles ; and fAe of/zer, contradistinctively 
 to his second advent and the conversion of the natural Israel. When Hosea is 
 predicting that the luhole house of Israel shall walk with the Lord, it seems 
 both unnatural and unnecessary to suppose that he suddenly digresses to the 
 conversionof the Gentiles at the frst advejit. And, when we find it repeatedly 
 declared by the prophets, that the house nf Israel shall be restored in two 
 grand divisions, first the house of ^udah from the west, and afterwards the 
 house of Joseph from the east and the north ; I cannot but think it most natural, 
 and most consonant with the tenor of the present prediction, to apply the 
 tKo roarings with their respective effects to the twofold and successive restoro' 
 tion of the vihole house of Israel. 
 
 § Children shall hurry.] Bp. Horsley argues, that, since the expression is 
 neither their children nor my children, but simply children, the natural Israelis 
 thereby excluded, and the Gentile converts at the first advent are pointed out, as 
 those that hurried from the west. This argument seems to me to destroy it- 
 self by proving too much. Some children of the same family, that hurry from 
 the west, hurry likewise from Egypt and Assyria : for to whom can the they, 
 which is the subject to the second verb shall hurry, relate, except the childreii, 
 which is the subject to the first verb shall hurry ? Children then equally hurry 
 from the west at the first roaring, and from Egypt and Assyria at the second 
 roaring. But, if children simply cannot mean the natural Israel in one case, 
 neither can they mean the natural Israel \n the other case. His Lordship hov^T;;' 
 ever maintains, that thev (i. e the children, for to what antecedent can they be 
 referred except the children ?) di> mean the natural Israel in the second case : 
 it will follow therefore, that children (the anijecedent of they) must mean 
 another branch of the natural Israel in the first case. Or, ? converso, if children 
 iti the one case do uQt mean part of the natural Israel ; then neither can they 
 
288 
 
 \vtst*. 11. They shall hurry like the sparrow from Egypt, 
 and like the dove from Assyria t : and I will settle them 
 in their own houses, saith the Lord. 12. Ephraim hath 
 compassed me about with treacher}^, and the house of 
 Israel with deceit. But Judah shall yet obtain dominion f 
 with God, and shall be established with the Holy Ones||. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 This prophecy relates to the restoration of the -whole 
 house of Israel^ for both Judah and Ephraim are particu- 
 larized in it. Long as the captivity of Judah has been, 
 longer yet as the captivity of Ephraim has been ; yet 
 God will never forget or abandon his people Israel. In 
 due season they shall surely walk after the Lord, not- 
 withstanding they now seem to be forsaken by him. 
 When that season arrives, twice will he exalt his voice, 
 and roar aloud. At the first roaring, children shall huiTy 
 from the west: the converted Jews shall be rapidly brought 
 back from the western regions of Europe by the instru- 
 mentality of the great maritime power. At the second 
 roaring, other children shall hurry like the sparrow from 
 Egypt, and like the dove from Assyria : the converted 
 Israelites shall return from the countries of their disper- 
 sion, and particularly from the land of Assyria whither 
 they were originally carried, and in the neighbourhood 
 
 (the children J in the other case mtSin part of the natural Israel. Mr. Lowtk 
 understands the passage as 1 do. 
 
 * Sliall hurry froin the ■-Jiest.'] Isaiah similarly predicts tlie return of yudah. 
 " They shall llt't up their voice ; they shall e.xult in the majesty of the Lord ; 
 they shall shout from the west. W^herefore glorify ye the Lord by Urim, the 
 name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea." (Isaiah xxiv. 14 ,15.) 
 And again : " Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish 
 lirst, to bring thy sons from far." Isaiah Ix 9. 
 
 •}■ They shall hurry- froon, Egypt— and Assyria.'^ Thus Isaiah foretells the 
 restoration of those that were lost in Assyria and were outcasts in the land 
 of Egypt. See Isaiah xxvii. 12, 13. and compare xi. 15, l6.---xix. 23, 24, 25. 
 and Zechar. x. 10, 11 See Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 \ Obtain dominion.'] " A promissory allusion to a final restoration of the 
 Jewish monarchy." Bp. Horsley in loc. 
 
 • (I Established luith the Holy Ones."] " The word established may signify either 
 the constancy of Judah' s fidelity to the Holv Ones ; or the firmness of the support 
 whicli he sliall receive from them. The Holy Ones, the Holy Trinity. By tlie 
 use of this plural word the prophecy clearly points to the conversion of the 
 yeviish people Xo \h& C\iv\s\\ax\ faith. Even the Jewish expositors, R. Tan- 
 ehum and Kimchi, understand this plural word in this place as signifyinj^^ 
 Gpd." Bp. Horsley in loc. 
 
239 
 
 of which they are now lost. Thus, notwithstanding their 
 former treachery and deceit, God will settle them in their 
 own houses, and establish them with the Holy Ones. 
 
 PROPHECY XXX. 
 
 The restoration and conversion of Israel — His rejection of 
 Antichrist. 
 
 Hosea xiv. 1. Return, O Israel*, unto the Lord thy 
 God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. 2. Take 
 with you words, and return unto the Lord. Say unto 
 him, Take away all iniquity, and accept good. So will 
 we render thee bullocks, our own lips f. 3. The Assy- 
 rian shall not save us ; we will mount no cavalry, and 
 no more we will sa}'. Our gods are ye, to the work of 
 our own hands : inasmuch as with thee the fatherless 
 obtaineth fond protection. 4. I will restore their conver- 
 sion |. I will love them gratuitously ; for mine anger is 
 departed from me. 5. I will be as the dew unto Israel; 
 he shall blossom as the lily, and strike his roots like the 
 forest trees of Lebanon. 6. His suckers shall spread 
 farther and farther ; and he shall be like the olive tree, 
 for his beauty; and a smell shall be in him like the smell 
 of Lebanon. 7. They shall return. Sitting under his 
 shadow, they shall abound in corn. They shall germinate 
 like the vine, and be famous as the wine of Lebanon. 
 8. Ephraim ! What have I to do any more with idols ||? 
 
 * Return, O Israel.'] " The whole farally of -Israel, in both its branches, is 
 addressed." Bp. Horsley in loc. 
 
 •j- Bullocks, our oTjn lips.'] " Lips are here put for praises and thanksgivings 
 uttered by the lips. This kind of metonymy, which puts the cause or instru- 
 ment for the effect, is very frequent with tlie sacred writers By calling' vocal 
 devotions bullocks, the phraseology shews, that this form of supplication is 
 prepared for those times, when animal sacrifices will be abolished, and 
 prayer and thanksgiving- will be the only offering." Bp. Horsley in loc. 
 
 i Their conversion.] " That is, their converted race. I take conversion as a 
 collective noun for converts ,- like captivity, for the captives, trnd dispersion, for 
 the dispersed. The converted nation God promises to restore to his favour, 
 and to a situation of prosperity and splendour" Bp. Horsley in loc. 
 
 fl Ephraim— idols.] <' An exultation of Jehovah over idols. Ephraim / 
 Even he is returned to me. I have no more contest to carry on with idols. 
 They are completely overthrown. My sole Godhead is confessed." Bp. 
 Horsley in loc. 
 
 37 
 
290 
 
 I have answered him. And I will make him flourish 
 like a green fir-tree. From me thy fruit is supphed. 
 
 9« Who is wise * ? for he will consider tliese things ; 
 intelligent ? for he shall comprehend them. For straight 
 and even are the ways of the Lord, and the justified shall 
 proceed in them, but revolters shall stumble therein f. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Hosea concludes his prophecies with declaring in the 
 strongest terms, that God will surely restore the converted 
 
 * Who is •vdse7'\ This passage exactly tallies with what Daniel says rela- 
 tive to the same awful period. See Dan. xii. 10. 
 
 f Revolters shall stumble therein.'] " To the incorrig'ible enemies of God the 
 very scheme of mercy itself will be a cause of error, confusion, and ruin. 
 The word o^jrif D expresses a degree and enormity of disobedience far beyond 
 any thing contained in the notion of transgressors, prevaricators, or any other 
 denomination of guilt, by which the word Is rendered in our English Bible. 
 It denotes rebels, in the highest sense of the word ; such as rise in opposition 
 to the authority of a sovereign, because he is by right a sovereign ; and in a 
 religious sense, such as wilfully, with premeditation, disobey God from ha- 
 tred of his authority- -jj'j'D is a bold avowed rebellion, or revolt, disowning the 
 authority of the sovereign, and having for its end the overthrow of his sove- 
 reignty. But it will be said ; AVlio ever was so mad, as to avow or entertain 
 a design or hope of overtlirowing the sovereignty of God ? I say, Numbers 
 in all ages of the world. Atheists, Deists, Idolaters, and secular powers that 
 persecute revealed religion. Many of these indeed retain the name of a God, 
 or Gods, as signifying, in their conceptions, an Animus onundi, or physical 
 powers in difterent parts of the material world. But they all disown and 
 oppose the God of the Old Testament, and the New ; the God of Jews, and 
 of Christians. And they endeavour what they can to overthrow his authority, 
 by uniting their efibrts (in vain, but much in earnest) for the extirpation of 
 the Cliristian religion. If those, who, in the present day, are most forward, 
 and most powerful, in this work of impiety, affect a p.artiality for the ^evjs .• 
 it is, because they hope to draw them in to take a part in tlie demolition of 
 Christianity : and, when that is effected, they expect to find in Judaism an 
 easy conquest. Whetlier any part, or what part, of the yews may be drawn 
 into this snare of hell, we presume not to predict We hope, that the great 
 majority of the race will have too much discretion to be duped. This at least 
 we know, that ultimately the whole race of Israel, of the natural Israel, tvill 
 return and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king. They shall return, and, 
 sittijig under his shadoiv, they vill flourish. The head of the faction leagued 
 against us and them, against our God and theirs, is the devil. If I am not 
 much mistaken, he is more than once named in Scripture jj8»i3 ; the participle 
 Benoni Kal being used as an appellative in the singular number, to denote 
 The rebel. The apostate. And the same participle in the plural, which is the 
 word here, denotes the followers of that chief. Rebels, Revolters." Bp. 
 Horsley in loc. 
 
 Let the reader, keeping- in his mind this criticism of Bp. Horsley, compare 
 what I say relative to the revolters here spoken of, with the apocalyptic account 
 of the Instigator of the revived Roman beast, the secret promoters of the Anti- 
 christian confederacy, and the avowed object of that confederacy when formed ; 
 with St. Paul's description of fAf ^nan of sin; with Ezekiel's representation of 
 the mystic prince of Tyre ; with Daniel's relation of the fate which is about to 
 
291 
 
 race of Israel, Ephraim no less than Judak, and bless them 
 in their own land ^vith a wonderful degree of plenty and 
 prosperity. Since by the mention of Ephraim it is evi- 
 dent that this prediction yet remains to be accomplished, 
 for Ephraim has never yet been restored, we must neces- 
 sarily conclude, that the Assyrian, here mentioned, is the 
 antitypical Assyrian, or Antichrist now become the last head 
 of the mystic Babylon. Here then we have an oblique, 
 but sufficiently plain, allusion to the attempt which cer- 
 tain imconverted Jews will make to effect their return by 
 the assistance of the Antichristian conjcderacy , and to their 
 subsequent penitence and conversion. 
 
 In the last verse Hosea observes, that, plain as the ways 
 of the Lord Ure, revolters will stumble in them, but that 
 the justified shall proceed in them. By these revolters I 
 understand those ijicorrigible enemies of God, who, falling 
 from the apostasy of PojDery to the yet blacker apostasy 
 of Infidelity, and afterwards for mere ambitiously politi- 
 cal purposes restoring the form of a corrupt religion which 
 in their hearts they disbelieve *, shall at length league 
 themselves in a misnamed religious war with the Romish 
 
 befall the feet of the image and the Rovian beast with his littlt horn, and with 
 his strongly drawn character of the vjifil king ; and lastly with St. John's 
 concise, though pointed, definition of A7itichrist. He will then, 1 think, have 
 but little reason to doubt, who are intended by these notorious revolters ut the 
 era of the restoration of the jfews. See Rev. xii. 3, 9, 17.— xili. 1, 2, 4, 6.- — 
 xvi. 13—16. xix. 11--.21.— 2 Thessal. ii. 3 --12.— Ezek. xxviii. 2— 10.— Dan. 
 ii. 34, 35, 44, 45.— vii. 8—11, 20— 27.--xl. 36— 45.— xii. 1, 7, lO.--and 1 John 
 ii. 22. 
 
 * Mr. Yorke finishes his description of the farcial celebration of the re-estab' 
 lishmcnt of Popery by General Buonaparte, in the following- remarkable words. 
 " These are the principal incidents which occured at Notre Dame. I leave 
 J10U to form a just idea of the emotions of those present, whether they be con- 
 sidered as Christians or not. The far greater part of tiie Senate, the Legis- 
 lative Body, the Tribunate, and the Generals, being avowed atheists, and 
 notorious for the murders, thefts, and atrocities, which they had perpetrated ; 
 with their Chief Magistrate, wliohad worshipped at the altar of atheism some 
 years before in Paris, who afterwards knelt down before the Poj^e at Rome, 
 and embraced the religion of Mohammed in Africa ; assembled together in 
 one place to adore a god in whom they had no faith, and to profess a religion 
 which they despised, merely that they might be enabled to preserve their 
 usurped authority over the people, and to retain their places ; is an occur- 
 rence in the history of pious fraud, not to be met with since the days of Judas 
 Iscariot. I may safely venture to affirm, that, with the exception of the 
 Bishops (if they may be excepted), there was not a single jierson in the cathe- 
 dral, who quitted this religious mockery with a sentiment of piety excited in 
 his breast, nor one, who did not perfectly see through the whole object of the 
 ceremony." Letters from France in 1802. Vol. I. p. 269, 2/0, 
 
292 
 
 man of sin, and attain the summit of deliberate impiety by 
 openly opposing the counsels of the Most High respect- 
 ing his ancient people the Jews. 
 
 PROPHECY XXXI. 
 
 Irruption of Antichrist into Palestine — His destruction there — 
 General effusion of the Holy Spirit — A description of the over- 
 throw of the confederated nations at the period of the restoration 
 of Judah. 
 
 Joel i. 1. The word of the Lord that came unto Joel, 
 the son of Pethuel. 2. Hear this, ye old men, and give 
 ear, all ve inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in 
 your days, or even in the days of your fathers ? 3. Tell 
 ye your children of it, and let your children tell their 
 children, and their children another generation. 4. That, 
 which the palmer- worm hath left, hath the locust eaten; 
 and that, which the locust hath left, hath the canker-worm 
 eaten ; and that, which the canker-worm hath left, hath 
 the caterpillar eaten — 6. For a nation is come up upon 
 my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are 
 the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek-teeth of a 
 great lion. 7. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked 
 my fig-tree : he hath made it clean bare, and cast it 
 away ; the branches thereof are made white — 
 
 14. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly ; gather 
 the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land into the 
 house of the Lord 3^our God, and cry unto the Lord. 
 15. Alas for the day ! for the day of the Lord is at hand, 
 and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come — 
 
 ii. 1. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an 
 alarm in my holy mountain : let all the inhabitants of 
 the land tremble : for the day of the Lord cometh, for it 
 is nigh at hand ; 2. A day of darkness and of gloominess, 
 a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning 
 spread upon the mountains : a great people and a strong : 
 there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be an}- 
 more after it, even to the years of many generations. 
 3. A fire devoureth before them ; and behind them a 
 
293 
 
 flame burneth : the land is as the garden of Eden before 
 them, and behind tliem a desolate wilderness; yea, and 
 nothing shall escape them. 4. The appearance of them 
 is as the appearance of horses ; and as horsemen, so shall 
 they run. 5. Like the noise of the chariots on the tops 
 of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of 
 fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in 
 battle array. 6. Before their face the people shall be 
 much pained : all faces shall gather blackness. 7. They 
 shall run like mighty men, they shall climb the wall like 
 men of war; and they shall march every one on his w^ays, 
 and they shall not break their ranks. 8. Neither shall 
 one thrust another, they shall walk every one in his path : 
 and, when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be 
 wounded. 9. They shall run to and fro in the city; 
 they shall run to and fro upon the wall ; they shall climb 
 up upon the houses ; they shall enter m at the windows 
 like a thief. 10. The earth shall quake before them ; the 
 heavens shall tremble : the sun and the moon shall be 
 dark; and the stars shall withdraw their shining. 11. And 
 the Lord shall utter his voice before his army : for his 
 camp is very great ; for the strong One executeth his 
 word : for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible ; 
 and who can abide it? 
 
 12. Therefore also now saith the Lord, Turn ye even 
 to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with 
 weeping, and with mourning — 17. I^et the priests, the 
 ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the 
 altar, and let them say. Spare thy people, O Lord, and 
 give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen 
 should rule over them : wherefore should they say among 
 the people. Where is their God ? 
 
 18. Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and 
 pity his people. 19. Yea, the Lord will answer, and say 
 unto his people. Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, 
 and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith : and I will no 
 more make you a reproach among the heathen. 20. But 
 I will remove far off" from you the northern one, and will 
 drive him into a land made by his ravages barren and 
 desolate, with his face toward the east- sea, and his 
 hinder part toward the utmost sea : and his stink shall 
 
294 
 
 come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he 
 hath done great things. 21. Fear not, O land, be glad, 
 and rejoice ; for the Lord will do great things — 23. Be 
 glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord 
 your God : for he will give you the former rain mode- 
 rately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, 
 the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. 
 24. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats 
 shall overflow with wine and oil. 25. And I will restore 
 to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker- 
 worm, and the caterpiller, and the palmer- wonn, my 
 great ai*my, which I sent among you. 26. And ye shall 
 eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the 
 Lord your God, that hath dealt wonderously with you : 
 and my people shall never be ashamed. 27. And ye shall 
 know, that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the 
 Lord your God, and none else : and my people shall never 
 be ashamed. 
 
 28. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will 
 pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your 
 daughters shall prophes}% your old men shall dream 
 dreams, your young men shall see visions : 29. And also 
 upon the servants and upon the hand maids in those days 
 will I pour out my spirit. 
 
 30. And I will shew w'onders in the heavens and in 
 the earth, blood and fire and pillars cf smoke. 31. The 
 sun shall be turned into dai'kness, and the moon into 
 blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord 
 come. 32. And it shall come to pass, that, whoever 
 shall call on the the name of the Lord, shall be delivered: 
 for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, 
 as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the 
 Lord will call. 
 
 iii. 1.* For behold, in those days and in that time, 
 ^vhen I shall bring agam the captivity f of Judah and 
 
 * chap. iii. 1.] " Tlie following prophecy relates to the latter times of the 
 world : when, upon their conversion, God shall deliver theyeus from their op- 
 pressors, and restore them to their own land. The prophet likewise foretells 
 the destruction of their enemies and other unbelievers in some decisive battle, 
 such as tliat mentioned Rev. xvi. 14, and the glorious state of the Church that 
 should follow." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 f The captivity.'] A noun of number, as Cbandkr j'Ightly remarks, denot- 
 ing ttiose Tcko ivere carried a%va_y captii-^^ 
 
295 
 
 Jerusalem ^, 2. I will also gather all the nations, and will 
 bring them down into the valley of the Lord's judgment f, 
 and will plead with them there for my people and for my 
 heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the 
 nations, and they have divided my land. 3. And they 
 have cast lots for my people ; and have given a boy for 
 an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. 
 4. Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre and 
 Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine ? will ye render me 
 a swift recompense ? and, if ye recompense me, swiftly 
 and speedily will I return your recompense upon your 
 own head ; 5. Because ye have taken my silver and my 
 gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly 
 pleasant things : 6, The children also of Judah and the 
 children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the lonim, that 
 ye might remove them far from their border. 7. Behold, 
 I will raise them out of the place v/hither ye have sold 
 them, and will return your recompense upon your own 
 head. 8. And I will sell your sons and your daughters 
 into the hand of the children of Judah ; and they shall 
 sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the 
 Lord hath spoken it. 
 
 9. Proclaim ye this among the nations j : sanctify war, 
 wake up the mighty men, let all the men of Avar draw 
 near, let them come up. 10. Beat your plow-shares into 
 swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears : let the 
 weak say, I am strong. 11. Assemble yourselves and 
 come, all ye nations ; and ' gather yourselves together 
 round about : thither cause thy mighty ones to come 
 down, O Lord. 12. Let the nations be roused, and 
 
 * The captivity of yiidah and j^erusalevi.'] "This is to be understood of 
 that restoration of tl>e Jewish nation and their capital city, whicli shall be 
 brought to pass in the latter times of the world, according' to the predictions 
 ofthe prophets." iMr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 ■j" / wiil also gather all the nations, and will bring them dawn into the valley of 
 the Lord's judgment.'} "The propliets speak of a general discomfiture of 
 God's enemies in some decisive battle before the general judgment— Such 
 probably is the battle oi Armageddon, spoken of Rev. xvi. 14, 16. The place 
 of this remarkable action is here called the valley of jfehoshaphat, as if the 
 prophet had said, the place tvhere the Lord will execute judgment, for so the 
 word yehoshaphat signifies in the original." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 i Proclaim, ye this among the nations.'] " The prophet returns to what he 
 had mentioned (ver. '2.) concerning the heathen or unbelieving world gather- 
 ing themselves either to oppose the ^ews in their return homeward, or some 
 other way to hinder the growth of Christ's kingdom." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
296 
 
 come up to the valley of the Lord's judgment : for thefe 
 will I the Lord sit to judge all the nations round about. 
 13. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe : come, get 
 ye down, for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their 
 wickedness is great. 14, Multitudes, multitudes, in the 
 valley of cutting off: for the day of the Lord is near in 
 the valley of cutting off. 15. The sun and the moon shall 
 be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. 
 16. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his 
 voice from Jerusalem ; and the heavens and the earth 
 shall shake : but the Lord will be the hope of his people, 
 and the strength of the children of Israel. 17. So shall 
 ye know, that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion 
 my holy mountain : then shall Jerusalem be holy *, and 
 there shall no strangers pass through her any more f* 
 18. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the moun- 
 tains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow 
 with milk J, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with 
 waters, and a fountain \ shall come forth of the house of 
 the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. 19. Egypt 
 shall be a desolation, and Edom || shall be a desolate 
 wilderness, for the violence against the children of Ju- 
 dah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. 
 20. But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from 
 generation to generation. 21. For shall I declare inno- 
 cent their blood ? I will not declare it innocent. Even 
 the Lord dwelleth in Zion. 
 
 COMjNTEXTARY. 
 
 In this prediction Joel gives us a full account of what 
 shall take place in the great day of the Lord^ and in the 
 period which ushers in that great day. He beholds the 
 
 * Then shall yerusalem be holy.'] " This character— may be understood of 
 the earthly Jerusalem, iis the metropolis of tlie converted ^ews As the inha- 
 bitants themselves shall be holy, so the city shall be called the holy city, as ia 
 former times it was." Mr. Lowth in Inc. 
 
 \ There shall no strai2gers pass through her any Trior e.] "It shall no more 
 be subject to be polluted or oppressed by unbelievers." Mr Lowth in loc. 
 Comp.'ii-e Nahum i. 15. and Luke xxi. 24 
 
 t The mountains shall drop down new Kvine, and the hills shall floiu iDith milk.'] 
 " In the Millennial state theie sliall be plenty of all things." M:- Lowth in loc. 
 
 § A fountain.'] Compare Zecliav. .\.iii. 1. and see Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 [i Eg,pt—Edo7}i.] "These two nations are taken in a genersU sense for 
 the enemies of God's people ." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
297 
 
 armies of Antichrist, numerous and rapacious as locusts 
 and. caterpillers, spreading themselves over the whole 
 land of Palestine, and devouring all its produce. He 
 beholds them effecting wonderful revolutions in the poli- 
 tical heavens, and marvellously succeeding in all their 
 enterprizes. And he solemnly calls upon the house of 
 Jiidah, now wholly converted to the faith of Christ and 
 occupying their ancient city Jerusalem, to fast and pray 
 that they may be delivered from the hand of their ene- 
 mies. Their petition will eventually be successful ; 
 though, as we learn from Daniel and Zechariah, Anti- 
 christ will first be permitted to make himself master of 
 Jerusalem. In due time, the Lord will hear the cry of his 
 people, and will no longer suffer them to be a reproach 
 and a proverb among the nations. He Vv^U remove far 
 from them the northern tyrant, that fierce leader of the 
 great Roman confederacy ; who, prevented by the decid- 
 ed naval superiority of the faithful maritime power from 
 attempting an expedition by sea, will in^'ade Palestine 
 by land, and will therefore necessarily enter it from the 
 north : and he will drive him into the land which his 
 own merciless extortions have made desolate, and will 
 there destroy him between the two seas of Judea, the 
 Dead sea on the east, and the MediteiTanean sea on the 
 west. After the destruction of Antichrist and his rebel- 
 lious host, the land shall again bring fordi her increase 
 with ten-fold fertility : and God will abundantly restore 
 to his people the produce of those years, which that great 
 army * of symbolical locusts and caterpillers had devour- 
 ed. In addition to the blessings of temporal prosperity, 
 
 * We are net to suppose, that, because God styles the symbolical locust.<^ 
 and their fellows his great army, tliey are therefore his favoured and choscu 
 people. The expression is only used to intimate, that they are a scourge in 
 his hand, well adapted to punish the wickedness of surrounding' papal nations, 
 and to discipline with wholesome though severe chastisement his clinrch 
 both protestant and Judaical. Precisely in the same manner God calls Nebu- 
 chadnezzar kis servant (Jerem. xliii. 10.), because he was the instrument, 
 however unconscious of it, and however bent only upon executing bis own 
 schemes of aggrandisement, of accomph.shing the divine purposes. The idea 
 in fact is so obvious, that Attila king of the Huns actually styled himself tfie 
 scourge of God; and boasted that his commission, as the executioner of the 
 just anger of the Almighty, was to fill the earth with all kind of evils. There 
 is however a peculiar propriety in denominating the symbolical locusts G'ot/V 
 army, because, as Bochart observes, the Arabs were wont to distinguish 
 natural locusts by that very title. 
 
 38 
 
298 
 
 lie will bestow upon them the yet greater blessings of 
 pure religion. He will pour out, in a manner unknown 
 in former ages, his Holy Spirit upon all flesh ; insomuch 
 that the day of Pentecost itself shall be only a type of this 
 yet greater and more extensive efiiision. Nevertheless, 
 before the great and terrible day of the Lord shall come, 
 the world shall be convulsed with unexampled political 
 changes and revolutions. But, wonderful as the success 
 of Antichrist shall be during his permitted hour *, the 
 believer will only infer from these predicted signs that 
 his redemption draweth near. Whosoever shall call on 
 the name of the Lord shall surely be delivered ; for he 
 will save both the rem.nant of his people Israel^ and his 
 spiritually wise children of the uncircumcision. 
 
 The prophet now proceeds to give a more full account 
 of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He declares, 
 that, when God shall bring again the captivity of Judah 
 and Jerusalem^ he will likewise gather all the nations into 
 the valley of his judgment, and will plead with them oi» 
 account of the unjust violence -with which they have 
 scattered Israel. I'hese nations, as we are taught by 
 Daniel and St. John, are those which will compose the 
 great AnticJmstian lioman confederacy. Joel, like Eze- 
 kiel, typically terms one branch of the confederacy Tyre 
 and Zidon -f. He also, like St. John, terms it -Egypt ; and, 
 like many of the ancient prophets, he denominates the 
 whole confederacy Edom %. With an awful and sublime 
 
 * ♦' He shall prosper," says the prophet Daniel, " till the indig-nation be 
 accomplished." D:in. xi. 36. 
 
 f Chandler, agreeablj' to his scheme, understands the literal Tyre and Zidotiy 
 and supposes that they mig-hthave boiig'l>tsomeof the Jewish prisoners from 
 the Edoniites. But, if the propliecy relate to tlie final restoration ofjudah, as 
 I tliink it must, Tyre and Zidon will mean the corrupt church of Rone, as iiv 
 Ezek. xxvii. and xxviii. 
 
 ^ Egypt and Edam are literally understood by Chandler, though he acknow- 
 ledges tliat it is impossible from history to fix the particular event by which 
 the prophecy was accomplished. Kimchi comes much neai-er the truth, and 
 speaks a language much more accordant with many other ancient predictions, 
 in supposing that Egypt means the Mohaonviedans, and Edovi the Romans, il 
 am rather inclined however to think, that both Egypt and Edovi equally 
 typify the Antichristian confederacy of the Roman beast and his vassals. Egypt 
 is used by St. John as a type of the Rooiian em-pire (Rev. xi. 8.) along with 
 Sodom; whence it is not unnatural to conclude, that it here likewise along 
 \Vith Edom means the same. As frtr the Mohammedans, although their super- 
 stition will be broken without hand at this period (Dan. viii. 25.), I cannot 
 find that we have any warrant for supposing' that they will nationally be 
 
299 
 
 inversion of a prediction of Isaiah, he calls upon the 
 nations, which arrange themselves under the banners of 
 Antichrist, to beat their plough-shares into swords, and 
 their pruning-hooks into spears. He calls upon them to 
 wake up the mighty men, and to sanctify wiir ^" ; to pro- 
 claim a miscalled holy crusade against those, whom the 
 injidel and papal tyrants have devoted with an anathema 
 to utter destruction : and he declares, that in such a 
 cause even the weak shall think themselves strong. Yet, 
 when the nations are roused, when they have assembled 
 themselves together in the valley of judgment, in the 
 valley of the cursing of Megiddo; then will the Lord sit 
 as a judge in the day of his great controversy with thei 
 Gentiles. The harvest of tlie rank vine of the Roman 
 earth is now fully ripe: and the Almighty ^^''ord of God 
 begins to tread the winepress of Bozrah^ and to sprinkle 
 his garments with the blood of Edom-\. The sun and the 
 moon of the Latin firmament shall then be darkened |, 
 and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The long- 
 lived Roman beast shall be slain, and his false prophet 
 
 eng-a^edln the last war of f/ie beast. One great branch of them, Turhoy, wilt 
 be destroyed previoiis to that era; and tlie other branch, Persia, is situated 
 without the limits of tlie Roman empire. 1 will not however positively deny, 
 that the Mohammedans may be intended by Egypt. They certainly answer, 
 no less than tiie Papists, to the proplietic description of committing violence 
 ag-ainst the children of fudah, and shedding- innocent blood ; innocent at least, 
 so far as they were concerned. Gibbon, thoug'h by no m.eans unfriendly to 
 Mohammed, states, that that Impostor "commanded or approved tlie assas- 
 sination of the Jews and idolaters, who had escaped from the field of battle." 
 
 * The sanctification of this war, and t!ie destroying- anathema, with whicll 
 Daniel's ivi/ful king goes out to his work of devastation, equally, I think, 
 relate to the apocalyptic junction of the false prophet ivith the Haitian icast under 
 his last head and the corfederated kings of the Latin earth. \Ve seem to gather 
 from these parallel passages, that the last war will be undertaken by the 
 Antichristian faction as a sort of crusade or holy war. 
 
 f The vintage, here spoken of, is the great vintage of Armageddon under the 
 last vial. Compare Isaiah Ixiii. 1—6. and Rev. xiv. 17—20. xix. 15. This 
 studied uniformity of metaphor, for I can consider it in no other light, affords 
 an argument to prove, that we ouglit to refer the prophecy of Joel to the 
 second advent, and not to tl^e period which Chandler imagines. 
 
 + I understand by this imagery the final oierthroiv of Antichrist. It may 
 perhaps be said, that, while I shortly after object to Chandler because he 
 affixes such various meanings to the phrase of the great day of the Lord as 
 used by Joel, I myself apply differently the signs in the political heavens as 
 mentioned in this passage and in the two preceding passages. My answer, 
 is, that I am expressly warranted by the prophet himself in making such a 
 distinction. The signs in the heavens, predicted in Joel ii. 10 and .'lO, 31, are 
 occasioned Zy the locust-army and /irecer/e the great day of the Lord: whereas 
 *hosc, predicted iji Joeliii. l-'>, are, /;jthe dayof tl:e T,ord; and the total over- 
 
300 
 
 shall be brought to utter destruction. For the Lord shall 
 roar out of Zion, and shall be the hope of his people 
 Israel. Jerusalem shall be holy, and shall no more be 
 trampled under foot by strangers : the mountains shall 
 di'op down with new wine : and the waters of life, the 
 healing streams of the Gospel, shall come forth out of 
 the house of the Lord. 
 
 The learned Chandler * seems to me very greatly to 
 have mistaken the drift of this prophecy of Joel. The 
 nation spoken of in the firsts and afterwards described at 
 large in the second chapter^ is undoubtedly a nation of 
 locusts : no one, I apprehend, will be inclined to deny so 
 plain a matter. But the question is, wdiether they be 
 nafiwal^ or symbolical^ locusts. Chandler resolutely main- 
 tains the first of these positions, and labours fruitlessly 
 (I think) to remove the difficulties with which it is clog- 
 ged. If ever Judea, in the da}s of her monarchy, had 
 been visited by such a plague of locusts as that described 
 by the prophet, a plague in no respects inferior to that 
 with which Egypt was once visited, we might reasona- 
 bly expect to find it mentioned in the historical part of 
 Scripture. But nothing, that bears any resemblance to 
 it, can there be discovered. Chandler indeed quotes R. 
 Kimchi, as producing a Jewish tradition, that during four 
 out of the seven years of famine predicted by Elisha f 
 there were four species of locusts, and that during the 
 other three there was a great want of rain. The sacred 
 text itself however gives not the least countenance to 
 this mere Rabbinical gloss ; and, even if it did. Chand- 
 ler would have put it out of his power to avail himself of 
 it by fixing the age of Joel in the reign of Ahaz, whereas 
 Elisha's famine occurred in the days of Jehoram the son 
 of Ahab considerably more than a century earlier. Ac- 
 
 thro'i:) of the Antichristian confederacy, or the utter destruction of the jRcman 
 beast in his last form (Dan. vii. 11.), is the subject of" them. Christ predicts 
 in a similar manner, that his advent should be preceded, and as it were 
 ushered in, by signs in the sun and moon (See Matt. xxiv. 29, 30, 33. Mark 
 siii. 24, 25, 26, 29. and Luke xxi. 25, 26, 27, 28, 31.) : unless indeed we are 
 bound to refer these different transcripts of the saine prophecy to the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem, by the Homans exclusively. I iiave never yet met witli aa 
 exposition of our Lord's propliecy, that g-ave me entire satisfaction. 
 
 * To save the trouble of entlless particular references, I beg' to refer the 
 reader in general to Chandler's Comment, on j^oel, and the annexed Disser- 
 tation. -J- 2 King-s viii. 1. 
 
301 
 
 cordingly he does not attempt to produce any account of 
 these locusts from the scriptural history *. 
 
 But this difficulty is by no means the only one. Joel 
 declares, that the army of locusts shall cause the heavens 
 to quake, and the earth to tremble ; that the sun and the 
 moon shall be dark before them ; and that the stars shall 
 withdraw their shining- f. These magnificent images, as 
 it is well known, denote in the prophetic language great 
 7vars and revolutions, wherein established governments 
 are either overthrown, or at least shaken to their very 
 centre. Some great political commotion therefore must 
 have taken place in consequence of the ravages of these 
 locusts. Now, although a brief history might be silent 
 respecting a mere plague of locusts ; yet, if that plague 
 occasioned a revolution in the government, it is incre- 
 dible that the very shortest history should then have pre- 
 served a profound silence. Where then do we find any 
 such circumstance mentioned in the sacred history? To 
 get quit of this difficulty Chandler maintains, that the ex- 
 pressions in question are to be understood literally. He 
 tells us, that the earth really appears to tremble through 
 the continual motion of a swarm of locusts ; or at least 
 that it may be fairly said to tremble through the excessive 
 fear of its inhabitants : that the heavens shake, because 
 the locusts obscure the very light of them : that the sun 
 is turned into darkness, becaXise thev ordinarilv flv in the 
 day time, and that in such numbers as to darken even 
 the sun himself: and that the moon and the stars with- 
 draw their shining, because they may be supposed in 
 warm eastern countries sometimes to shift their place by 
 night. 
 
 Here an objector would naturally urge, that much the 
 same imagery is twice elsewhere used by Joel| : are we 
 then to conclude, that he is there likewise to be under- 
 stood literally? for, to make him consistent wuth himself, 
 we must, in all the three parallel passages, understand him 
 either literally throughout, or figuratively throughout. 
 
 * Bochart, who like Chandler understands the locusts literally, exerts alt 
 his ingenuity to parry the force of this argument, which had been strenuously 
 urged by St. Jerome ; but, I think, with very little success. See Ilieroz, Pars 
 I. L. Iv. C. 5 p. 482. 
 
 t Joelii. 10. t Tool i'i. .10, SI. and '£\. 15. 
 
502 
 
 For this objection Chandler is prepared ; and tells us, 
 that the fire mid pilla7's of smoke, mentioned in the 30th 
 verse of the 2d chapter, mean only the fire and smoke 
 that proceed from burning towns and villages ; and that 
 the smoke, as it ascends, darkens the sur, and gives the 
 moon a red and bloody appearance. I^e acknowledges 
 indeed the propriety of Sir Isaac Newton's remark, that 
 the darkening the sun, and the turning the moon into blood, 
 denote the ceasing or desolation of a kingdom : but adds, 
 that it is evident from the 10th verse of the 2d chapter, 
 that it does not always denote this ; and thence infers, 
 that neither does it in the 3\st verse. Thus does he 
 attempt to decide the sense of one disputed passage, by 
 referring us to another which- is no less disputed. The 
 third passage, contained in the 15th verse of the 3d chap- 
 ter, he treats in the same manner ; and refers us, for an 
 authority, to what he had said on the second passage. 
 What is this but completely arguing in a circle ? As for 
 what Chandler says respecting the literal acceptation of 
 all the three passages, it is so totally contrary to the 
 universal spirit of prophetic language, and so plainly 
 contrived (particularly in the case of the first passage) to 
 serve a turn ; that I scruple not to assert, that there is 
 not the slightest foundation for it. It will follow there- 
 fore, unless I be greatly mistaken in this assertion, that 
 the locust-army, which occasions dreadful political revo- 
 lutions, can not be an army composed of literal locusts. 
 
 Tjie opinion here advanced by me is adopted, as 
 Chandler himself acknowledges, by the Chaldee Para- 
 phrast, Grotius, and Jerome*. The first of these writers 
 renders Joel ii. 5, Peoples, nations, tongues, emperors, 
 and revenging kingdoms. The second thinks, that the 
 prophet does not mean real locusts ; but that he points 
 out under such imagery the successive irruptions of 
 Phul, Tiglathphilasar, Salmanasar, and Sennacherib. The 
 third agrees with Grotius in principle ; but differs from 
 him in the application of the prediction. He observes, 
 in explaining Chap. ii. Ver. 20, that the northern one 
 means the Assyrians and Chaldeans, who came from the 
 north ; and adds, that the term northern is here used to 
 
 ■ Tt is likewise adontud bv Abarbanel and Mede. 
 
303 
 
 shew that the prophet does not intend real locusts, but 
 symbolical 07ies. His reasoning is just ; though liis appU- 
 cation is, I think, wrong. Real locusts do not come from 
 the north, but breed in the warm regions of the south *■. 
 They are used therefore with singular propriety by St. 
 John, who (as Mede and Bp. Newton justly observe) has 
 borrowed many particulars of his description from Joel , 
 to typify the vast armies of the Saracens. In the Apo- 
 calypse however the antitypical locusts come, like their 
 types, from the south and south-east : consequently the 
 Apostle had no occasion to specify the particular quarter 
 of the heavens ; that point, nothing being said to the 
 contrary, would be sufficiently determined by the natural 
 history of the symbol t. But Joel wished to describe a 
 horde of rapacious northern invaders under the same 
 imagery. Hence both the decorum of the type, and the 
 right understanding of the prediction, required, that he 
 should particulai'ly specify that the locusts should come 
 from the north; thus tacitly, though plainly, insinuating, 
 that he meant not any literal locusts. 
 
 Here then Chandler has a fresh difficulty to encounter: 
 and in what manner does he endeavour to remove it? 
 Kimchi, who like himself supposes the locusts to be lite- 
 ral ones, somewhat unthinkingly adopts the natural and 
 obvious interpretation of the passage ; and says, that the 
 prophet calls the locust the northern one, because it came 
 to them from the northern quarter. But this exposition 
 is by no means satisfactory, because real locusts do not 
 come from the north. Chandler therefore adopts the gloss 
 of Bochart, who had before him understood the locusts 
 of Joel in a literal sense, and who must also before him 
 have felt the refractoriness of this passage. " The north- 
 
 * Speaking of the remarkable accordance of fAe apocalyptic locusts with the 
 Saracens, Mv. Daubuz observes, that "the Saracens have made inroads into 
 all those parts of Christendom where the natural locusts are wont to be seen 
 and known to do mischief, and no where else : and that too in the same pro- 
 portion. Wliere the locusts are seldom seen, there the Saracens stayed little : 
 where the natural locusts are often seen, there the Saracens abode most : 
 and, 'inhere they breed most, there the Saracens had their beginning-, and greatest 
 power." Mr. Mede observes, like Mr. Daubuz, that the locusts bred much 
 in Arabia. ( 
 
 f In a similar manner, he symbolizes the various irruptions of the northern 
 nations by a storm of hail, without specifying from ivhat quarter that storTti 
 came, because the north is the region of snow and hail. 
 
304 
 
 ei'n one^^^ says he, " is that part of the locusts, which is 
 on the northern side of the city ; and the barren and dry 
 land^ into which the Lord will drive them, is Arabia 
 which lies to the south of Judea, and where they would 
 die for want of food." Are we to suppose then, if literal 
 locusts be intended, that there were none on the south 
 side of the citv ? And if, as common sense oblia:es us to 
 conclude no less than the very full and ample description 
 of the prophet, there undoubtedly were ; why are those 
 on the northern side alone noticed, while nothing is said 
 respecting those on the southern side ? Nor is this all : 
 the two seas, as both Bochart, Kimchi, and Chandler, 
 allow, are the dead sea * and the Mediterranean sea. 
 How then could the locusts be between these two seas, 
 if they were driven far into the desarts of Arabia '\ ? In 
 short, I can consider such an interpretation in no other 
 light than that of a mere struggle to get quit of a diffi- 
 culty. The northern one is evidently a sweeping expres- 
 sion, denoting either the king of the locusts at the head 
 of his armies, or the xvhole body of the locusts themselves. 
 And I am persuaded, that any one, who reads the pas- 
 sage unbiassed by system, will conclude, that tlie north- 
 ern locusts, which lay waste the whole land of Judea, ai'c 
 certain locusts, which come out of the north ; and that, 
 when he recollects that locusts are ordinarily bred in the 
 south, he will say with Jerome, that the epithet northern 
 is added to shew that the prophet did not intend real 
 
 iQCUStS. 
 
 Supposing then that the locusts, caterpillers, canker- 
 worms, and palmer- worms, which composed the vast 
 army described by Joel, are to be understood, not literal- 
 ly, but symbolically ; the next point to be considered is 
 
 • Kimchi thinks, perhaps also the lake of Gertnesaretk. 
 
 •}• The land barren and desolate is certainly the land between the seas, or 
 Palestine ; not Arabia. This land had been made barren and desolate by tlie 
 ravages of the locust-army. TJ^e removing to a distance vn\s.%\. be taken in a 
 qualified and limited sense ; for the place, to which the .symbolical locusts 
 are to be removed, is between the seas of Palestine, no less than the tjlorious 
 holy mountain itself (compare Dan. xi. 45.). We learn from St. John, that 
 this place is Megiddo, descriptively termed by Joel the 'oalley of the Lord's 
 judgvient ; which is about forty miles from Jerusalem, snd which, though it 
 may be considered as lying between the dead sea and the Mediterranean, is 
 (to speak with more geographical accuracy) situate between the Mediterra- 
 nean and tlie sea of Gennesareth. 
 
305 
 
 the period to which we are to assign this trcmendoii:-. 
 invasion of Judea. Grotius thinks, as we have seen, that 
 the successive invasions of Phul, Tiglathphihisar, Sahiia- 
 nasar, and Sennacherib, are intended *. St. Jerome sup- 
 poses, that the Chaldeans and Assyrians are the sym- 
 bohcal locust-army. Mr. Mede adopts the opinion of 
 Jerome f. Abarbanel conjectures, that not only the Chal- 
 deans, who carried away the ten tribes, are meant ; but 
 likewise the Babylonians, who destroyed the first temple, 
 and the Romans, who destroyed the second %. Kimchi 
 observes, that some of the Rabbies expound the verse, 
 in which the destruction of the locust-army is foretold, 
 as relating to the days of the Messiah : and he thinks, 
 that the Chaldee Paraphrast interprets the locusts to mean 
 princes, and people, and kingdoms, because he apprehend- 
 ed that these things w^ere to come to pass in the days 
 of the Messiah ). The last of these opinions, provided 
 we understand the days of the second advent, is, I believe, 
 the true one. As for the others, I cannot discover, that 
 any one of them at all accords with the prophecy, except- 
 ing perhaps that wdiich applies it to the invasion and 
 
 * I think him no less wrong' in this part of his opinion, tlirm in his ajipli-. 
 cation of the prophecy to a period during- which y-udnh w;is existing' as a 
 kingdom. These four trihes of animals are phiinly represented as com- 
 posing^ only o)ie army, tlie diflerent divisions of wliich, after they have 
 jointly entered Palestine, spread tliemselves over the face of the whole 
 country, and rival each other in mischievousness and rapacitj'. " Tliat which, 
 tlie palmer-worm hath left, hath the locust eaten ; and t!iat which the locust 
 hath left, hath the canker-worm eaten ; and tlial which the canker-worm 
 hath left, hath the caterpiller eaten — A fire devoureth before them ; and 
 behind tliem a flame burnetii : the land is as the g-arden of Eden before 
 them, and behind them a desolate wilderness ; yea, and notliing sliall escape 
 them." The ravages of a hostile army, sometimes advancing in one great 
 body, and sometimes dividing itself into detachments, could not have been 
 painted more to the life. 'I'here cannot be a better comment upon the pro- 
 piiecy than the conduct of the locusts of Antichrist in the course of their 
 vai'ious campaigns. Every part of tiie European continent within tlieir reacli 
 has been plundered and laid waste by them. They have been vmiformly sub- 
 sisted at the expense of the wretched inhabitants. And I doubt not, when- 
 ever their appointed time for invading Palestine shall arrive, tliat tlie same 
 deeds of havock and barbarity will be there also re-acted. Could the poet, 
 who wished to describe the universal conduct of the French, have pitclied 
 upon more apposite images to symbolize those barbarians, than locusts, cater' 
 pillers, Ciinker-ivortns, xnA palmer -%v or vis ? See my Dissert, on the 1260 years. 
 Vol. ii. p. 331. (2d edit. p. 367.). 
 
 f Comment. Apoc. p. 467. 
 
 i Boch. Hieroz; P. i. L! Iv. C. 5. p. 430. 
 
 § The reader will find all these authors cited by Chandler himself, except 
 Mede and Afcarlianel, to whom I have therefore eiven references. 
 
 39 
 
306 
 
 destruction of Sennacherib. It is to be observed, that 
 Joel does not merely foretell an invasion, but likewise the 
 destruction of the invaders; and that too in a region which 
 he very particularly specifies, the land of Palestine be- 
 tween the eastern sea and the Mcstern sea. Now the Clial- 
 deans, who canied away the ten tribes, were successful in 
 their enterprize, instead of experiencing a total overthrow. 
 So likewise were the Babylonians, who destroyed the first 
 temple. And so were the Romans, who destroyed tlie 
 second. None of these perished in Palestine between the 
 two seas : how is it possible then that they can be meant 
 by the locust-army? Sennacherib undoubtedly f/Zf/fail in 
 his expedition, and his army was miraculously destroyed 
 near Libnah '^' which is situated between the two seas : I 
 am willing moreover to allow, that his overthroAv may be 
 considered as the type of the yet future overthrow of 
 Antichrist in the same bismarine region, though not pre- 
 cisely in the same place : but I think it sufficiently evident, 
 that the prophecy can only ha\^e received a sort of inchoate 
 accomplishment in that event, even granting that it at 
 all relates to it, which is by no means clearly certain. 
 Joel himself fixes the accomplishment of the whole of 
 his prophecy to a certain era, which he calls the great 
 day of the Lord. All things contained in it are to come 
 to pass either immediately before this great day, or in 
 this great day. He beholds the approach of the locust- 
 army ; and exclaims, Alas for the day I for the day of 
 the Lord is at handf. He sees them commence their 
 wild career of havock, and occasion tremendous revo- 
 lutions in the political heavens ; and again exclaims, 
 The day of the Lord is great and very terrible J. He 
 briefly touches upon their destruction between the two 
 seas, and predicts the subsequent happy state of Israel 
 both in temporals and spirituals ; and declares, that those 
 revolutions shall take place before the great and terrible 
 day of the Lord come \, Lastly, when calling together 
 the multitudes of the nations to the valley of judgment 
 he declares that the day of the Lord in that valley is 
 fiear ; and that it shall be marked, not only by another 
 
 * 2 Kings xix. 8. f Joel I. IS. 
 
 i Joel ii. 11. « Joel ii. 10, 20, 23, 28, 31 
 
307 
 
 and most awful revolution, a revolution about to b€^ 
 experienced in their turn by the causers of revolutions, 
 iDut likewise by the roaring of the Lord out of Zion, by 
 his dwelling in his holy mountain, by his suffering hostile 
 strangers no more to pass through Jerusalem, and by his 
 conferring upon his people every kind of blessing ^. It 
 is evident therefore, that the prreat day of the Lord must, 
 as it is used by Joel, mean the period in which the locust- 
 army should be destroyed, and the nations he cut off in the 
 valley of concision: and it is further evident from Joel's 
 (as it were) anxious repetition of the phrase, that, since 
 the locust-army and the army of the nations arc both to be 
 overthrown in the same great day, they must consist of the 
 very same persons ; in other words, that the last chapter 
 of Joel contains only an enlarged description of the alrea- 
 dy mentioned overthrow of the locust-army between the 
 two seas. It moreover appears, that the great day of the 
 Lord comprehends not only the destruction of the nations, 
 but likewise the grant of much temporal and spiritual hap- 
 piness to the Jexvs. 
 
 What period then are wc to understand by this great 
 day ? Chandler most arbitrarily denies, that the prophet 
 uses the term throughout his prediction in the same 
 sense ; a denial, to which, according to his scheme, he 
 was necessarily led by St. Peter's application of a part of 
 the prophecy to the day of pentecost f- Accordingly he 
 tells us, that the great day of the Lord, with which the 
 locusts are connected, means nothing more than the time 
 of calamity a?id distress which their ravages occasioned ; 
 and therefore a day, supposing the locusts to be natural 
 ones, long since past: but that the great day of the Lord 
 connected with the effusion of the Spirit, means the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem by the Romans. In both cases I 
 believe him to be mistaken, at least so far mistaken as 
 he confnies the great day in the second case to the sack- 
 ing of Jerusalem. Let the expression mean what it may, 
 it is only reasonable to suppose, that Joel, who four times 
 uses it in the course of a very short prediction, uses it 
 always in the same sense. And;, if this be allowed, it 
 
 * Joel ili. 14—21 , + Acts ii. 15—21.. 
 
308 
 
 will at least follow that the destruction of the locusts cail- 
 iiot have taken place during the existence of Judea as a 
 kingdom. Maimonides is probably right in thinking, that 
 the expression in the abstract denotes any day in which 
 God sends a singular or extraordinary punishment *: but 
 I am persuaded that it peculiarly means the two times of 
 the first and second advent of the Messiah ; insomuch 
 that I am almost inclined to believe, that, whenever it is 
 applied to other events, it is only applied to them as be- 
 ing typical of those two great times. Malachi uses it to 
 describe the first advent \ : and Joel, properly to de- 
 scribe the second advent. The one advent however is a 
 figure of the other ; and they are both equally denomi- 
 nated the great day of the Lord. Hence St. Peter applies 
 to the first a prophecy, which properly and ultimately 
 belongs to the second %. And hence Bp. Horsley most 
 truly observes, that "a far greater proportion of the 
 prophecies, even of the Old Testament, than is generally 
 imagined, relate to the second advent of our Lord ; that 
 few comparatively relate to the first adventhy itself, with- 
 out reference to the second ; and that of those, that have 
 been supposed to be accomplished in the first, many had 
 in that only an inchoate accomplishment, and have yet 
 to receive their full completion ^." 
 
 .loel (for I wish only that he should be his own inter- 
 preter) has given us a most decisive mark, whereby we 
 may know which of the two advents he is properly treat- 
 ing of. He tells us, that the time of God's gathering 
 together the nations to the great day of the Lord shall be 
 in the days when he will bring again the captivity of 
 
 * Mor. Nev. L. ii. C. 29. cited by Chandler. f Mai. iv. 5. 
 
 i "When this prophecj' is applied to the first advent, the sig'ns in tlie sun 
 Jind moon will relate to the dissolution (if the Jewish polity ■■ but 1 certainly 
 think, tliat it properly relates to the second advent and to the revolutions which 
 art to precede, and usher it in. Notliing however is more common in prophecy, 
 than a sort of double allusion both to the first and second advent ; to the first 
 as typical of Me second. I believe Dr Gray to be perfectly right in observins^, 
 that Joel, in this prediction, "foretells the g-enera! effusion of the Holy Spirit, 
 which was to characterize tlie Gospel dispensation ; concluding' with a strik- 
 ing' description of the destruction of Jerusalem wliicli followed soon after, 
 and punished the Jews for their obstinate rejection of the sacred influence ; 
 speaking- in terms that, as well as those of our Saviour which resembled 
 them, had a double aspect, and referred to a primary and a final dispensation. 
 Comp. Joel ii. 30, 31. wilh Matt. xxiv. 29." Key to the Old Testament, P. 436 
 
 § Letter on Isaiah xviii. P. 3. 
 
S09 
 
 Judah and Jerusalem. Thus it is manifest, that, since, 
 the whole of his prophecy, as he four times carefully tells 
 us, relates to the great day of the Lord^ it must necessa- 
 rily relate, so far as its full completion is concerned, to 
 the great day of the second advent; for, at that great day^ 
 not at the great day of the first advent (lor then they 
 were dispersed), the Jeivs will be restored. This being 
 the case, the destruction of the symbolical locust-army 
 will take place at the era of the second great day of the 
 Lord, the era of the second advent^ the era of the restora- 
 tion of Judah. But the locust-army is not only to be 
 destroyed at this era : it is likewise to be destroyed in 
 Palestine between the two seas. Now we are taught by 
 Daniel, that the confederacy of the Infidel Icing is to be 
 overthrown both at the same era, and in the same bisma- 
 rine country *. Hence we necessarily, I think, arrive 
 at the conclusion which I have already stated, that the 
 locust-ariny is no other than the army of Antichrist. 
 
 Chandler's exposition of the last chapter of Joel is yet 
 more exceptionable than that of the former part of the 
 prophecy. He separates it from all that had preceded it, 
 notwithstanding Joel firmly binds together in one the 
 whole of his prediction, by four times referring us for 
 its accomplishment to the great day of the Lord: and 
 fancies, that it relates to nothing but a war between iVhaz 
 and the Edomites and Philistines, in the course of which 
 •several of the Jews were taken prisoners ; and to some 
 subsequent victories of Hezekiah, in consequence of 
 which, and of the destruction of Sennacherib's army, 
 many of the captives were probably restored to liberty f- 
 Thus does he reduce the restoration of Judah and Jeru- 
 salem to the mere recovery, and that the only probable 
 recovery, of some prisoners of war ; and the magnificent 
 description of the overthrow of the nations in the great 
 
 * Dan. xi. 45. xii. 1. 
 
 f "Probably under the prosperity of Hezekiah's reign manj'^ were restored 
 to liberty — The sacred historian takes notice, that after the slaughter of 
 Sennacherib's army many brought gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem, and pre- 
 sents to Hezekiah king of Judah — If ainongst these offerings there %vere any 
 prisoners and captives, they must have been a very grateful present to th^ 
 relig-ious and virtuous prince." 
 
310 
 
 day of the Lord to some petty victory of Hezekiah, not 
 of sufficient consequence to be particularly mentioned 
 by the sacred historian*. Yet tliis strange interpretation 
 of one of the noblest prophecies in- Holy AVrit he requires 
 us to receive in preference to that of R. Kimchi, who 
 naturally supposes, that the scattering of Israel among 
 the nations and the parting of God''s land\ means the 
 scattering of the Jews and the partition of Palestine by 
 the Romans J and consequently that the bringing again the 
 captivity of Judah means his final restoration %. On the 
 same principle he attempts to lower all the promises, 
 with which the prophecy concludes, to the short-lived 
 tranquillity of Jerusalem during the latter part of the 
 reign of Hezekiah ; a tranquillity ere long disturbed by 
 the captivity of his son Manasseh, and the subsequent 
 genenU Babylonian captivity which put an end to the 
 kingdom of Judah. How the divine declaration, that 
 Jerusalem should be holy, that hostile strangers ^ should 
 pass tlii'ough her no more, and that Judah should dwell 
 for ever, could have been fulfilled in the reign of Heze- 
 
 * *' If we take the valley of yehoshaphat in a literal sense, the prophet fore- 
 tells some signal vengeance that should be taken on the Jewish enemies there ; 
 which, because of the shortness of the history, we may not be so well able to 
 point out the exact accomplishment of. It is certain Hezekiah had many 
 victories over the neighbouring nations, but whether any of them happened 
 in tliis valley is not particulai'ly mentioned." 
 
 t Joel iii.'2. 
 
 ■'r " Kimchi refers this fthc bringing again the captivity of yudahj to tlie 
 clays of the INIessiah ; and the pouring out of the Spirit (Joel ii. 28.), to the 
 days when the captivity of yudah should be brought back, without, as I can 
 find, any reason for such an application — Kimchi understands the scattering of 
 the yews, and the partition of the land, o^'what ivas done by Titus arid his artny, 
 when they came into tlie land of Israel. But this seems going much out of 
 the way to find out the accomplishment of this prophecy. AH that is implied 
 is, that the nations mentioned made several incursions into the Jewish ter- 
 ritories, seized upon several of their cities and towns, took the inhabitants 
 captives, and sold them for slaves." What a singular mode of sinking a 
 prophecy, replete with the boldest and most terrific images ! 
 
 § Chandler himself adopts the obvious exposition of Grotius, that the 
 strangers, here mentioned, are hostile strangers. " Jerusalem shall be holi- 
 ness, separated to God, and esteemed as under h;s peculiar protection by the 
 stranger or neighbouring nations, who shall therefore no more pass through it ; 
 they shall neither besiege, nor take it: or, as Grotius expounds it, they shall 
 no more pass through it with a hostile army. This prophecy seems to me 
 to have been fulfilled in the time of Hezekiah, when God saved the inhabi- 
 tants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib, and from the |hand of all 
 others, and guided them on every side : and when the Lord was with Heze- 
 kiah, and prospered him whithersoever he went forth," 
 
HI 
 
 kiab, when we consider what speedily followed that 
 reign, it is not very easy to conceive*. 
 
 PROPHECY XXXII. 
 
 The dispersion of the Jews, and the occupation of their country by 
 foreign invaders — Their restoration and triumph over the mystic 
 Edom. 
 
 Amos viii. 11. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord 
 God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine 
 of bread, nor a thirst for water, bnt of hearing the words 
 of the Lord. 12. And they shall wander from sea to 
 sea, and from the north even to the east ; they shall run 
 to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not 
 find it. — ix. 4. Though they go into captivity before 
 their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it 
 shall slay them : and I w ill set mine eyes upon them for 
 evil, and not for good. 5. For the Lord God of Hosts 
 toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all tliat dwell 
 therein shall mourn : and it shall be come up upon as bij 
 a river t, and it shall be laid under water, as by the river 
 of Egypt. 6. He that buildeth his chambers in the 
 heavens, and foundeth his compact foundation in the 
 earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and 
 poureth them out upon the face of the earth : Jehovah is 
 his name — 8. Behold, the eyes of the Lord are upon the 
 sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of 
 the earth ; saving only that I will not utterly destroy the 
 
 * Dr. Gray observes, that this prophecy is supposed to relate to the cir- 
 cumstances predicted in Ezekiel xxxix. 5 — 11. and Rev. xx. 8, y. (Key, P. 
 437.) I fully agree with him, that tlie Gog and Magog of Ezekiel are the same 
 as the Gog arid Magog of St. John ; but I cannot think, that the prediction ®1" 
 Joel at all relates to thnn. It speaks oi a formidable confederacy about to be 
 destroyed at the era of the restoration of yiidah ,- whereas the overthrow of 
 Gog and Magog takes place at the end of the millenniiiw. Hence I rather 
 think, that it relates to the circumstances predicted in Isaiah Ixiii. Ezek. xxvii, 
 xxviii, XXXV. Dan. xi. 40—45. xii. 1. Rev. xiv. 17—20. xviii, xix. 11—21. and 
 many other parallel prophecies. 
 
 •j- It shall be come np upon as by a river^^ The land shall be overflowed by 
 Invading armies, as completely as Egypt is by the periodical flood of the 
 Nile. The same imagery is used by Isaiah. "Whose land rivers have 
 spoiled" Isaiah xviii. 2.' 
 
312 
 
 house of Jacobs, saith the Lord. 9. For lo, 1 will com- 
 mand, and I will sift the house of Israeli among all 
 nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve ; yet shall not 
 the least grain fall upon the earth. 10. All the sinners 
 of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The 
 evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. 
 
 11. In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David 
 that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I 
 will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days 
 of old. 12. That they may possess the remnant of 
 Eidom, and of all the nations upon whom my name hath 
 been called J, saith tlie Lord that doeth this. 13. Behold, 
 the days come, saith the Lord, that the ploughman shall 
 overtake the reaper || ; and the treader of grapes, him that 
 soweth seed : and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, 
 and all the hills shall melt. 14. And I will bring again 
 the capti\'ity of my people Israel *|f ; and they shall build 
 the waste cities, and inhabit them ; and they shall plant 
 vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also 
 make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 15. And I 
 will plant them upon their own land, and they shall no 
 more be pulled up out of their land which I have given 
 them, saith the Lord thv God. 
 
 * The sinfid kingdom— the house ofyacob.'] There is a manifest and remark- 
 able distinction litre made between the kiiigdoin and the house. The kingdom 
 should be utterly destroyed in both its branciies oi' Israel and ^udah : the 
 house, whatever calamites mig'ht befall it, should be preserved. 
 
 1 1 iviil sift the house of Israel.^ Solving- the house of Israel a'tnong the nations 
 means, as lip. liorsley observes, making them the seed of the Church : but sift- 
 ing them luith a sieve denotes most expressively their dispersion. Flis Lordship 
 is so perfectly right in his observation, that not a single instance, 1 believe, 
 can be produced, in which coiving the house oj' Israel ever signifies a judgment 
 injlicted upon them. 
 
 + Edom, and of all the nations upon ichoin my name hath been called.^ This 
 expression is remarkable, and clearly shews us wiiat kind of nations are 
 intended. Tht mystic Edom and his confederate nations are not pagans, ignorant 
 of the very name of the Lord, lut professed '■j.'orsliippers of him. Against 
 these nominal and corrupt believers of the Homan Edom the wrath of God is 
 denoiuiced In almost every prophecy, that treats of the restoration of the yews, 
 
 II The days come, thai t lie. ploughman shall overtake the reaper.'] " This and. 
 the following verses ought to be understood of the happy state oi the Millen- 
 niuin, which may be supposed to begin after the yev:s are restored to their 
 country. Compare Joel iii. 18." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 IIJ" m-ill bring again the captivity of my people Israel.^ " I will restore them 
 to their own country, and settle them in it" (Mr. Lowth in loc). Captivity 
 is a noun of number meaning a multitude of captives, as in many other places 
 
313 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 In the beginning of this prophecy, Amos predicts the 
 dispersion of Israel ; and foretells, that, in consequence 
 of their rejecting the Messiah, there should be among 
 tliem a great famine of true religious instruction. He 
 adds, that even in the land of their captivity many of 
 them should be slain by the sword ; a declaration woe- 
 fully fulfilled in the many persecutions which the Jews 
 have suifered from the sanguinary bigotry of Popery. 
 Meanwhile their land shall be overilow^ed and deluged by 
 rivers of foreign invaders, as the Nile overflows the land 
 of Egypt. The Persians shall succeed the Romans : the 
 Saracens, the Persians ; the western crusaders, the Sara- 
 cens ; the Turks, the crusaders ; and last of all, at the 
 period of their restoration, the armies of Antichrist shall 
 plant their tents in .the glorious holy mountain. The 
 whole of this is the Lord's doing. Yet, though he will 
 utterly destroy the sinful kingdom of Israel^ he will not 
 utterly destroy the house of Jacob. The civil and eccle- 
 siastical polity shall be completely dissolved ; but the 
 individuals themselves shall be preserved. These God 
 will scatter among all nations, as corn is sifted in a sieve : 
 yet, unlike natural corn, not a single grain shall fall to 
 the earth. Every grain, distmct from its fellow, shall con- 
 tinue flying, as it were, between the earth and the sieve 
 of God's wrath, unable to settle upon the ground and 
 coalesce into heaps, as is the case with natural corn when 
 sifted *. 
 
 Nevertheless, while they are in this scattered and for- 
 saken state, the Lord will suddenly raise up the taber- 
 nacle of David, and bring again the captivity of Israel. 
 
 * It might seem at first, that the expression not the least grain shall fall to 
 the earth signifies, that every individual should be preserved ; but, when the 
 whole imagery is considered, I incline to think that I have adopted the right 
 interpretation. Suppose that some miracle prevented the sifted grains of 
 wheat from falling to the ground ; they would in that case be carried about 
 by every wind, unconnected with each other, and never able to continue long 
 in one place. In this wonderful manner God threatens to sift the ^eivs among 
 all nations. The sieve of his wrath shall scatter them : but they shall never, 
 like the Normans, the Saxons, and other kindred tribes, that have spread 
 themselves far and wide ; they shall never fall to the ground, and be at rest. 
 
 40 
 
314 
 
 He will cause them to possess the remnant of the mystic 
 Edom which had so long persecuted and afflicted them, 
 and of all those nations of mere nominal Christians upon 
 whom the name of the Lord had been called in letter 
 though not in spirit. He will bless them with wonderful 
 prosperity in the land of their fathers ; and will never 
 again suffer them to be violently dragged away from it. 
 Such are the good things yet in store for Israel^ when he 
 shall turn unto the Lord his God. 
 
 It is to be observed, that the prophecy is couched in 
 general terms, and relates to the house of Joseph no less 
 than to the house of Judah. 
 
 PROPHECY XXXIII. 
 
 The certainty of the restoration of Judah and Israel. 
 
 Micah ii. 12. I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of 
 thee : I will surely gather the remnant of Israel * : I will 
 put them together as the sheep of Bozrah t, as the flock 
 in the midst of her fold : they shall make a great noise 
 by reason of the multitude of men. 13. He that break- 
 eth do^vn is come up before them % : they have broken 
 down the zuall, and have passed through the gate, and 
 have gone out by it: and their king passeth before them, 
 even the Lord |1 at the head of them. 
 
 * J will surely gather the remnant of Israel."] " This promise relates to the 
 general restoration of the Jewish nation." 5lr Lowth in loc. 
 
 1 1 will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah.] "God rs often styled the 
 shepherd ef Israel, and his care over his people is^compared to that of a shep- 
 herd over his flock — Bozrah is a noted place in Idumea, where there were 
 large flocks of sheep. Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 i He that breaketh doivn is come up before the'>n.'] " He, that shall break 
 the bonds of their captivity, or break through all obstacles that hinder tlieir 
 return home—The Jewish commentators generally tinderstand the breaker^ 
 and their king that follows, of the same person, viz. the Messiah., as may be 
 seen in Dr. Pocock upon the place — The words seem parallel to that expres- 
 sion of Zechariah (Chap. xii. 8.). As the angel nfthe Lord before them, or at 
 the head of them. Some oi the yews indeed, with a little variation, expound 
 their king of the Messiah, and the breaker of Iiis forerunner Elijah, as Dr. 
 Pocock observes." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 fl Their king— even the Lord.] " The Messiah, who is both their God and 
 their king, shall conduct them as tlieir captain and general. Compare Isaiah 
 lii. 12. Hos. i. 11." Mr. Lowth in loc 
 
315 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 The general restoration of Israel Is here predicted, 
 under the image of a shepherd gathering together his 
 Jiock into the fold: and an oblique intimation is given, 
 which Micah sufficiently explains in the succeeding pro- 
 phecy, that he should be made in the hand of the Lord 
 an instrument of judgment upon his enemies. He that 
 breaketh down is Jehovah the Messiah ; \\\\o is repre- 
 sented like a general leading on his troops to the work 
 of destruction. 
 
 PROPHECY XXXIV. 
 
 The glories of the Millennian church — The mystic birth of the 
 Jewish nation — The overthrow of the Antichristian confederacy 
 partly by the instrumentality of the Jews — The advent of Christ 
 — He protects the now converted Jews, and destroys the mystic 
 Assyrian — The instrumentality of the Jews in the conversion, oi" 
 the Gentiles. 
 
 Micah iv. 1. And in the end of days it shall come to 
 pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be 
 established in the top of the mountains, and shall be ex- 
 alted above the hills ; and the nations shall flow unto it. 
 
 2. x\nd many nations shall come, and say, Come, and 
 let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the 
 house of the God of Jacob ; and he will teacli us of \vii 
 ways, and we will walk in his paths ; for the law shall go 
 forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 
 
 3. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke 
 strong nations afar off ; and they shall beat their swords 
 into plow-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks : 
 nation shall not lift up the sword against nation, neither 
 shall they learn war any more. 4. But they shall sit 
 every man under his vine and under his fig-tree ; and 
 none shall make them afraid. 5. Though all people walk 
 every one in the name of his god, yet we will walk in the 
 name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. 6. In that 
 
316 
 
 day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and 
 I will gather her that is driven out*, and her that I have 
 afflicted: 7. And I will make her that halted a remnant; 
 and her that was cast far oflP, a strong nation | : and the 
 Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from hence- 
 fortli even for ever. 8. And thou, O daughter of the 
 flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee 
 shall it come, even the first dominion ; the kingdom shall 
 come to the daughter of Jerusalem. 
 
 9. Now why dost thou cry out aloud ? is there no 
 king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have 
 taken thee as a woman in travail. 10. Be in pain, and 
 labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman 
 in travail: although now thou goest forth out of the city, 
 and dwellest in the field, and goest to Babylon ; yet there 
 shalt thou be delivered, there sliall the Lord redeem thee 
 from the hand of thy enemies. 
 
 11. And now many nations are gathered against thee, 
 that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon 
 Zion. 12. But they know not the thoughts of the Lordl, 
 neither understand they his counsel : for he shall gather 
 them as the sheaves into the floor. 13. Arise, and thresh, 
 O daughter of Zion : for I will make thhie horn iron, 
 and I will make thy hoofs brass ; and thou shalt beat in 
 pieces many people : and I will devote their gain unto 
 the Lord vvith a curse of utter destruction, and their 
 substance unto the Lord of the whole earth, v. 1. Now 
 gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: siege he 
 hath laid against us : with a rod they have smitten upon 
 the cheek the tribes of Israel \. 
 
 * I Kvill gather her that is driven out.'] " This relates to the calling" of the 
 yeKvs from their sever:d dispersions into the Church." Mr. Lo%vtii in loc. 
 
 •}■ Her that ivas cast far off, a strong nation.'] " The ^eivs, when they return 
 from their several dispersions, shall be victorious over all their enemies."^ 
 Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 if They ino^u not the thoughts of the Lord.'] Antichrist and his Jolloifert are 
 blindly bent upon accomplishing their own purposes ; and thus ig-norant of 
 what is foretold respecting' them in Scripture, they rush upon their own 
 destruction. Daniel uses language exactly to the same purpose : " None of 
 the wicked shall understand ; but the wise sliall understand." Dan. xii. 10. 
 
 § With a rod they have stnitten upon the cheek the tribes of Israel. ] So the 
 J. XX, Ev pxQcM aracT£«|y(r<» tTiri Tixycix rcu; tpvXxi ra la-pxtiX : and the Arabic, 
 Fusti percutieiit genamfatniliarutn. Israelis. Both these versions have plainly 
 JVad tJic Juid not jasa'. Compare Isaiah ix. 4—xiv. 4, 5, 6 — xxx. 31, 32— 
 
317 
 
 2. But thou, Bethlehem-Ephratah, though thou be 
 little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee 
 shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel ; 
 whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting. 
 3. Therefore will he give them up^ i?ito the hand of their 
 enemies until the time tliat she which travaileth hath 
 brought forth ; then the remnant of his brethren shall 
 return unto the children of Israel. 4. And he shall stand 
 and feed in the strength of the Lord, in die majesty of 
 the name of the Lord his God ; and they shall abide : 
 for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. 
 
 5. And this ruler shall be peace wito us, when the 
 Assyrian shall come into our landf, and when he shall 
 tread down our palaces : and we will raise against him 
 seven shepherds and eight anointed men J. 6, And 
 they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and 
 the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: and he shall 
 deliver us from the Assyrian when he cometh into our 
 land, and when he treadeth within our borders. 7. And 
 
 Ezek XX. 37. In the Hebrew, the Syrlac, and the Arabic, what is the first 
 verse of the fifth chapter of JMicah in our version is arranged as the last verst- 
 ef the fourth chapter^ agreeably to the plain import of the context. I have 
 accordingly supposed the paragraph to end with this verse. 
 
 • Will he give them up.'] Having rejected the Messiah, they shall no more 
 be his people, until the time of their mystic birth, namely their restoration 
 and conversion. " God will give up his people into the hands of their enemies, 
 or leave them to be exercised with troubles and afflictions, till the appointed 
 time of their deliverance cometh, which shall be greater than that from Baby- 
 lon. This deliverance— will be fully completed in the general restoration of 
 the Jewish nation to be expected in the latter ages." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 ■j- When the Assyrian shall come into our land.] " I take tlie sense, which 
 Mr. Mede hath given to this passage, to be most agreeable to the scope and 
 design of the following part of the chapter. See liis Works, p. 796, where 
 he expounds the place of the general destruction of some remarkable enemy 
 or enemies to God and his truth, which should come to pass before the con- 
 summation of all things ; an event foretold in several places of Scripture. This 
 enemy is probably called by the name of the Assyrian by Isaiah (chap. xiv. 
 25.), as well as by Micah here." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 ^ Seven shepherds — eight anointed men.] " Some imagine," says Dr. Gray, 
 ** that Micah foretells in this prophecy the victories to be obtained by the 
 leaders of the Medes and Babylonians who took Nineveh. Others suppose him 
 to speak o? the seven Maccabees with their el^ht royal successors, from Aristo- 
 bulus to Antigonus." Dr. Gray himself conjectures, that "it may perhaps 
 bear a reference to some higher triumpli ;" and refers us to Ezek. xxxviii. and 
 xxxix. wherein the destruction of Gog and Magog is foretold (Key to O. Test. 
 p. 465.). Though I cannot believe that it relates to the war of Gog and Magog, 
 I think him perfectly right in his general idea that the accomplishment of it 
 is yet future. All these events are to happen at the era of the restoration of 
 the ^ews : how then can they, with any degree of propriety, be referred to 
 Xim«s previous eveji tq the first advent of Christ ? 
 
318 
 
 the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peo- 
 ple, as the dew from fhe Lord, as showers upon the 
 grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons 
 of men. 8. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among 
 the nations in the midst of many people as a lion among 
 the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks 
 of sheep ; who, if he go through, both treadeth down, 
 and tearcth in pieces, and none can deliver. 9. Thine 
 hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all 
 thine enemies shall be cut off. 
 
 10. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the 
 Lord, that 1 will cut off thy horses out of the midst of 
 thee, and I will destroy thy war-chariots: 11. And I 
 will cut off the fortijied cities of thy land, and throw 
 down all thy strong holds : 12. And I will cut off witch- 
 crafts out of thine hand ; and thou shalt have no more 
 soothsayers : 13. Thy graven im.iiges also will I cut off, 
 and thy standing images out of the midst of thee ; and 
 thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands : 
 14. And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of 
 thee; and I will desti'oy thy ybr^j^d* J cities. 15. And I 
 will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the na- 
 tions*, such as thev have not heard. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Micah begins this prophecy with predicting, in terms 
 similar to a parallel passage in Isaiah f, the glories of the 
 millennian kingdom of Christ. 
 
 He declares, that, after God had judged among the 
 people, and rebuked the nations, war and destruction 
 should be no more ; but that every one should dwell 
 peaceably with his neighbour. 
 
 He then proceeds to enter into particulars. He fore- 
 tells the general restoration of Israel; and, addressing 
 himself to the mystic daughter of Zion, he calls upon her 
 
 * I luill execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the nations.'] " When I 
 have purged my people from their corruptions, I will severely vindicate their 
 cause, to the utter destruction of all their unbelievin|f enemies." Mr. Lowth 
 in loc. 
 
 t Is.aiah ii. 1—5. 
 
319 
 
 to be in travail, and to bring forth the mighty multitude 
 of her sons *. Though she has long gone out of her 
 city, and has been led away captive into the dominions 
 of the Roman Babylon f / yet even there the Lord will 
 convert her and deliver her, and will redeem her from 
 the hand of her enemies. 
 
 He next directs our attention to another particular, 
 with which the period immediately preceding the Mil- 
 lennium will be marked. While the daughter of Zion 
 is returning into her own land, many nations, ignorant of 
 the counsel of the Lord, shall league themselves against 
 her. But this confederacy of Antichrist God will gather 
 together to Armageddon J, as sheaves of corn are gather- 
 ed into the floor. Then will he call aloud to the daughter 
 of Zion to arise and thresh, and to beat in pieces many 
 people : then will he make her horn iron, and her hoofs 
 brass : then will he devote unto the Lord with a curse of 
 utter destruction the substance of those, w4io have them- 
 selves proclaimed an anathema against their opponents. 
 Antichrist wars under the pretext of religion. He goeth 
 forth, as we leani from Daniel, to devote with a curse 
 many to utter destruction. But this curse of extermi- 
 nation will be retorted upon himself: and he will perish 
 with his assembled multitudes at Megiddo ; which St. 
 John, to denote the same circumstance that Micah here 
 alludes to, forms into the compound word Annageddon, 
 or the cursing to extirmination at Megiddo. Against this 
 enemy, who will lay siege to Jerusalem, who will even 
 be permitted to take it, and who will smite with the rod 
 of tyrannical oppression the tribes of Israel., the daughter 
 of Zion is called upon to gather herself in troops. 
 
 It is now necessary however, that the prophet should 
 go back to the times of the first advent., in order to bring 
 upon the stage that mighty deliverer who alone is able to 
 tread the wine-press of God's indignation. He foretells, 
 that, although the goings forth of the Messiah ha\ e been 
 from everlasting, the place of his earthly nativity should 
 
 * Compare Isaiah xxvi. 17. and Ixvi. 7—12. 
 
 •j- The literal Babylonian captivity can only be meant in an inchoate sense, 
 for the daughter of Zion has never yet arisen and threshed her enemies. 
 % Rev. xvi. 16. 
 
320 
 
 be the small town of Bethlehem ^. The divine ruler 
 Cometh to his own, and his own receive him not. 
 Therefore will he give them up to be led away captive 
 by their enemies, till the time when the daughter of Zion 
 shall travail, and bring forth a whole nation at once ; or 
 till that mystic birth of the restored Jewish people shall 
 take place, which the prophet had already announced f* 
 Then shall the remnant of Christ's brethren according to 
 the flesh return unto the children of Israel^ and form with 
 them only one nation. Their once rejected Redeemer 
 shall be their king. He shall feed his flock in the strength 
 of the Lord. And such shall be the increase of the 
 Church in the happy age of the Millennium, that he shall 
 be great unto the ends of the earth, and all people shall 
 flow unto his holy mountain. 
 
 Messiali however will be revealed, not only to be peace 
 unto his people, but likewise to be a terror unto his ene- 
 mies. When the mystic Assyrian, the Antichristian head 
 of the Roman Babylon^ shall enter into the land of Pales- 
 tine ; when he shall tread down its palaces, and plant the 
 curtains of his tents between the seas in the glorious holy 
 mountain : then will the Lord suddenly go forth in his 
 anger, and deliver his chosen from the hand of their 
 oppressors ; then shall the wilful king come to his end, 
 and none shall be able to help him. The tyrant of Baby- 
 lon, that shook whole kingdoms, and that made the world 
 as a wilderness, shall in his tuni feel the avenging arm of 
 God. For the Lord will surely break the Assyrian in 
 his land, and upon the mountains of Israel tread him 
 imder foot ; so that his yoke shall depart from off" the 
 sons of Jacob, and his burden from off" their shoulders J. 
 
 It appears both from the present prophecy, and from 
 others which are parallel to it, that, although the over- 
 throw of the Antich'istian faction will be chiefly miracu- 
 lous, yet it will partly be eflccted by the instrumentalit)'^ 
 
 * It is not unworthy of notice, that the Chaldee Paraphrast expressly 
 applies this prophecy to the Messiah, just as the chief priests and scribes 
 (Matt. ii. o— 6) rightly interpreted it to Herod. " Et tu, Bethlehem Eplirata^ 
 —ex te coram meprodibit Cliristus." 
 
 f Compare Micah iv. 10. with v. 3. 
 
 i Compare Isaiah xiv. 6, 16, If, 25, and Comment on Prophecy V.' 
 
321 
 
 of the Jews themselves. The daughter of Zion is to thresh 
 and beat in pieces the nations that are assembled against 
 her : and the remnant of Jacob is to be in the midst of the 
 peoples as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a 
 young lion among the flocks of sheep ; treading down 
 and tearing in pieces, so that none can deliver *. 
 
 Who are meant by the seven shepherds and the eight 
 anointed men, that are represented as going forth to light 
 the battles of Israel, and to waste with the sword the 
 land of the figurative Assyrian, it is impossible now to 
 determine with any degree of precision, and therefore it 
 would be a vain waste of time to indulge in the fruitless- 
 ness of conjecture : the accomplishment of the prophecy 
 itself can alone explain this part of it. 
 
 It is worthy of observation, that the remnant of Jacob 
 are not only to be in the midst of the nations as a lion 
 among the beasts of the forest, and as a young lion among 
 the flocks of sheep ; but they are likewise to be in the 
 midst of many people as the dew from the Lord, as 
 showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor 
 waiteth for the sons of men. This accords with those 
 prophecies which declare, that the converted Israelites 
 will be greatly instrumental in spreading the Hght of the 
 Gospel through distant nations f, and that they will be 
 made as it were the seed of the millennian church. Dew 
 from the Lord, and shoxvers upon the grass, tj^pify the 
 graces and doctrines of the Holy SpiiitX- Hence I think, 
 that the diffusing of the remnant of Jacob (after their 
 restoration and conversion, be it observed) in the midst of 
 many people, like dew and gentle showers, must mean 
 
 * " The former verse (Micah v. 7.) described the benefits, which the con* 
 verted yevos sliould bring to those Gentiles that were disposed to embrace the 
 Gospel : this (ver. 8.) instructs us, how terrible adversaries they will prove 
 to such as persist in their enmity to them and to the truth. Comp. Obad. 
 18, 19. Zech. xii. 6." Mr. Lowth. in loc. 
 
 ■j- " Tliat remnant," says Mr. Lowth, "shall be the instruments of convert- 
 ing those Gentiles among whom they live ; and thereupon may fitly be repre- 
 sented by the dews and rains, which come down from heaven, and are the 
 means of making the earth fruitful." 
 
 + " Rain, if not immoderate, and deiv, and living water, for the graces and 
 doctrines of the Spirit ; and ilie deject of rain, for spiritual barrenness" (Sir 
 leuac Newton's Observ. on Dan. p. 19.). "A church is made a wilderness 
 and a parched land, when the living waters of the Spirit are withheld," Bp, 
 Ilorslev's Hosea, p. 5. 
 
 41 
 
322 
 
 precisely the same as the promise, that they should bs 
 sown among the nations : that is to say, they should be 
 the seed of the church ; they should diffuse to the very 
 ends of the earth the graces and doctrines of the Holy 
 Spirit *. Yet, as the dew and showers tarry not for man, 
 nor wait for the sons of men ; so will not the Spirit of 
 God always strive with man, nor wait for his acquies- 
 cence beyond a certain limited period. In the morning 
 of the great day of the Millennium, the converted Israel- 
 ites are as dew and gentle rain among the people. As the 
 day advances towards noon^ the dew and the rain are 
 gradually dried up ; and the watered vineyard of the 
 Lord is reduced within narrower limits. In the evenings 
 as we are taught by Ezekiel and St. John, the daring 
 confederacy of Gog and Magog makes its appearance. 
 
 The concluding verses teach us, that, during the hap- 
 py period of the Millennium, and after the Lord had 
 executed his vengeance upon the nations, all wars and 
 tumults should cease. Every fortified city and every 
 strong hold should be destroyed! ; the land of Israel 
 should be a land of unwalled villages ; the people should 
 dwell without walls, and having neither gates nor bars ; 
 and the Lord should cut the spear in sunder, and burn 
 the chariot in the fire J. With this freedom from war 
 there should likewise be a freedom from all idolatry, and 
 from every superstitious practice that is an abomination 
 to God. The vanities, that have so long bewildered 
 erring mortals, should then be abolished ; and true reli- 
 gion alone should flourish. 
 
 *^See Bp. Horsley's Hosea, p. 9. and my ovvn commentary on Prophecy 
 XXVII. XXXII. and XXXIX. in the present work. 
 
 f The meaning of the passage, according to Mr Lowth, is, " I will afford 
 deliverance to my people, not in the ordinary way of second causes, but im- 
 mediately by myself; so that they shall not need to trust in the strength of 
 their forces, or of their garrisons.*' 
 
 % Compare Ezek. xxxviii. 11. and Psalm xlvi. 9. 
 
S23 
 
 PROPHECY XXXV. 
 
 Lamentation of the dispersed church — A promise of her restoration 
 and the overthrow of Antichrist. 
 
 Micah vii. 1. Zion. Woe is me! for I am as when 
 they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape glean- 
 ings of the vintage*: there is no cluster to eatv my soul 
 desireth the first ripe fruit. — -8. Rejoice not against me, 
 O mine enemy : when I fall, I shall arise ; when I sit in 
 darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. 9. I will 
 bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned 
 against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judg- 
 ment for me : he will bring me forth to the light, and I 
 shall behold his righteousness. 10. Then she that is 
 mine enemy f shall see it, and shame shall cover her: 
 which said unto me^ Where is the Lord thy God? mine 
 eyes shall behold her : now shall she be trodden down as 
 the mire of the streets. 
 
 11. Jehovah. In the day that thy walls are built, in 
 that day shall the decree be removed. 12. In that day 
 thy fugitives shall come :j: from AssjTia and the fortified 
 
 " The grape gleanings of the vintage.'] Compare Isaiah xxlv. 13. and xvii. 6. 
 
 ■j" She that is mine enemy.'] As the daughter of Zion is the speaker, we must 
 suppose that her enemy is the daughter of Babylon. See Psalm cxxxvii. 8. 
 Tins prophecy may primarily relate to the literal Babylonian captivity, but it 
 M'ill be more amply fulfilled at tlie \iev\c)doi the yet future restoration of Israel . 
 There is a strength of expression in it, which forbids us to Umit it to the 
 first captivity. 
 
 t Thy fugitives shall coine.] Our translators render xp^ ^nj? he shall come 
 even unto thee, supposing «ijj to be a preposition. The words, so far as the 
 bare letter of them goes, will undoubtedly bear such a translation : but to my 
 own mind at least it conveys no very clear idea. For, since the dialogue is 
 carried on between God and the daughter of Zion, and since God is here the 
 speaker ; to whom can we refer he shall come except to God? and in that case 
 what are we to understand by the passage ? It might be added, that there 
 seems a degree of harshness in supposing God to speak of himself in the 
 third person instead of the first. I conceive then, that ny is not a preposi- 
 tion, but a singular masculine noun of number, regularly formed from mj? to 
 pass over or to pass away, as 'laB' is from naty, 'ic from mtf, '>"\D from n"ia, and 
 other similar words. Consequently, as lyj; signifies captivity in the sense of 
 a 7nultitude of captives, and as rh'M signifies reonoval in the sense of a number 
 of persons removed or transplanted from, one country to another ,• so, by analogy 
 both of grammar and idiom, njj will signify a passing aviay in the sense of 
 a nuinber of people passing aviayfrom their onun country and becoming fugitives. 
 Whence the meaning of ^np 'will be thy onultitude of fugitives ; that is, Zion't 
 rrtultitude of fugitives, the dispened ^evit and Israelites. The primitive import 
 
324 
 
 cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from 
 sea to sea, and mountain to mountain. 13. For the land 
 
 of my is to pass over, upon, ov aivay / in which sense it occurs in Job xxviii. 
 8, and in Jerem. xxxi. 4 ; where (I think with Mr. Parkhurst) what is trans- 
 lated thou shalt be adornedtuith thy tabrets ouglit ratiier to have been translated 
 thou shalt pass over (i. e. thou shalt trip along the path) viith thy tabrets. This 
 both accords witli tlie next clause thou shalt go forth in the dances, and with 
 the nature of the tabret itself, which is certainly no part of ornamental dress. 
 Such being the primitive signification of nij)» it easily, according to the genius 
 of the Hebrew language, acquired transitively the sense of causing to pass 
 over or upon the body, putting on, clothing oneself- When ny is derived from it 
 in this secondary and acquired signification, it then naturally denotes an 
 ornament: whereas the plural noun ony, being derived from it in its pri- 
 mary or original signification, bears the directly opposite sense oi filthy 
 rags, that is, rags Jit only to be tkroiun away, to be scattered to the viiyids and 
 the vieather. In a similar manner, the original signification of the root still 
 being kept in view, *-\y will mean a inultitude of fugitives from my to pass 
 (tiuay, as »ja> means a multitude of captives from riau' to carry atuay captive. 
 The primitive import of the root seems, in the progress of the Hebrew lan- 
 guage, to have been almost superseded by its secondary signification, in 
 which it occurs much more frequently than in its primary : but, in the Chal- 
 dee dialect, the primary signification appears to have been most retained, in 
 which the word perpetually occurs throughout the book of Daniel. It may 
 not be amiss to observe, that the margin of our bibles refers us, for the better 
 understanding of this passage, to Isaiah xi. 16. xix. 2i. and xxvii. 13. in all of 
 "whicii the persons, who came from Assyria, are not God, but the fugitive yews. 
 The Chaldee paraphrast interprets it precisely in the same manner as myself. 
 '•lUo tempore congregabuntur transmigrationes ex Assur et civitatibus forti- 
 tudinis." The Syriac version likewise conveys the same idea. " Dies est, 
 quo tempus tuum veniat redeundi ab Assyria et ab urbibus munitis." The lxx 
 must have translated from a very corrupt copy. Instead of 'y\y, they have 
 read yrj, for their version is cct zroXeii ^y- 
 
 Mr I'arkhurst ingeniously, but perhaps not very judiciously, refines upon 
 the text (Isaiah Ixiv. 6.}, where the plural word o^lj) occurs. He would 
 translate it. We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses as agar- 
 tnent of ornainents, or an ornamental shewy garment, gaudy perhaps in the 
 sight of men, but hypocritical, and covering a corrupt heart. 1 scruple not 
 to say, that I much prefer the common version, a gar Tnent of filthy rags i or, 
 as Buxtorf well translates C3>1]? with reference to the primitive meaning of 
 its root, Rcmotiones ; res inquinatx et abominahiles, quae removentur et abji- 
 ciuntur. The lxx render it foiM<; ccToy.u.d)jtt.em, pannus mulieris remotae sive 
 seorsim sedentis, nempe propter impuritatem menstrualem, still however 
 preserving the original idea of the root. Hebrew poetry deliglits in the anti- 
 thesis of the second clause of a verse to the first. Novv the antithesis 
 to an unclean thing is surely not an ornamental garment, but a garment of 
 rags so filthy that they are meet only to be thrown away. The import of the pas- 
 sage is, that we must acknowledge ourselves to be unclean, and cast away 
 all our deeds of righteousness, in point of dependence upon tl)eir merits for 
 our salvation, as we would throw from us with loathing the most filthy and 
 abominable rags. See the judicious Hooker's Discourse of Justification, 
 Sect. 7. and 21. The two expressions of his to which I particularly refer are 
 these ; "the little fruit which we have in holiness, it is, God knoweth, cor- 
 rupt and unsound ;" and "to name merits then is to lay their souls upon the 
 rack, the memory of their own deeds is loathsome unto them, they forsake all 
 things wherein they have put any trust or confidence." I know not "any better 
 commentary on the text in question. 
 
325 
 
 liath been desolate ^ because of its inhabitants t, for the 
 fruit of their doings. 
 
 14. ZioN. Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of 
 thine heritage which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the 
 midst of Carmel : let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, 
 as in the days of old J. 
 
 15. Jehovah. According to the days of thy coming 
 out of the land of Egypt § will I shew unto them || mar- 
 vellous things. 16. The nations shall see, and shall be 
 confounded at all their might T[: they shall lay their hand 
 upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. 17. They 
 shall lick the dust like a serpent ; they shall move out 
 of their holes like worms of the earth. 
 
 ZioN. They shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and 
 shall fear because of thee. 18. Who is a God like unto 
 thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the trans- 
 gression of the remnant of his heritage** ? He retaineth 
 
 * The land hath been desolate.'] So the context shews, that npini ought to 
 be rendered, not shall be. 
 
 f Desolate because of its inhabitants.] "The words import, that the gene- 
 ral restoration of the ^evjs sliall not be brought to pass till after their land hath 
 lain desolate for some ages, as a testimony of God's displeasure against its 
 ancient inhabitants for their sins, especially that heinous one of rejecting the 
 Messiah." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 i Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.] *' The expres- 
 sions denote, that the ^eius shall enjoy full and free possession of their land 
 after their return to it, with the same security and happiness, with which 
 tliey possessed it in their most flourishing state under the reigns of David 
 and Solomon. Compare Zech. x. 10." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 § According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt.] •' The words 
 are an answer to tlie prayer in the foregoing verse ; wherein God tells the 
 daughter of Zion, that the wonders he will perform in bringing back his peo- 
 ple into their own country shall be as conspicuous as those which he shewed 
 in their deliverance out of Egypt, and giving them the first possession of it." 
 Mr. Lowth in loc. Compare Isaiah xi. 16. 
 
 jf Iwill shenu u7ito thein.] The original word is, I will shew unto him, that 
 is, the singular masculine noun of number ny the tnultitude of fugitives. The 
 geniHS of our language, and the manner in which I had translated iiy, require , 
 that I shoidd here render the original plurally, not singularly. The Hebrew 
 student will find a continued use of singular verbs and pronouns in reference 
 to the plural word nations considered collectively, in Isaiah v. 26---30. Our 
 translators have sensibly rendered them all plurally. Other similar passages 
 might without mucl) difficulty be adduced. 
 
 IT The nations shall see, and shall be coifounded at all their might.] " The 
 heathen shall feel the same confusion as men do under a great disappoint- 
 ment, when they sliall see tliat power and force defeated, which they had 
 gathered together to oppose God's people, and hinder them from enjoying 
 the quiet possession of tlieir land" (Mr. Lowth in loc). The passage re- 
 lates to the overthrow of the Antichri.?tian faction. 
 
 ** The reTnnant of his heritage.] " The remnant of God's heritage are those 
 yeijs, which are reserved to be partakers of the benefits which shall be made 
 
326 
 
 not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 
 19. He will turn again : he will have compassion upon 
 us : he will subdue our iniquities : and thou wilt cast 
 all their iniquities into the depths of the sea. 20. Thou 
 wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abra- 
 ham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the 
 days of old. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 The form of this prophecy seems to be dramatic : I 
 conceive it to be a dialogue between the daughter of Zion 
 and the Lord. The afflicted and desolate church of Israel 
 bewails her state in the days of her dispersion, comparing 
 it to the gathering in of the summer-fruits and the glean- 
 ing of the grapes in the vintage, so that no whole cluster 
 can be seen, nothing being left except a few straggling 
 berries. She looks forward however in hope to the next 
 season ; and her soul desireth the first ripe fruit of the 
 approaching autumn, when the mystic vine, which now 
 appears dry and sapless, shall again exult in its luxuri- 
 ance, and be weighed downi with the abundance of its 
 clusters. Meanwhile she calls upon her enemy, the daugh- 
 ter of Babylon^ not to rejoice against her and to triumph 
 over her ; professing her belief, that, although the indig- 
 nation of the Lord presses heavily upon her on account 
 of her sins, she. shall arise when she falleth, and shall be- 
 ho • the shame of her enemy. 
 
 God replies, that, in the day when her walls are built, 
 the decree of her di^gpersion shall be far removed : that 
 her long-lost sons shall come unto her from Assyria, 
 from the utmost regions of the sea, from every fortress, 
 from every mountain, from all the countries whither 
 they have been scattered : and he adds, that her land has 
 lain desolate as a just punishment for the wickedness of 
 the inhabitants. 
 
 Encouraged by this gracious promise, the church of 
 Israel prays her Lord to feed his people, the flock of his 
 heritage, with his rod, as he was wont to do in the days 
 of old. 
 
 g-ood to that nation tipon their conversion and restoration here spoken of." 
 Mr. Lowth in lor. 
 
327 
 
 (Jrod returns for answer, that, as he formerly brought 
 her up out of the land of Egypt, so will he yet shew 
 unto her dispersed children marvellous things : and he 
 declares, that the nations, which dare to oppose their re- 
 turn and to set themselves in array against the Almighty, 
 shall be so humbled, that such as escape in the day of 
 his wrath shall lick the dust like serpents, and like 
 worms shall scarcely venture to crawl out of their holes. 
 
 The church of Israel^ now fully satisfied respecting 
 her future restoration, takes up the words of, the Lord, 
 and exclaims, that they shall surely be afraid of Jehovah 
 her God, that they shall fear because of him. She then 
 praises him for all his goodness : and expresses her entire 
 conviction, that he will perform the oath w^hich he had 
 sworn unto her fathers. 
 
 PROPHECY XXXVI. 
 
 The dispersion of the Jews — The sacking of Jerusalem by the 
 Romans — The call of the converted Jews — Their triumphant 
 settlement in their own land — The destruction of the mystic 
 Nineveh — The prevalence of pure religion — The instrumentality 
 of some great maritime nation in restoring the Jevv^s, 
 
 Zephaniah i. 2. I will utterly consume all things from 
 off the land, saith the Lord. 3. I will consume man and 
 beast ; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the 
 fishes of the sea ; and the stumbling-blocks with the 
 wicked ; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith 
 the Lord. 4. I will also stretch out mine hand upon 
 Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem ; and 1 
 will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the 
 name of the offerers by fire with the priests ; 5. And 
 them that worship the host of heaven upon the house- 
 tops. / tvill cut off both them that worship and swear 
 by the Lord, even swear by their king*; 6. And them 
 
 • Their iing.'] Our translators take qdSd to be the proper name of an idol, 
 and therefore read Malclia-in : but I much prefer the rendering of the Ixx 
 r« fi^i-riXeai ctvlm^ and that of the Latin version of tlie Arabic per rcgem 
 ■iuum, supposing their king to mean yehovah. Such a translation seems to me 
 both more accordant with the context, and more airrecable to the construe- 
 
328 
 
 that are turned back from the Lord, and have not sought 
 the Lord, nor inquired for him. 
 
 7. Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God : 
 for the day of the Lord is at hand, for the Lord hath pre- 
 pared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. 8. And it shall 
 come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I 
 will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all 
 such as are clothed in the apparel of strangers *. 10. And 
 it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that 
 there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish- gate, and a 
 howling from the second city f, and a great .crashing 
 from the hills %• IL Howl, ye inhabitants of the valley ^, 
 for all the Canaanitish people are cut down ; all they 
 that bear silver are cut off. 12. And it shall come to pass 
 at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, 
 and punish the men that are settled on their lees ; that 
 say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither 
 will he do evil. 18. Therefore their goods shall be- 
 come a boot}'-, and their houses a desolation : for they 
 have built houses, but they shall not inhabit them ; and 
 
 tion of the two clauses in the orig'inal, both of which are emphatically mark- 
 ed by an pK. As thus : Both (nxi") them that 'worship and swear by the Lord, 
 even swear by their king ; and (nKl) them that are turned back from the Lord. 
 t> * Clothed in the apparel of strangers.'] Affecting the manners and habits of 
 Gentiles, the Hellenizing party among the ye^us. 
 
 f The second city.] In the whole of tliis passage, Jerusalem is very graphi- 
 cally described. It consisted of two cities ; the old, and the new. One of 
 these, in opposition to the other, was called Mishnah or the second city (See 
 Well's Geog. of O. and N. Test. Vol. II. P. 23, 24.). It was in this secotidcity, 
 that Huldah the prophetess dwelt. Our translators have singularly rendered 
 it college. See 2 Kings xxii. 14. and 2 Chron. xxxiv. 22. In the first of these 
 passages, the Ixx merely transcribe the Hebrew word, writing it Mxcivoc. 
 In the second they do the same, writing it with some little variation Mcto-xvxi. 
 In the present passage of Zephaniah, they simply translate it arra rtn J'st/- 
 lipxi, from the second. In a similar manner the Vulgate, asecunda: the Latin 
 translation of the Syriac, ab altera: and the Latin translation of the Arabic, 
 e secunda. 
 
 t A great crashing from the hills.'] " From the mountains of Zion and Mo- 
 riah, whereon the temple and the king's palace was built. See 2 Chron. iii. 1." 
 Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 § Te inhabitants of the valley.] Michtash'm the Chaldee Targum is rendered 
 the brook or torrent of Kedron. This brook was near the fish-gate. The pas- 
 sage therefore ')nay relate to those loho lived in the valley through 'uhich tint 
 brook fio-j:ed. But I am more inclined to think with Castell, tliat Michtash 
 means the valley, luhich (according to Josephus's description of Jerusalem} 
 divided the upper Jrom. the lower city. See Joseph. Ant. L. v. C. 4. § 1. Park- 
 hurst's Heb. Lex. Vox cnao. and Well's Geog. Vol. II. P. 28, 29, 30. and thr 
 map of Jerusalem at P. 23- 
 
329 
 
 they have planted vineyards, but shall not drink the wine, 
 thereof. 
 
 14. The great day of the Lord is near ; it is near, and 
 hasteth greatly : the voice of the day of the Lord is bit- 
 ter : there the mighty one roareth aloud. 15. That day 
 is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of 
 wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloomi- 
 ness, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16. A dav of 
 the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities and against 
 the high towers. 17. And I will bring distress upon 
 men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they" 
 have sinned against the Lord : and their blood shall be 
 poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. 18. Nei- 
 ther their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver 
 them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole 
 earth shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy : for 
 he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that 
 dwell in the earth. 
 
 ii. 1. Gather yourselves together, yea, gather toge- 
 ther, O nation not desired. 2. Before the decree, bring 
 forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce 
 anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the 
 Lord's anger come upon you. 3. Seek ye the Lord, all 
 ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; 
 seek righteousness, seek meekness : it may be ye shall 
 be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. 4. For Gaza shall 
 be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation — 5. — O Canaan, 
 the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that 
 there shall be no inhabitant. — 7. And the coast shall be 
 for the remnant of the house of Judah ; they shall feed 
 thereupon : in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down 
 in the evening : for the Lord their God shall visit them, 
 and bring back their captivity * — 9. As I live, saith the 
 Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be 
 as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah r — 
 the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the rem- 
 nant of my people shall possess them f — 11. The Lord 
 
 * Their captivity.'] A noun of number, meaning", as elsewhere, the mul- 
 titude of their captives, 
 
 f The remnant of my people shall possess them,'] Though Mr. Lowth refers 
 this passage primarily to the conquests of the Macabees, he allows that " this 
 and the seventh verse will receive their utmost completion at the general res - 
 42 
 
330 
 
 will be terrible unto them : for he will famish all the gods 
 of the earth; and men shall worship him, everyone from 
 his place ; all the isles of the nations. 12. Ye Cuthini 
 also, ye shall be slain by my sword. 
 
 13. And he will stretch out his hand against the north, 
 and destroy Assyria : and will make Nineveh a desola- 
 tion, and dry like a wilderness. 14. And flocks shall lie 
 down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations ; 
 both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in her upper 
 lintels ; their voice shall sing in the windows ; desolation 
 shall be in the thresholds : for he shall uncover the cedar- 
 work. 15. This is the exulting city, that dwelt in confi- 
 dent security ; that said in her heart, I am she, and there 
 is none beside me. How is she become a desolation, a 
 place for beasts to lie down in! Every one, that passeth 
 by her, shall hiss and wag his hand. iii. 1. Woe to her 
 that swelleth with pride, and yet is polluted ! rvoe to tlie 
 city of the dove ! 2. She obeyed not the voice ; she re- 
 ceived not correction ; she trusted not in the Lord ; she 
 drew not near to her God. 3. Her princes within her 
 are roaring lions ; her judges are wolves of the evening, 
 they finish not until the morning. 4. Her prophets are 
 licentiously extravagant, hypocritical men: her priests 
 have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to 
 the law. 5. The just Lord is in the midst of her ; he 
 will not do iniquity : morning by morning will he bring 
 his judgment to light ; he will not fail : but the unjust 
 knoweth no shame. 6. I have cut off the nations : their 
 towers are desolate : I made their streets waste, that 
 none passeth by : their cities are destroyed, so that there 
 is no man, that there is none inhabitant. 7. I said, sure- 
 ly thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction ; and 
 her dwelling-place shall not entirely be cut off, inasmuch 
 as I have visited her. Yet they rose early, and corrupted 
 all their doings. 
 
 8. Therefore wait ye for me *, saith the Lord, until 
 the day that I rise up to the prey : for my determination 
 
 toratlon of the Jewish nation. Those, that then escape and return from thcii* 
 several dispersions, are elsewhere called by the name of the residue and the 
 rennmnt. Compare chap. iii. 13. and Micah iv. 7" Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 * Thertfure wait je/or one.'] " I exhort tlie godly among- you to expect the 
 fulfilling of the promises 1 have made of restoring the Jewish nation to my 
 
 V 
 
331 
 
 is to gather the nations,* to assemble unto me tlie kinr-- 
 doms, to pour upon them my indignation, even all mv 
 fieree anger ; for all the earth shall be devoured with the 
 fire of my jealousy. 
 
 9. But then will I turn unto the peoples a pure religi- 
 ous confession f, that they may all call upon the name 
 of the Lord, that they may serve him with one consent. 
 
 10. My worshippers, beyond the rivers of Cush:{:, 
 shall conduct, as an offering to me, the daughter of my 
 dispersion ^. 11. In that day thou shalt not be ashamed 
 for all thy doings wherein thou hast transgressed against 
 me : for then will I take away out of the midst of thee 
 them that exult in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be 
 haughty in my holy mountain. 12. I will also leave in 
 the midst of thee a humble and poor people ; and they 
 shall trust in the name of the Lord. 13. The remnant of 
 Israel shall not do iniquity || , nor speak lies ; neither 
 shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth : for 
 they shall feed, and lie down ; and none shall make them 
 afraid. 14. Sing, O daughter ofZion; shout, O Israel; 
 be glad, and rejoice with all thy heart, O daughter of 
 Jerusalem. 15. The Lord hath taken away thy judg- 
 ments; he hath cast out thine enemy : the king of Israel, 
 the Lord, is in the midst of thee : thou shalt not see evil 
 
 wonted favour in the latter ag-es of the world : in order to which great crisis, 
 I will execute remarkable judgments upon the unbelievers and disobedient." 
 Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 * My determination is to gather the nations.'] " This may perhaps be meant 
 of the same general summons which Joel speaks of, when the nations shall 
 be gathered into the valley of Jehoshaphat" (Mr. Lowth in loc). Mr. Lowth, 
 as we have already seen, rightly refers the general summons, mentioned by 
 .Joel, to the last ages and the era of the restoration of the jfe^ws. 
 
 j" I will turn unto the peoples a pure religious confession.] " 1 will turn them 
 from their idolatry and other wickedness to glorify me with one mind and 
 one mouth. The same thhig is expressed hy speaking the language of Canaan 
 (Isaiah xis. 18.). This is a blessing reserved for the latter ages, after the 
 conversion of the ycivs and the Gentiles, when there shall be one Lord, and his 
 name one. Zech. xiv. 9." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 + My ivorshippers beyond the rivers of Cusli] This passage plainly relates 
 to the same people as that described in Isaiah xvili. 1, 7. I have adopted 
 Bp. Horsley's translation of it, which I am persuaded is the true one (See 
 his letter on Isaiah xviii. p. 102, 103.). Mr Lowth justly refers this passage 
 to the restoration ofthe jews, though he retains the common translation. 
 
 § Dispersion.] A noun of number, meaning the dispersed. 
 fl The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity.] " The remnant of Israel shaW 
 he holy, the rebels being purged out of them. See Ezek, xx. 58." Mr. Lowth 
 in loc. 
 
332 
 
 any more. 16. In that clay it shall be said to Jerusalem, 
 Fear thou not ; and to Zion, Let not thine hands be 
 slack. 17. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is 
 mighty: he will save; he will rejoice over thee with joy: 
 lie will rest in his lo^e ; he will joy over thee with sing- 
 ing 
 
 19. Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict 
 thee : and I will save her that halteth, and gather her 
 that was driven out : and I will get them praise and 
 fame in every land where they have been put to shame. 
 20. At that time, I will bring you again, even in the time 
 that I gather you : for I will make you a name and a 
 praise among all people of the earth ; when I turn back 
 your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 I wish not to deny, that Zephaniah may be considered 
 as here predicting the Bahijlonian captivity of Judah^ the 
 sacking of Jerusalem by the i^haldeajis^ and the destruction 
 of the literal Nineveh^ together with some of the conquests 
 of Nebuchadnezzar *. But I think, that the whole con- 
 text of the prophecy decidedly forbids us to limit it to 
 those events ; compels us to believe, that in them it 
 received only an inchoate accomplishment ; and directs 
 us to look for its ultimate completion to the last disper- 
 sion of Judah^ to the sacking of Jerusalem by the jRo- 
 7nans^ and to the yet future day in which Antichrist will 
 be overthrown and the cofwerted of Judah restored by 
 the instru7nentality of .some great maritijne iiation. In 
 fact, the prophecy contains many matters which must 
 be exclusively thus referred : and yet those matters are 
 so interwoven into the very body of the prediction, 
 that they cannot with any propriety be considered in an 
 insulated state. As tlie inchoate accomplishment of the 
 prophecy comes not within the limits of my plan, I 
 shall confine myself to what I believe will be its ultimate 
 accomplishment ; premising, that Mr. Lowth tliinks like 
 
 * See Bp. Newton's Dissert. IX.— Mr, Lowth in loc— and Dr. Gray's 
 ijey, p. 482— 485. 
 
333 
 
 myself, that many parts of it are to be referred to the last 
 ages for their full completion*. 
 
 The prophet begins with foretelling the captivity of 
 the Jews^ primarily alluding to the Babylonian captivity^ 
 but ultimately directing our attention to that into which 
 they were led by the Romans. He introduces the Lord 
 solemnly declaring, that he will utterly consume all things 
 from off the land, both man and beast, both fish and fowl ; 
 and repeating, as if particularly to engage our notice, that 
 he will cut off mmi from off the land^. The whole of 
 this threat plainly denotes, that there should be, what 
 another prophet styles, a great forsaking in the midst of 
 the land of Judea j. After this general denunciation, the 
 Lord proceeds to particulars. He divides the men of 
 Judah and Jerusalem into two classes ; and, inasmuch as 
 they have both grievously siimed though in very diiferent 
 manners, he threatens that he will stretch out his hand 
 upon them all. They who worsliip Baal and the host 
 of heaven, turning back from the Lord or apostatizing 
 from him, and not seeking and inquiring for him ; and 
 they, who Worship and swear by the Lord, even swear 
 by their king : all these shall alike experience the divine 
 vengeance. Hence it is plain, since the worshippers of 
 Jehovah are thus involved in one common fate with 
 the worshippers of Baal, and since God himself equally 
 represents the punishment of both as being a judicial 
 infliction, that these worshippei's of Jehovah could not 
 have Avorshipped him in spirit and in truth ; but that 
 their worship, although untainted with idolatr}-, was 
 nevertheless an abomination unto him. 
 
 This double description exactly accords with the state 
 of the Jews in the time of our Lord's first advent. Part 
 of them were idolaters ; and part of them, while they 
 abhorred idolatry, and worshipped the true God, yet 
 made void the law by their traditions, and rejected the 
 promised Messiah. The existence of this second class 
 
 * See the preceding notes on the prophecy itself extracted from Mr. 
 Lowth's commentary. 
 
 f These words, as well as the whole passage, shew, that a dispersion of 
 yudah is here predicted. I cannot, with Dr. Gray, limit the prophecy to 
 the mere extirpation of idolatry by Josiah. 
 
 i Isaiah \'i, 12. 
 
334 
 
 requires no proof; and, as for the first, " It is said in- 
 deed, that, after the return from Babylon, the Jews scru- 
 pulously avoided idolatry, and have continued untainted 
 with it to this day. But, generally as this is asserted 
 by all commentators, one after another, it is not true. 
 Among the restored Jews there was indeed no public 
 idolatry, patronized by the government, as there had 
 been in times before the captivity, particularly in the 
 reign of Ahaz. But, from the time of Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes to the last moments of the Jewish polity, there 
 was a numerous and powerful faction, which in every 
 thing affected the Greek manners ; and this Hellenising 
 party were idolaters to a man *." Both these classes 
 are equally threatened by the Lord, and were equally 
 carried away captive, when his righteous judgment cut 
 off man^ that is the whole multitude of the people, from 
 off the land. 
 
 From this description of the state of the Jexvs at the 
 era of their dispersion by the Romans, Zephaniah pro- 
 ceeds to foretell the sacking of Jerusalem by Titus. And 
 first he announces, that he is about to treat of the great 
 sacrifice, and the great day, of the Lord. In the prophe- 
 tic language, a sacrifice is very frequently used to typify 
 a great slaughter ; and by the day of the Lord we are 
 generally to understand the day either of the first or second 
 advent. Here the day of the first advent is intended, 
 which is considered as including within itself the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem and the overthrow of the Jewish politij 
 by the Romans^. Zephaniah declares, that at that time 
 there shall be a cry from the fish-gate, and a great crash- 
 ing from the hills, and a howling from that part of Jeru- 
 salem which was called Mishnah or the second city : that 
 those, who dwelt in the valley or deep glen which divides 
 the upper city from the lower city shall howl, inasmuch 
 as the metaphorical Canaanites or the idolatrous Hellenists 
 are cut off"$ : that the Lord will search Jerusalem with 
 
 * Bp. Horsley's Hosea, p. 8. 
 
 f See Matt. xxiv. 15—28. I have already observed, that, when the pro 
 phecy is considered as primarily relating- to the Babylonian captivity, this 
 siege of yerusaletn must mean its siege by the Chaldeans. 
 
 + " The original reads the people of Canaan, which word sigTiifies a tnerchant 
 (Hos. xii. 7-) ; but the Chaldee understands it of those who resemble th& 
 
335 
 
 candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees, 
 or the Saducean Jews, who had adopted the Epicurean 
 maxim, that God will not do good neither will he do 
 evil, that he does not interfere in the affairs of this world 
 but leaves every thing to chance, and that the sacred 
 volume itself is little better than a gross imposture : last- 
 ly he declares, that they shall be pillaged by the troops 
 of that very nation, to the fear of incurring whose dis- 
 pleasure they had sacrificed the promised Messiah*; 
 and shall behold the houses which they had built, and 
 the vineyards which they had planted, become a desola- 
 tion. In the great day of the Lord, a day of the trumpet 
 and alarm against the fenced cities, neither their silver 
 nor their gold shall be able to deliver them ; but they 
 shall suffer severe distress, because they have presump- 
 tuously sinned against the Most High. 
 
 As the prophecy was, so was its ncr.omplishment. At 
 the very time when, as Josephus tells us, it was no un- 
 common thing to hear his hardened countrymen ridicule 
 the oracles of their ancient prophets, and plunge into all 
 the impieties of Saducean infidelity f ; God brought great 
 distress upon them, so that they walked like blind men. 
 Within they were torn by the madness of civil war; 
 without they were pressed by a powerful and unrelenting 
 enemy. So that their blood was poured out as dust, and 
 their flesh as the dung ; it being computed by their own 
 historian Josephus, that eleven hundred thousand perish- 
 ed in the siege, besides those who were slain in other 
 places X. 
 
 Having foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the 
 dispersion of the Jews, the prophet next calls our atten- 
 tion to their restoration and to other matters connected 
 nvith it. He raises his voice on high ; and loudly com- 
 
 Canaanites in their idolatries and corrupt manners : so Jndah's mother is 
 called an Hittite, and her father an Amorite, because they did after the works 
 of the Canaanites, the ancient inhabitants of the land. Ezek. xvi. 45." Mr, 
 Lowth in loo. 
 
 • John xi. 48. 
 
 t KxtltTTctliOo jttfy «y ztok; av'Joig Sic-fMi ccidpuTruv, tyeXetlo oe rx 6itct, KXi 
 rag T«v 'srpo(pij}uv fiee-f^m arrrep ccyvprtKUi; PioyoTp*. •.'}«? f^Aefafsv. Joseph- 
 de bell. Jud. L. iv. C. 6. 
 
 ■i- Joseph, de bell. Jud. L. vi. C. 9. Sect. 8, 
 
336 
 
 inands a nation not des'wed to gather themselves together, 
 ere the decree conceive Avrath and bring forth trouble, 
 ere the day of the Lord's anger come upon them : he 
 exhorts all the meek of the earth to seek the Lord, that 
 they may be hid in the day of his fierce anger. By the 
 nation ?iot desired I understand the long despised, but at 
 leyigth converted Jeivs ; and by all the meek of the earth, 
 both the Jewish converts, and their protectors the mari- 
 titne ?iatio?i of faithful worshippers. The exhortation of 
 the prophet is, that they should hide themselves, that 
 they should not presume to interfere in the day of the 
 Lord's vengeance, but that they should leave it to. him 
 to decide his own controversy with the faction of Anti- 
 ehrist *^. Ho\A'ever he may in an inferior degree employ 
 them as instiiimentst, by the supernatural interference 
 of his own right arm he will get himself the victory. 
 
 Previous however to Zephaniah's more fully prcdict- 
 irig these matters, he tells us, that God will destroy the 
 Philistines, and give their coast to the remnant of the 
 house of Judah : that he will turn the captivity of his 
 people, and that in the allegorical evening of their national 
 existence they shall lie down in the houses of Ashkelon : 
 that they shall spoil Moab and Ammon, and shall take 
 their land into their possession : that idolatry shall be 
 for ever abolished ; that men shall worship God in all 
 the isles of the nations ; and that the Cuthites shall be 
 slain by his sword. All these particulai's are similarly 
 predicted by Isaiah as about to happen at the era of the 
 restoration of Israel. The ancient people of God are to 
 fly along the coast of the Philistines towards the west ; 
 they are to spoil those of the east together. Moab and 
 Ammon, or the nations which shall then possess their 
 territories $, are to obey themjl. The Cushim, or the 
 Egyptians who inhabit tlie banks of the Cushean streams 
 of the Nile, aie to be delivered into the hand of a fierce 
 
 * It is rig^ht to observe, that Mr. Lowth Interprets this part of the jn-ophecy 
 differently from myself; but tlie subsequent context induces me to prefer my 
 own exposition, more especially since he allows that a part of that context 
 will not receive its full completion until the lastajes. See his note on Zeph- 
 ii. 9. cited above. 
 
 I Zech. xii. 6. Micah iv. 13. 
 
 ^ These had escaped out of the liand of Antichrist, Dan. xi. 41. 
 
 ?! Isaiah xi. 14-. 
 
k'mg^ to be compelled humbly to attend his footsteps, 
 and to be smitten as by the Lord himself-^. And, when 
 the restoration of Israel is completed, all nations are to 
 worship in the holy mountain of Zion f- 
 
 But there is one great enemy of the I-iord, one remai'k- 
 able persecutor of the Church, whose destruction at this 
 wonderful period is w^ith united voice celebrated by the 
 ancient prophets. This great enemy is sometimes mys- 
 tically denominated Edom ; at other times, Babylon^ or 
 Tyre. From Daniel and St. John we learn, that it is the 
 fourth beast, or the Roman empire, both ecclesiastical 
 and civil, in its last form, or under its last head; that 
 is to say, as recent events have shewn, under the civil 
 domination of Antichrist united with the spiritual domi- 
 nation of the papal man of si?i. Zephaniah styles it JVi- 
 neveh, which was the capital of the first Assyrian empire: 
 and, while he predicts the fate of the literal Nineveh, 
 he interweaves with his prophecy various circumstances 
 which are only applicable to the mystical Nineveh ; and 
 directs us to look for the final accomplishment of it to 
 the day xvhen the nations are gathered together, to the 
 day of the Lord'^s vengeance, to tlie day xvhen the daugh- 
 ter of his dispersion is brought back by his faithful mari- 
 time -Lvorshippers beyond the rivers of Cush. 
 
 The beginning of this part of the prophecy, ^vhich 
 primarily relates to the literal Nineveh, may be compared 
 with the opening of the ISth chapter of the Revelation : 
 all the rest of it can only relate to the mystical Nineveh. 
 I consider the first verse of the 3d chapter of Zephaniah, 
 as immediately connected with the last verse of the pre- 
 ceding chapter; so immediately indeed, that they ought 
 both to be included in the same paragraph : accordingly 
 I have thus arranged them in my transcript of the pro- 
 phecy. The city, mentioned in the one verse, is, I think, 
 the same as the city, mentioned in the other verse : the 
 exulting city that boasts of her superiority over all others 
 is the city that swelleth with pride and yet is polluted. 
 
 * See Isaiah xl. 15. xix.4, 20, 22. " He shall have power— over all the 
 precious things of Egypt ; and the Lubim and the Cushlm shall be at his 
 steps." Dan. xi. 43. 
 
 \ Isajah ii. 1—5, et alibi. 
 
 43 
 
Our transiators have indeed supposed, that the city, men- 
 tioned in the third chapter, is Jerusalem : but the whole 
 context of the prophecy seems to me to shew, that JVijie- 
 veh, not Jerusalem, is intended. The Holy Spirit is here 
 foretelling not the dispersion ofJudah, but his restoration ; 
 not the downfal of Jerusalem, but of Nineveh and the 
 assembled nations. This will sufficiently appear to any 
 person, who attentively reads the whole of the third chapter 
 in connection with the latter end of the second. Nothing 
 indeed, I am persuaded, could have given rise to such 
 an opinion, except the arbitrary division of chapters, and 
 the mention of prophets and priests and a sanctuary as 
 all appertaining to the polluted city. 
 
 Zephaniah himself however, unless I be greatly mis- 
 taken, puts the matter out of all doUbt by describing in 
 a very remarkable manner the city mentioned in the third 
 chapter. Our translators speak of it as the oppressing 
 city ; and such no doubt it is : yet neither does this cha- 
 racter accord with that of Jerusalem, which was notori- 
 ously an oppressed not an oppressing city, a city succes- 
 sively oppressed by the iron rod of foreign tyrants ; nor 
 does Zephaniah, I apprehend, mean thus to designate it 
 in the words which he here uses. He had already repre- 
 sented it as a city swelling -with pride and deeply polluted, 
 a city exalting itself above all other cities ; whence it 
 would appear somewhat tautological and unnecessary to 
 style it the oppressing city, which is an idea plainly in- 
 volved in what he said before respecting it. Instead 
 therefore oLthe oppressing city, I translate his words the 
 city of the dove, and consider them as allusive to a well- 
 known object of worship among the Assyrians. And 
 in this translation I find myself confirmed by the lxx, 
 the Vulgate, and the Latin translations of the Syriac 
 and the Arabic ; all of which so understand the original 
 word rendered in our version opp7'essing. None of them 
 indeed, except the Latin version of the Syriac, have 
 translated the expression quite properly ; for they read 
 the city the dove, instead of the city of the dove : but, so 
 far as the word itself is concerned, they manifestly under- 
 stood it to mean a dove, not opp?'essive. 
 
 How greatly the dove was venerated by the Assyrians 
 is well known to every person in the least degree con- 
 
339 ..;-,. 
 
 versant with ancient mythology. Diodorus informs us, 
 that they worshipped it as a goddess * ; and Semiramis, 
 one of their fabulous sovereigns, was reported to have 
 been changed into a dove f- She was in fact the sacred 
 emblem of the dove itself: whence, according to Athe- 
 nagoras, she was worshipped by the Syrians ; and was 
 esteemed the daughter of Derceto, and the same as the 
 Syrian goddess %. She was likewise the same, in the 
 mythology of Syria, as Rhea, Isis, Astarte, and Atarga- 
 tis \. In her temple at Hierapolis, her image bore upon 
 its head a golden dove ; which the Assyrians themselves 
 called Semeion ||, a compound oriental word denoting the 
 emblem of the dove. As the western nations mistook 
 the character of Semiramis, and fancied that she was a 
 princess, they had a tradition that her standard was a 
 dove ; because they found that such was the national in- 
 signe of Assyria, the standard of all the iVssyrian kings, 
 as the eagle was of Rome both republican and imperial^!. 
 This being the case, the Assyrian empire itself was poeti- 
 cally styled the dove; in allusion to its favourite badge**; 
 and accordingly it is thrice mentioned by Jeremiah under 
 the name of that very symbol. Speaking of the land of 
 Israel being laid waste by the Babylonians, he styles them 
 
 * Aio KXi Tim Aa-n-vpiHi r)}V -srspti-epx* Ttf^mv as B-ixv. Diocl. Bibl. L. ii. 
 
 p. lor. 
 
 t Te 'Ze/icipxf*.i^3<i TeAo? f? -zrepis-ipiiv etTntitro (Lucian. de dea Syra. Vol. ii. 
 p. 885.) Evtot ^e f^vBoXoyavrei <px7iv »vryjv y$veT6xi Ts-tpi^-ipxv (Diod. Bibl. 
 L. ii. p. 107.). Diodorus further says, that the person who was supposed to 
 have named her, bestowed the appellation Seviiratnis upon her from Doves : 
 ov3jK,« S-c/^£vov—ciC7ra rav Tirepi^ipuv (L. ii. p. 93.). Hence Hesychius informs 
 us, that Semiramis signifies a Kvild pigeon : ^ef<.ipctfi.ii, -srepiTspst, opiioi; i>^r,vt<Ti- 
 See lilcewise Ovid. Metam. Lib. iv. ver. 44—48 : and Athen. Legat. p. 33. 
 
 X Tjjv l^ef^tpxf^v creeii<rt llvpoi—'H S-vyecT})^ ry,i Aepxersi 'ZifA.ipciiA.i^ fot^e 
 'ZvDioe, B-eoi;. Athen. Leg-at. p. 307. 
 § Chron. Pasch. p. 36— Luc. de dea Syra, Vol. ii. p. 885. 
 
 II KaXierat as cryjiMJiot kxi ut' xvray A<rFupiav (Luc. de dea Syra :) : not 
 merely by the Greeks, but by the Assyrians themselves. Semeion is Sem- 
 Jonah, the name or sign of the dove. 
 
 ^ Signum vexilli Semiramidos fuit figura columbae ; quod vexilli signum 
 imitati sunt omnes Assyrii reges (David Ganz Chronolog. L. ii. ad annum 
 1958.). After the conquest of Babylon by the Assyrians, all the tract of 
 country between the Tigris and Euphrates was called Assyria. 
 
 ** Our Lord alludes in a similar manner to the Roman ensign, when pre- 
 dicting the siege of Jerusalem by Titus : Wheresoever the carcase is, there luiU 
 the eagles be gathered together (Matt. xxiv. 28.). The apocryphal Esdras like- 
 wise symbolizes the Roman empire, or Daniel's ^o"''^^' beast, by an eagle. Sea 
 2 Esdras xi, xii. and particularly xii. 11. 
 
340 
 
 ■Jonah or the dove ; which passage is properly rendered bj' 
 the Vulgate, Their land was made a desolation from the face 
 of the anger of the dove^. In another place, foretelling 
 that the Jews should be restored to their own land, in 
 consequence of the do"svnfal of Babylon, he puts these 
 words into the mouth of the people, as they are likewise 
 properly rendered by the Vulgate : Arise^ and let us go 
 again to onr ow?i people^ and to the land of our nativity ^ 
 from the face of the sword of the dove f. So again, 
 speaking of the overthrow of the Assyrian empire, he 
 says ; From the face of the sword of the dove, they (the 
 captive Jews) shall turn every one to his people, and every 
 one to his oxvn landX- In all these passages Jeremiah 
 uses the very same word Jonah or a dove to designate 
 the Babylonian or later Assyrian empire, that Zephaniah 
 does to describe JVineveh which was the capital city of 
 the dove or first Assyrian empire \. And here I think 
 we may observe a singular propriety in the name of the 
 prophet, who was sent to preach repentance to the Nine- 
 vites. Jonah seems rather to be a title than a proper 
 name. From the circumstance of the sacred dove being 
 accounted oracular by the heathens, their priests and 
 prophets were sometimes denominated doves, as at other 
 times for the same reason they were denominated ravens Ij. 
 The prophet tlien, assuming the title of Jonah or the dove, 
 calls upon Nineveh, the city of the dove, to repent of her 
 iniquities ; and, instead of consulting the false oracle of 
 
 * Jerem. xxv. 38. \ Jerem. xlvi. 16. 
 
 ■\ JereTn. 1. 16. 
 
 § It was probably in allusion to the sacredness of this bird amon.c^ the Assy- 
 rians, that llosea uses for a comparison tJie fiight of a dove out of the land of 
 Assyria (Hos. xi. 11.). There are still some remains in the East of" the ancient 
 diluvian veneration of the dove and the fish. "In Mecca there are thousands 
 of blue pigeons, which none will affright or abuse, much less kill them ; and 
 they are therefore so very tame, that they will pick meat out of one's hand — 
 Tliey come in great flocks to the temple, where they are usually fed by the 
 pilgrims." Tlie people of Mecca call them the pigeons of the prophet (Pitts 
 cited by Harmer, Observ. Vol. iii. p. 57.). In a similar manner Sir John Char- 
 din twice mentions the sacred fishes of the East ; and tells us, that an Arme- 
 nian Christian, who had ventured to take some of them, was killed on the 
 spot. Ibid. p. 58, 59. 
 
 () Hence Herodotus, when speaking of two priestesses who came from 
 Thebes in Egypt and settled in Dodona, styles them doves. Herod, Hist. L. 
 ii. c. 54. 
 
 . I am indebted to Mr. Rrvant for these remarks on the Assyrian dove. See 
 his Anal. Vol. ii. p. 283—320. 
 
341 '*■ 
 
 her favourite dove, to attend to the true oracle sent by 
 the livmg God *. 
 
 But 1 have said enough to shew the propriety with 
 which Nineveh is styled the city of the dove ; a title, 
 which the decorum of the type required to be conferred 
 upon her, although all that is said in the third chapter 
 relates, not to the literal, but to the mystical Nineveh. It 
 remains to be shewn, how exactly the description an- 
 swers to the corrupt communion of the church of Rome. 
 
 The Nineveh then, which according to Zephaniah will 
 be destroyed at the era of the restoration ofJiidah, is, like 
 her type, an exulting city. She dwells in confident 
 security ; and boasts, that there is none beside herself. 
 Such is the church of Rome. She fancies, that she is the 
 only true church, and esteems all without the pale of her 
 communion to be heretics. Hence she styles herself the 
 catholic church; and applies to her own ecclesiastical po- 
 lity the promise made to the true universal church, that 
 the gates of hell shall never prevail against it — Nineveh 
 swells with pride, and yet is polluted. The church of 
 Rome does the same — Nineveh obeyeth not the voice, 
 she receiveth not correction. The infatuated church of 
 Rome hardens herself against all the judgments of the 
 Lord. Unawed by the downfal of the eastern empire, 
 she repents not of the work of her hands, that she should 
 not worship demons, and idols of gold and silver and 
 brass and stone and wood, which can neither see, nor 
 hear, nor walk ; neither does she repent of her murders, 
 nor of her sorceries, nor of her spiritual fornication, nor 
 of her thefts f — The princes of Ninevah are roaring 
 lions, her judges are evening wolves. The princes of the 
 Romish communion have been notorious for persecuting 
 the faithful. The load of innocent blood presses alike 
 upon the houses of Austria, Bourbon, and Savoy. They 
 have all, in all their branches, in all their different domi- 
 
 * Mr. Bryant, in a later publication, seems to think that Jonah was so call- 
 ed from his being a semi-idolater, partly worshipping' God, and partly the 
 'Jonah or dove : but, in his Analysis, he conceives, and perhaps more justly, 
 that this title was bestowed upon him as being an oracular messenger of the 
 Deity to tlie Ninevites. Compare iiis Observ. on passages of Scripture, 
 p. 232, with his Anal. Vol. ii. p. 294. 
 
 I Rev. ix. 20, 21. 
 
342 
 
 nions, been guilty of shedding the blood of the saints and 
 martyrs ; they have all been as roaring lions to the sheep 
 »f Christ's flock ; they have all sold themselves to be 
 tools to the harlot church ; none of them have repented 
 of the evil of their ways. And wliat have been the eccle- 
 siastical judges of -Rome ? Do the merciless and iniqui- 
 tous wretches, that preside in the diabolical court of the 
 Inquisition, deserve a better name than evening wolves, 
 wolves that cease not to devour their prey until the 
 morning ? The prophets of Nineveh are licentiously ex- 
 travagant, gross hypocrites : her priests have polluted the 
 sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. It is plain, 
 that this description can only relate to the mystical JVine- 
 veh; and with her how accurately does it accord ! — The 
 just Lord however is in the midst of Nineveh. So is he 
 in the midst di papal Rome by his word and ordinances: 
 but no one attendeth to his judgments; the unjust know- 
 eth no shame — He will not however destroy Nineveh^ till 
 enough has been done to rouse her to a sense of her 
 condition. Exactly so has it been, and still is, with papal 
 Rome. By the instrumentality of a tremendous monster 
 of impiet}', the great Antichrist of the last days, the na- 
 tions in the communion of Rome have been cut off ; their 
 towers have been made desolate ; their streets have been 
 made waste ; their inhabitants have been slain. Yet do 
 we behold any reformation ? The l^ord might well say, 
 Surely thou wilt fear me, surely thou wilt receive instruc- 
 tion, so that thy dwelling place should not be utterly cut off. 
 But what has been the event ? They rose up early, and 
 corrupted all their doings. To complete her sins, Rome 
 became the tool of Antichrist, and lent herself to sanction 
 the ambitious tyranny of a vile usurper *. 
 
 * In objection to this interpretation it may perhaps be urged, Why may not 
 the city, described in Zephan. iii. 1 — 5, be Jerusalem immediately before its 
 destruction by the Romans ; and why may not the 6th and 7th verses relate 
 to tlie dispersion of the ye-as P To this I answer ; that the event, predicted 
 in the 8th verse, is clearly the gathering' together of the Antichristianfactmi 
 to Jerusalem at the era of the restoration of the yeius, and this gathering" 
 together is represented as being the consequence, although the judgment of 
 God has been long delayed, of the hardened iniquity of the city, which the 
 prophet had immediately before described. But the gathering together of 
 the Antichristian faction to their destruction is the consequence of the sins of 
 the Roman Babylon (see Rev. xvi. 1, 2, 6, 10, 14, 16, 19, and xix. 19, 20, 21.), 
 cert^nly not of ancient yerusalem : therefore the city must be the Roman 
 
343 
 
 We have read the character of the Rofnan Nineveh ; 
 we must now attend to the prophetic account of her joint 
 destruction with her Antichri&tlan colleague, a destruc- 
 tion which Zephaniah represents as being contemporary 
 with the resto7'ation of the Jexvs, a destruction therefore 
 which plainly shews that we are not here to understand 
 the literal Nineveh. The saints may well be supposed to 
 be weary at beholding the lengthened tyranny of the har- 
 lot church, and to be struck with horror at viewing the 
 dreadful impieties and extensive ravages of Antichrist. 
 God therefore calls upon them to wait patiently for him, 
 until the day that he rises up to the prey. Sooner or later 
 that awful day will surely come. Then will the Lord 
 gather together the nations, and assemble the kingdoms: 
 then will he collect, to the tremendous vintage of his 
 wrath, the Roman beast under his last head, his tool the 
 false prophet, and the vassal kings that constitute the 
 federal members of his empire. He will bring them toge- 
 ther into the land of Palestine, to the valley of Megiddo : 
 and there will he pour upon them the fierceness of his 
 indignation, and devour them with the fire of his jealousy. 
 
 Yet this period of unexampled trouble shall at length 
 introduce the happiness of the Millennium. After the 
 destruction of his enemies God will turn unto the nations 
 a pure religious confession, and cause them all to serve 
 him with one consent. 
 
 Meanwhile, obedient to the divine command, some 
 powerful jna7'itime natioji of faithful worshippers will go 
 forth as swift messengers to the scattered of Judah. Un- 
 conquered by Antichrist because servants of the living 
 
 Babylon, and not Jerusalem. It may further be remarked, that the nations, 
 ix^entioned plurally in the 6th verse, can scarcely mean the single nation of 
 the jFeivs : on the contrary, they seem evidently to be the same as the nations 
 that are to be gathered together in the 8th verse. After having been cut off 
 and made desolate by the merciless tyranny of Antichrist, they will at length 
 be gathered together by his agency and compelled to embark in his final 
 mad crusade. Mr. Lowth thinks that Jerusalem is spoken of in the begin- 
 ning of the third chapter, yet he supposes that the nations, mentioned in ver. 
 6, mean Nineveh and her allies. Such being the case, the context seems to 
 me plainly to require that by the city we should understand Nineveh, not 
 yerusalein. Though, like myself, he refers the prophecy primarily to the 
 literal Nineveh, yet he thinks very justly that the assembling of the nations, 
 mentioned in the 8th verse, is the same as the gathering together of the nations 
 to the valley of yehoskaphat, predicted in Joel iii. ?, 1? 
 
344 
 
 God, they will suddenly launch their fleets, and will bring 
 an offering unto the holy mountain, even the long-affiict- 
 ed daughter of the dispersion. From beyond the Cushan 
 streams of the Nile, from the western isles of the Gentiles, 
 Avill their navy rapidly come upon the wings of the wind. 
 Then shall the daughter of Judah be no more ashamed : 
 for, although the Lord will restore her during a period of 
 great tribulation, and will punish such of her children as 
 rejoice in their pride and have stayed themselves upon 
 the arm of Antichrist rather than upon the arm of God ; 
 yet will he leave in the midst of her a humble and con- 
 trite people who shall trust in his holy name. Then will 
 he be her king, so that she shall behold evil no more. 
 Then will he undo all that afflict her, and give her praise 
 and renown in every land where she hath been put to 
 shame. Then will he bring her back from all the ends 
 of the earth, and restore her captivity before her eyes. 
 
 PROPHECY XXXVII. 
 
 The various dispersions of Israel by four kingdoms of the Gen- 
 tiles—The final restoration and prosperity of the Jews — The 
 miraculous overthrow of Antichrist. 
 
 Zechariah i. 12. The angel of the Lord answered and 
 said, O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy 
 on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which 
 thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years ? 
 13. And the Lord answered the angel that talked with 
 me widi scood words and comfortable words — 16. Thus 
 saith the Lord ; I am returned to Jerusalem with mer- 
 cies : my house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of 
 hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusa- 
 lem — 
 
 18. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold, 
 four horns. 19. And I said unto the angel that talked 
 with me. What be these ? And he answered me, These 
 are the horns, which have scattered Judah, Israel, and 
 Jerusalem. 20. And the Lord shewed me four artificers. 
 
345 
 
 21. Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, 
 saying, Those were the horns which scattered Judah, so 
 that no man did Uft up his head : but these are come to 
 fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles which 
 lifted up the horn over the hmd of Judah to scatter it. 
 
 ii. 1. I hfted up mine eyes again, and looked, and be- 
 hold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2. Then 
 said I, Whither goest thou ? And he said unto me, To 
 measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, 
 and what is the length thereof 3. And behold, the angel 
 that talked ^vith me went forth, and another angel went 
 out to meet him, 4. And said unto him. Run, speak to 
 this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall inhabit towns 
 without walls for the multitude of men and cattle Avithin 
 her ^. 5. For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall 
 of fire round about her, and will be for glory in the midst 
 of her. 6. Ho, ho, come forth ^ and flee from the land of 
 the north, saith the Lord : for I have spread you abroad 
 as the four winds of heaven f, saith the Lord. 7. Ho 
 Zion, be thou delivered, thou that dwellest with the 
 daughter of Babylon. 8. For thus saith the Lord of 
 hosts ; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations 
 which spoiled you : for he, that toucheth you, toucheth 
 the apple of his eye. 9. For behold, I will shake my 
 hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their ser- 
 vants : and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath 
 sent me. 10. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion : 
 for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, 
 saith the Lord. 11. And many nations shall be joined 
 unto the Lord in that day, and shall be my people : and 
 I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know 
 that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee. 12. And 
 
 * Jerusalem shall inhabit.'] " Jerusalem is here personified under the 
 symbol of a Tcoman, by which cities and countries are often figuratively repre- 
 sented — Under tliis character, yerusaletn may be understood to occupy or 
 inhabit, not only the houses within her walls, but the open villag-es round 
 about, on account of her enlarged popidation." Dr. Klayney's Trans, of 
 Zechai'. in loc. 
 
 f I have spread you abroad as the four voinds of heaven.] " As 1 have scat- 
 tered you and your brethren of the ten tribes all the world over, so in due 
 time I will g-ather you from your several dispersions, of wiiicii your preseni; 
 restoration from Bab don shall be an earnest." Mr. I.owth in lo'; 
 
 44 
 
346 
 
 the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land*^ 
 and shall choose Jerusalem again. 15. Be silent, O all 
 flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of his 
 holy habitation. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 The beginning of this two-fold prophecy relates entirely 
 to the 70 years captivity of Judah. The people had now 
 returned from Babylon : and Zechariah encourages them 
 in the erection of the second temple, by declaring that it 
 should be built in Jerusalem. But from this particular 
 captivity he immediately passes to a general view of all 
 the captivities a?id persecutions both of Israel and Judah. 
 He beholds four ho-ms, which the interpreting angel in- 
 forms him denote four kingdoms of the Gentiles^ that 
 have scattered and afflicted Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. 
 To know what four kingdoms are here intended, we 
 must consult history. Now the Assyrians led away cap- 
 tive the ten tribes. The Babylonians afterwards carried 
 away the two remaining tribes of Judah and Benjamin. 
 The Syro-Macedonians most cruelly persecuted them^ 
 and Antiochus Epiphanes in particular wreaked his ven- 
 geance on Jerusalem ; insomuch that, in the reigns of 
 the two first Ptolemies, many of the Jews, as we learn 
 from Josephus f, were slaves in Egypt. Lastly, the 
 Romans utterly dissolved the Jewish polity, and scattered 
 them over the face of the whole earth. These then seem 
 to be the four kingdoms, which scatter Israel, Judah, and 
 Jerusalem : for so the prophet, with reference to their 
 several afflictions, most accurately distinguishes into three 
 divisions the sons of Jacob:}:. As for the four artificers ^ 
 
 * The Lord shall inherit yiidah his portion in the holy land.'] " God shall 
 give visible tokens, that the land oi yudca and its inhabitants are his pecirfiar 
 people— This may perhaps be more fully verified at the general restoration 
 of that nation." M\\ Lowth in loc. 
 
 t Ant. .Tud. Lib. xii. C. 1, 2. 
 
 % The four great empires, as they are usually called, cannot, as It appears 
 to me, be intended by t!ie four horns ; because Israel was led into captivity 
 previous to tlie rise of the Babylo7iian empire properly so called, and because 
 tlie Persians were protectors, not persecutors, of ytidah. Yet it is proper to 
 observe tliat tlie '^enxs themselves have generally been of opinion, that these 
 four horns symbolize the four great einpires described in the seventh chapter 
 of Daniel. See Dr. Ulayney in loc. Mr. Lowth thiiiks the expression four 
 
347 
 
 ihey are plainly allegorical characters : and this part of 
 the prophecy merely denotes, that the four persecuting 
 horjis should be successively broken *. 
 
 Having thus sufficiently taught us, that we are to 
 understand the rest of his prediction as referring to the 
 restoration^ not merely of the Jews from the 70 years 
 captivity^ but of both Israel and Judah from the scatter- 
 ing both of the Assyrian horn and the Roman horn^ Ze- 
 chariah next introduces the imagery, so common among 
 the prophets, of measuring Jerusalem. An angel is then 
 charged to tell him, that Jerusalem shall hereafter over- 
 flow with men and with cattle ; and that tlie Lord will 
 be a wall of fire around her, and for glory in the midst 
 of her. By this glory I think we can only understand 
 the divine Shechinah ; which will be the glory of the 
 Millennian church, as it heretofore was of the Levitical 
 church f. At least the subsequent context seems almost 
 to compel us to adopt such an opinion. 
 
 Here the Lord raises his voice aloud, and calls to the 
 dispersed of Israel to gather themselves together from 
 the north, and from the four winds of heaven : from As- 
 syria, the dominions of the literal Babylon^ throup;h which 
 the ten tribes ^vere scattered ; and from the West, the 
 dominions of the mystical Babylon, thi-ough which in 
 a peculiar manner the two tribes are dispersed. The 
 
 may perhaps be indefinite, signifying' their enemies in general among whom 
 they were dispersed to the four winds of heaven. 
 
 * Dr. Blayney translates the passage in the following manner. " And 
 Jehovah shewed me four plowmen. And I said, What come tliese to do ? And 
 he replied, saying, These are the horns which liave scattered Judah, so that 
 no man lifted up his head. And these are come, sliarpening tlieir coulter, 
 for to use upon the horna of the nations, which lifted up a horn against the 
 land of Judah to scatter it." The idea however, so far as tlie general import 
 of the prophecy is concerned, will be the same ; for he supposes the allusion 
 to be to plo'j^vioi striking the horns nf mischievous oxen ivith the coulters of their 
 ploughs. 
 
 f I cannot but think that Dr. Blayney lowers the sense of this passage in 
 a very unnatural manner, by paraphrasing- it to mean nothing more than " I 
 will reside in the midst of her for the purpose of promoting her glory and 
 prosperity." The glory of the Lord, or the Lord the glory, is frequently used 
 to denote, what I believe it to denote here, the glorious inanifestation cf the 
 second perso7i of tlie Trinity. See Psalm xxiv. 7. Isaiah xl. 5. Ix. 1, 2. Malachi 
 iv. 2. Ezek. iii. 12. Heb. i. 3. John i. 14. Rom. ix. 4. See Jamieson's Vindi- 
 cation of the doctrine of ScripttU'e. Vol. i. p. 95. Philo Judeus styles the 
 divine Logos the light of the inorld and the intellectual sun. See Uryant on the 
 sentiments of Philo Judeus, p. 113, 203. See also Mr. Lowtli on Zechar, 
 51 V. 4. 
 
348 
 
 Lord of hosts that speaks is the Messiah; who, while he 
 solemnly announces his second advent^ avows that the 
 Lord of hosts, God the Father, hath sent him, thus bear- 
 ing an illustrious testimony to his own divinity *. After 
 the glorify he declares himself to be sent unto the nations 
 that spoiled his ancient people : and now he will shake 
 his hand upon them, and cause them in their turn to 
 become a spoil to those, whom they had made their ser- 
 vants. I have no doubt tliat the destruction of Antichristy 
 at the period of the restoration ofJudah^ is here predicted, 
 in exact harmony with the writings of all the other pro- 
 phets. After the glory ^ Christ is sent to take vengeance 
 upon the collected nations of his enemies. This glory I 
 conceive to be the same, as the glory which Zechariah 
 had already mentioned ; for the context seems to require, 
 that, what the one glory means, the other should likewise 
 mean. Subsequent f then to this glory that is to say, 
 subsequent to the manifestation of God'^s glory in the 
 midst of Jerusalem, Messiah will shake his hand over 
 the vassal allies of Antichrist. I know not what infer- 
 ence we can draw from this remarkable passage, espe- 
 cially when viewed in connection with other parallel pas- 
 sages, except the following : that, after the Antichristian 
 faction has succeeded in taking Jerusalem, and when its 
 armies are upon the full maixh to Megiddo with a view 
 of attacking the dispirited remnant of the Jews and their 
 protectors the maritime power ^ then will the glory of the 
 Lord appear in the midst of his holy city ; and, after it 
 has thus appeared, Messiah will go forth in his strength 
 to tread the wine-press of the mystic Edom. His enemies 
 being thus subdued, the whole body of his ancient peo- 
 
 * See Dr. Eveleig-h's very clear and satisfactory sermon on this passag-e. 
 
 ■J- Dr. Bla} ney gives quite a different sense to the word after, and explains 
 the whole passac^e in a manner altogether unlike that which I liave adopted. 
 ** To send a person after anything," sajs he, "implies the requisition of his 
 services for that particular purpose. When therefore flod is said to have sent 
 the angel after the glory, he must be understood to have charged him with 
 the means of bringing it about." The word after sometimes bears such a 
 sense in English, and I will not presume so far to set my knowledge in com- 
 petition with tliat of the late learned professor as to assert that nnx never 
 bears sucli a sense in Hebrew : but this I may safely say, that I do not recol- 
 lect to have met with the word thus used elsewhere, nor do either Buxtorf 
 or Parkhurst assign to it any such signification. 1 have adopted in short what 
 appears to myself at least the most natural interpretation of the passage. 
 
349 
 
 pie shall acknowledge that the Lord of hosts hath sent 
 hini. They shall look upon him whom they have pierced, 
 when he cometh, and dwelleth in the midst of them; 
 and the daughter of Zion shall sing, and rejoice in the 
 presence of her incarnate God. Meanwhile, after the 
 destruction of the apostate army, many nations shall be 
 joined unto the Lord of hosts. They shall acknowledge 
 his divine mission, and walk in his courts. They shall 
 be awfully silent before him, when he riseth up out of 
 his holy habitation : and every mouth shall be stopped, 
 when he inherits Judah his portion, and when he chooses 
 Jerusalem again. 
 
 PROPHECY XXXVIII. 
 
 The general restoration of the Jews, and the conversion of the 
 Gentiles. 
 
 Zechariah viii. 2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; I 
 was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jea- 
 lous for her with great fury. 3. Thus saith the Lord, I 
 am returned unto Zion, and I dwell in the midst of Jeru- 
 salem : and Jerusalem shall be called. The city of the 
 truth ; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, The holy 
 mountain. 4. Thus saith the Lord of hosts : There shall 
 yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jeru- 
 saleni, and every man with his staff in his hand for very 
 age. 5. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys 
 and girls playing in the streets thereof. 6. Thus saith 
 the Lord of hosts ; If it be marvellous in the eyes of 
 the remnant of this people in these days, should it also 
 be marvellous in mine eyes ? saith the Lord of hosts. 
 7. Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; Behold I will save my 
 people from the east-country, and from the west-coun- 
 try * ; 8. And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in 
 
 * / luill save my people from the east-country, and from the west-country.'] 
 " This denotes the general restoration of the Jewish nation from their several 
 dispersions, an event foretold by most of the prophets of the Old Testament. 
 The west-country here mentioned hath a particular relation to their present 
 dispersion, great numbers of them being in these latter ages settled in the 
 western parts of the world. Mr. Lowth in loc- 
 
350 
 
 the midst of Jerusalem : and they shall be my people, 
 and I will be their God in truth and in righteousness — 
 13. And it shall come to pass, that, as ye were a curse 
 among the nations, O house of Judah, and house of Isra- 
 el * ; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear 
 not; let your hands be strong. 14. For thus saith the 
 Lord of hosts ; As I thought to punish you, when your 
 fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, 
 and T repented not; 15. So again have I thought in these 
 days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Ju- 
 dah ; fear ye not — 20. Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; It 
 shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and 
 the inhabitants of many cities. 21. And the inhabitants 
 of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedi- 
 ly to pray before the Lord f, ^nd, to seek the Lord of 
 hosts : I will go also. 22. Yea, many people and strong 
 nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusa- 
 lem, and to pray before the Lord. 23. Thus saith the 
 Lord of hosts ; It shall come to pass in those days, that 
 ten men out of all the languages of the nations shall take 
 hold, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a 
 Jew, saying we will go with you : for we have heard 
 that God is with you. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 This prophecy must, I think, be referred to the yet 
 future restoration of God's ancient people^ and not merel}" 
 to the return of Judah from the Babylonian captivity. 
 The -following considerations lead me to adopt such an 
 opinion. A restoration from the east and the rvest, which 
 was yet future, is promised ; the Jews had already re- 
 turned from Babylon, which was only in the north-east. 
 The restoration both of the house of Judah aiid the house 
 
 * O house of Judah, and house cf Israel.'] " The mentioning both Judah 
 and Israel, whicli had been so long separated, shews that both the curse and 
 the blessing here spoken of, in its ultimate sense, belongs to the whole body 
 cf the Jews ; who, as they are a public instance of God's judgments now, so 
 shall they hereafter be of his blessings : namely, at the general restoration 
 and conversion of that nation, to which several promises in this chapter 
 relate." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 f Let us go speedilv to pray before the Lord."] " A prophecy of the gentiles 
 coming into the Church." Mr. Lowth in lor. 
 
351 
 
 of Israel is predicted : Judah alone returned from Baby- 
 lon, with the exception of a few stragglers belonging to 
 the other ten tribes. Judah and Israel are conjointly to 
 cease to be a curse among the nations : they are still, 
 even in the present day, a proverb and a bye-word. Fi- 
 nally there is to be a great influx of mighty and strong 
 nations to Jerusalem, there to worship the Lord, and to 
 seek his face ; they are to acknowleclge, that God of a 
 truth dwelleth with the Jews ; and so eager are they to 
 be to court an intimate communication with the house of 
 Jacob, that even ten men of all nations and languages 
 shall lay hold of the skirt of a single Jexv : this prophecy 
 has never yet been accomplished, for it is absurd to sup- 
 pose it accomplished in the few gentile proselytes made 
 occasionally before the days of the first advent ; and, if 
 it be not yet accomplished, we must look for its comple- 
 tion in the days of the second advent, agreeably to many 
 other predictions to which this is exactly parallel *. 
 
 Such then being the case, we may see the reason why 
 it should appear so marvellous in the eyes of the people. 
 They had only just been brought back from Babylon, 
 and they are presented with a prophecy relative to some 
 yet future restoration both of Judah and Israel. They 
 do not seem to have considered, that a prediction of this 
 nature involved necessarily a prediction oisome yet future 
 dispersion. Hence it was marvellous in their eyes : but 
 should it for that reason be likewise marvellous in the 
 eyes of the Lord of hosts ? Their second dispersion by 
 the Romans has now long since taken place : and from 
 the past we may anticipate, as equally certain, their fu- 
 ture restoratio7i along with the house of Israel, both from 
 the west-country and from the east-country. 
 
 * See Isaiah ii. l—S. Ixvi. 12, 19—24, and Micah-iv. 1, 2, 3. 
 
352 
 
 PROPHECY XXXIX. 
 
 The instrumentality of Judah in the overthrow of Antichrist — The 
 restoration of Joseph — His office of converting the Gentiles— 
 The fate of Egypt^and Assyria. 
 
 Zechariah x. 3. Mine anger is kindled against the 
 shepherds, and I will punish the goats : for the Lord of 
 hosts visiteth his flock the house of Judah, and maketh 
 them as his goodly horse in the battle. 4. Out of him 
 shall go forth a comer, out of him a nail, out of him the 
 bow of battle, out of him all that draw near together. 
 5. And they shall be as mighty men*, which tread down 
 in the mire of the streets in a battle : and they shall 
 fight, because the Lord is with them ; and the riders on 
 horses shall be confounded. 6. And I will strengthen 
 the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph f, 
 and I will bring them again to place them: for I will 
 have mercy upon them ; and they shall be as though I 
 had not cast them off" : for I am the Lord their God, 
 and will hear them. 7. And they of EphraimJ shall 
 be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as 
 through wine : yea, their children shall see it, and be 
 glad ; their heart shall rejoice in the Lord. 8. I will 
 hiss for them, and gather them : for I have redeemed 
 them, and they shall increase, as they have increased. 
 9. And I will sow them among the people, and they 
 shall remember me in far countries ; for they shall live 
 with their children, and shall return. 10. I will bring 
 them also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them 
 out of Assyria ; and I will bring them into the land of 
 Gilead and Lebanon; and it shall not suilice for them. 
 11. And he shall pass through the sea. with affliction, and 
 
 * They shall be as viighty men ] " This may be understood— of the victo- 
 ries, which the yews should obtain over their enemies in the latter times. 
 See chap. xii. 6, to which the following- part of the chapter seems to relate.'" 
 Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 ■\ yudah— Joseph?^ "This promise is probably to be understood of the 
 general restoration of the yexvish nation upon their conversion, a subject often 
 treated of by the prophets in the Old Testament, where Judah and Israel an 
 spoken of as equal sliarers in this blessing-." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
 i^ Thev of Ephraim.l *' Ephraim is equivalent here to the ten tribes, as tlie 
 I'cuss of Joseph is, ver. P." Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
353 
 
 shall smite the waves of the sea, and all the deeps of the 
 river shall dry up ; and the pride of Assyria shall be 
 brought down, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart 
 away. 12. And I will strengthen them in the Lord ; 
 and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the 
 Lord. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 Zechariah opens this prophecy with the same imagerj*^ 
 that Ezekiel had used before him *. The anger of God 
 is kindled against the shepherds or governors who had 
 so long troubled his people Israel: and he threatens to 
 punish the goats, or those apostate Jexvs who had joined 
 the party of Antichrist f ; while he promises in general 
 to visit his flock, and to make them as the -goodly horse 
 in the battle. For this purpose he will bring it to pa^s, 
 that, at the time when the injldel confederacy is over- 
 thrown, Judah shall take an active part in the destruction 
 of his enemies %. Out of him shall go forth a corner, or 
 a chief commander \ ; out of him a nail, or the oncers 
 next in rank\ ;• out of him the how of battle, or the arch- 
 
 * Ezek. xxxiv. f Compare Ezek. xxxiv. 1?. 
 
 % Compare Zechar. xli. 2 — 6. 
 
 $ "^ community is often expressed by an edifice or building ; and the cor- 
 responding parts expressed by the same name. Hence, as the largest stones 
 or timbers are used in the angles to bind together and strengthen the sides of 
 the building, which meet therein as in a common centre ; so the angle op 
 corwer metaphorically denotes ?Ae c/2/e/"/)er*o«a^e in a comm,unity, on whom, 
 its strength and security principally depends. Accordingly we find nufl, pro- 
 perly corners, rendered chief in our English version, Judg. xx. 2. 1 Sam. xiv. 
 58. and in Isaiah xix. 13. they that are the stay ,• in the maigin, governors ; and 
 by Bp. Lowth, chief pillars. Therefore by nJB here may be understood the 
 commander in chief. '^ Dr. Blayney's Zechariah in loc, 
 
 (I " ini is properly a nail or pin used to fasten the timbers or parts of a 
 building together ; and may therefore serve to denote the officers next in com- 
 inand under the chief, by whose means the cowimon soldiers are united, kept 
 steady, and in regular order. Bp. Lowth has t^'O excellent notes on Isaiah 
 xxii. 23, 24. in which are stated the use and importance of nails, spikes, or 
 wooden pins, and their application to denote persons eminent in station and 
 pcaer. Such a nail or pin was Eliakim to be, tlie support of his family 
 and friends ; and such had Shebna been ; but he, it is said, ver. 25, was to 
 be re<ioved, cut down, and to fall, so as to involve in his ruin all that depend- 
 ed on him. In one of these notes the Bishop cites Ezra ix. 8, Grace hath been 
 shelved from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnatit to escape, and to give us a 
 nail in his holy place. That is, says the Bishop, as the margin of our Bible 
 explains it, a constant and sure abode. But might it not rather mean, a person 
 of Kisdom and authority to conduct and steady them,, and on whom they might 
 lean for support, after that God had brought them once more to his holy 
 place ?" Tiv. Blaynev in loc. 
 
 45 ■ 
 
354 
 
 crs * ; out of him all that draxv near together f. And 
 the Lord will give them strength to tread down their foes, 
 and to fight as mighty men even as the riders on horse- 
 back. 
 
 Nor shall Judah alone be restored: God will save like- 
 wise the house of Joseph^ though he appears to have long 
 entirely forgotten them. He will hiss for them, and 
 gather them : and, after he hath mightily redeemed them, 
 he will sow them among the people, and they shall re- 
 member him in far countries. He will make them as k 
 were the seed of his Millennian church : and cause them 
 to be instrumental in spreading the knowledge of his 
 truth, to the uttermost parts of the earth %, He will 
 bring them moreover out of Eg}'pt, and gather them out 
 of Assyria. The figurative sea of Egypt shall then be 
 smitten, and the river of Assyria shall be dried up ; or, 
 as the prophet himself explains this symbolical imagery, 
 the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the 
 scepter of Egypt shall depart away. Nevertheless, while 
 restoring his ancient people and executing vengeance 
 upon his enemies, God will not forget to be gracious. 
 Though he will smite Egypt, and give it up for a season 
 into the hand of Antichrist ; yet he will smite it only to 
 heal it : for " they shall return to the Lord, and he shall 
 be intreated of them, and shall heal them." Assyria 
 shall likewise taste his mere}-, after he has gathered his 
 long lost sheep of the house of Israel from out of the 
 midst of her. " In that day shall Israel be the third with 
 Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of 
 the land ; whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, 
 Blessed be Eg}'^pt my people, and Assyria the work of 
 my hands, and Israel mine inheritance §." 
 
 * " The bow of battle caa only mean the archers in an army." Dr. Bla}ney 
 in loc. 
 
 ■}• ** In the honse or building these words would denote the stones of com,' 
 vion itse placed cnntiguuns or in close order one by another. Correspondently in 
 the army must be meant the close embodied phalanx, or 'main body of men of 
 ^var advancing on together in regular order to nneet the enetny. Accordingly ipjj 
 frequently signifies to draiv nigh towards an enemy for tlie purpose of giving 
 him battle, and ti) is both with and without nOnSc*? following it. See Josh. viii. 
 11.— 1 Sam. vii. 10.— xvii. 16, 40.— 2 Sam. x. 13.--Jer. xlvi. 3.— Joel iii. 9— 
 14." Dr. Blayney in loc. 
 
 i Compare Hoseaii. 23. 
 
 % Isaiah xix. 22, 24, 25. Compare Isaiah xi. lo, 16. and xxvii. 12, lo- 
 
n f f 
 
 PROPHECY XL. 
 
 The miraculous overthrow of the Antichristian confederacy — The 
 conversion of certain Jews in Jerusalem — The preservation and 
 conversion of the third part of the Antichristian confederacy — 
 The previous sacking of Jerusalem by Antichrist — The manifes- 
 tation of Messiah to destroy Antichrist — The extermination of 
 false religion— The destruction of Antichrist—The prevalence 
 of true religion — The nature of the plague, with which the fac^ 
 tion of Antichrist will be afflicted — The part, which Judah will 
 act — The final conversion and prosperity of Judah. 
 
 Zechariah xii. 1 *. The burden of the word of the 
 Lord. Concenimg Israel saith the Lord, which stretcheth 
 forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, 
 and formeth the spirit of man witliin him ; 2. Behold, I 
 will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the peo- 
 ples round about, even when they t shall be against Judah, 
 in the siege against Jerusalem. 3. Even in that day will 
 I make Jerusalem a stone of burden unto all the peo- 
 ples % : all that burden themselves with it shall be cut 
 in pieces, and all the peoples of the earth shall be gather- 
 ed togetlier against it. 4. In that day, saith the Lord, I 
 will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider 
 with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house 
 of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with 
 blindness. 5. And the governors of Judah shall say in 
 their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength 
 in the Lord of hosts their God. 6.* In that day will I 
 
 * chap. xii. 1.] Mr Lowth supposes, like myself, that this prophecy relates 
 to an Invasion oi yudea at the period of the yet future restoration oi the jfews ; 
 but he imagines, what I cannot see the least reason for believing-, that the 
 invaders will be the Turks. In fact, the Turks will have been overthrown as 
 a nation previous to the restoration of the yews. This I have already shewn 
 in my Comment, on Prophecy XXV, and in my Dissert, on the 1260 years. 
 Vol. I. p. 388—393. (2d edit.) 
 
 f They shall Z>e.] I take the singular verb n'n^ to relate to the peoples con- 
 sidered collectively as one great body. See in the original Isaiah v. 26 — 30. 
 This translation and the exposition consequent upon it seem to me to accord 
 better with the context of the prophecy, than those proposed by Dr. Blayney. 
 
 t A stone of burden."] " Jerusalem is here compared to a stone of great 
 weight, which, being too heavy for those \^ho attempt to lift it up or remove 
 it, falls back upon them, and crushes them to pieces." Dr. Blayney in lofi. 
 
356 
 
 make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among 
 the wood, and Uke a torch of fire in a sheaf : and they 
 shall devour all the peoples round about, on the right 
 hand and on the left : and Jerusalem shall be inhabited 
 again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. 7. The Lord 
 also shall save the tents of Judah* first, that the glory of 
 the house of David, and the glory of the inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem t, do not magnif)* themselves against Judah. 
 8. In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of 
 , Jerusalem : and he that is feeble among them at that day 
 shall be as David ; and the house of David shall be as 
 God, as the angel Jehovah before them. 
 
 9. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will 
 seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusa- 
 lem. 10. And I will pour upon the house of David, and 
 upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and 
 of supplications : and they shall look upon him whom 
 they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one 
 mounieth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for 
 him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. 11. In 
 that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as 
 the mourning of the vintage- shouting of RimmonJ in 
 the valley of Megiddon. 12. And the land shall mourn, 
 every family apart : the family of the house of David 
 apart, and their wives apart ; the family of the house of 
 Nathan apart, and their wives apart ; 13. The family of 
 the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart ; 14. All 
 the families that remain, every family apart, and their 
 wives apart, xiii. 1. In that day there shall be a foun- 
 tain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants 
 of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. 2. And it 
 shall be in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, I will cut 
 
 * Tfie tents of yudah.'] " The bndy of the Jewish nation, that encamp in 
 the open country." Mr. Lowth in h>c. 
 
 f The inhabitants of Jerusalem.'] "The people that clefendJerusalem from 
 within." Mr, Lowth in loc. 
 
 t The vintage-shMnlng of Simmon.'] The word m^n, or as it is here written 
 TWj signifies loud shouting, either as of men treading grapes, in which sense 
 it is used in Isaiah xvi. 10, and Jerem. xxv. 30 ; or as of soldiers encouraging 
 one aiiother to battle, in wliich sense it is used in Jeremiah li. 14. The second 
 signification is plainly borrowed from the first, the treading nf the ivine-press 
 being a constant sciipUiral image of the slaughter of a batdc- See Parkhurst's 
 Heb. Lex. Vox iin. 
 
^i: 357 
 
 off the names of the idols* from the earth, and they shall 
 not be mentioned any more ; and also the prophets and 
 the unclean spirit will I cause to pass from out of the 
 earth. 3. And it shall come to pass, when any one shall 
 prophesy any more, that his father and his mother, \\'ho 
 begat him, shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live, 
 because thou hast spoken falshood in the name of Oie 
 Lord : and his father and his mother, who begat him, 
 shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. 4. And 
 it shall come to pass in that day, the prophets shall be 
 ashamed every one of his vision, when he prophesied f ; 
 and they shall not wear a garment of hair:{: in order to 
 deceive. 5. But he shall say, I am not a prophet, I am a 
 man that tillcth the ground ; for a man hath had the pro- 
 perty of me^ from my youth. 6. And, when one shall say 
 unto him. What are those wounds || in thy hands ? then 
 he shall say, They are what I inflicted in the house of 
 my friends. 
 
 • Idols.'] "Ezekiel, confessedly prophesying' oitlie latter times, when Israel 
 and yttdah, incoi'porated again into one nation, shall return into their own 
 land, says, to the same effect as Zechariah, Neither shall they defile themselves 
 any more ivith dieir idols, nor with their detestable things, nor luith all their 
 transgressions (Ezek. xxxvii. 23.)— We are taught to expect that the conversion 
 of the yews will be followed by a further reforination of the ivorld (Rom. xi. 
 15) ; and that the time will come when the kingdovis of this world shall becoine 
 the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ (Rev. xi. 15), and the beast and ivith 
 him the false prophet shall be cast into a lake of fire and brimstone (Rev. xix. 
 20)." Dr. Blayney in loc. 
 
 f Of his vision when he prophesied.] " That is, of the extraordinary com- 
 munication, which he pretended to have received, when he uttered a pro- 
 phecy which he knew to be false." Dr. Blavney. 
 
 t A garvient of hair.] " See 2 Kings i. 8. Matt. iil. 4. They shall not 
 affect the dress of the old prophets, in order to pass off their impostures." 
 Dr. Blayney. 
 
 § Hath had the property ofm.e.] " Disclaiming all pretensions to the cha- 
 racter of a /)ro/)/ie<, he shall profess himself to be no other than a plain ordi- 
 nary labouring man, employed in husbandry business by those, whose pro- 
 perty he had been, quasi adstrictus glebes, from his youth. Mr. Harmer's 
 observations on this p.assage, which he justly parallels with the declaration 
 of Amos, that he was no prophet, nor the son of a prophet, but an herdsman and 
 a gatherer of sycamore fruit, go to shew the incompatibility of such active and 
 laborious employments with the retired and sedentary life of those, who 
 were trained up in the schools or colleges of the prophets, in order to 
 qualify themselves for that profession." Dr. Blayney. 
 
 ^ Those wounds.] Two ancient usages are clearly alluded to here : *'the 
 one, that of the idolatrovis priests and prophets, who sought to engage the 
 attention and favour of their deity by cutting and slashing- themselves, as the 
 priests of Baal did (1 Kings xviii. 28) ; the other, that of those who cut them- 
 selves as a token of their grief and mourning- for their deceased relations 
 and friends. It appears also from Jer. xlviii. 37, that these cuttings were 
 performed on the hands in particular. When tiierefore the man, now ashamed 
 of his pretensions to prophesy, came to be challenged for those scars that 
 
358 ,- 
 
 1, Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against 
 the mighty man my neighbour, saith the Lord of hosts. 
 Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered; for 
 I will turn my hands even against the mean ones. 8. And 
 it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, 
 two parts therein shall be cut off, and die ; but the tliird 
 shall be left therein. 9. And I will bring the third part 
 through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, 
 and will try them as gold is tried : they shall call on my 
 name, and I will hear them : I will say. It is my people ; 
 and they shall say, The Lord is my God, 
 
 xiv. 1. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy 
 spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2. For I will 
 gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle : and the 
 city shall be taken*, and the houses rifled, and the women 
 ravished : and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, 
 and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from 
 the city. 
 
 -were visible on his hands, he would deny them to have proceeded from any 
 idolatrous cause, but would have them thought to be marks left by those 
 wounds which he gave himself in the house of his relations and friends, in 
 the paroxisms of his grief for the loss of tliem." Dr. Blayney. See also Mr. 
 Lowth in loc. 
 
 * The city shall be taten."] I cannot but think the opinion adopted by some, 
 that the sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans is here intended, very incongru- 
 ous with the whole tenor of the prophecy. Wlicn tl\e city was taken by 
 Titus, not merely half of the inhabitants were made captive, and the other 
 half left ; but the whole nation was dispersed, insomuch that none were left 
 except a few stragglers compared by Isaiah to the gleanings of the vintage. 
 So again : immediately after the sacking of Jerusalem, here predicted by 
 2tcchariah, the Lord will go forth and figlit against those very nations which 
 had just taken it. yudah likewise will fight ag'ainst them ; agreeably to the 
 former declaration of the prophet, that God would make Jerusalem a cup of 
 trembling' and a burdensome stone unto all the peoples that had gathered 
 themselves together to besiege it. It is superfluous to observe, that no such 
 events followed the sacking of yeritsalein by the Romans. In short both the 
 whole tenor, and the whole clu'onology, of the prophecy compel me to sup- 
 pose, that Zechariah is here speaking of the sam£ taking of yerusalem by 
 Antichrist, that Daniel so plainly foretells when lie declares, that that great 
 enemy of God, ere he comes to his end, shall plant the curtains of his tents 
 between the seas in the glorious holy mountain. 
 
 "It is impossible," as Dr. Blayney justly observes, " to reconcile these 
 words the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city with the state of 
 ^acls at the time when Jerusalem was taken by the Romans. For at that time 
 we are well assured by Josephus who was an eye witness, not only all that 
 were in the city were either slain or made captives, but also the city itself 
 was razed to the ground, so as to leave no vestige of an habitation. How 
 then could there be a residue not cut oft' from the city ? And, if there has 
 been no capture since, to which these words can be applied, we must loofc 
 •forward to futurity for the completion of the prophecy." 
 
,359 
 
 3. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against 
 those nations, as when he fighteth in the day of battle. 
 
 4. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount 
 of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east : and 
 the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof 
 toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be 
 a very great valley : and half of the mountain shall re- 
 move toward the north, and half of it towards the south. 
 
 5. And the valley of the mountains shall be choked up*; 
 (for the valley of the mountains will reach near) and it 
 shall be choked up, as it was choked up by the earth- 
 quake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah : and the 
 Lord shall go, the God of all saints, with thee. 6. And 
 it shall come to pass in that day, that there shall not be 
 light, but cold and a thick fog f . 7. And there shall be 
 one day (known it is unto the Lord J) neither day nor 
 night : yet it shall come to pass in the evening time that 
 it shall be light. 8. And it shall come to pass in that day, 
 that living waters § shall go out from Jerusalem ; half 
 of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward 
 the hinder sea : in summer and in winter shall it be, 
 9. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth. In 
 that day the Lord shall be one ; 10. And his name one f{ 
 shall encompass the whole earth, as the plain from Geba 
 to Rimmon south of Jerusalem j and she T[ shall be raised 
 
 • Choked u/).] See Dr. Blayney in loc. • 
 
 f Cold and a thick fog."] See Dr. Blayney in loc. 
 
 i Knotiin it is unto the Lord."] " This sentence seem* t» have been insertetC 
 by way of prolepsis, to the following effect :--- €uch a phenomenon, though 
 it may appear extraordinary, is however worthy of belief, because revealed 
 by God, to whom both the matter and the time is known. So it is said, Acts 
 XV. 18, KnoHun unto God are all his viorks from the beginning of the world." D:-. 
 Blayney in loc. 
 
 § Living viaters^ •• By living vsaters there is good reason to believe ai^ 
 m^ant the gifts and graces of the gospel dispensation. See Isaiah xii. 3.— xliv. 3 
 — Iv. l.---Jer. ii. 1:3. — Ezek. xlvii. 1, &c.— Joel iii. 18.— John iv. 10.-- vii. 38,, 
 39. That these benefits will be diffused more extensively by the restoration 
 of the yews, is not obscurely intimated, Rom. xi. 15." Dr. Blayney in loc. 
 
 (I His name one.'\ By the name nf Jehovah I conceive to be meant the pro- . 
 fession <f his true religion, which, it is here foretold, should compasa or per- 
 vade the whole earth, as it had done the country of .ludea included within 
 the plain extending from Geba north to Rimmon south of Jerusalem^— TAf 
 universal propagation of God's name or religion is predicted, ajs in. other places 
 of Scripture, so particularly Isaiah lix. 19. — Mai. i. 11." Dr Blayney in loc 
 
 ly She.'} " Thsit is, yerusaleTn, which is here, as elsewhere, represented, 
 as a female fgure, rarsed fr.om the ground, and sitting tranquil on her ancieiBt 
 sr^at." Dr. Blavney in loc. 
 
360 
 
 up, and sit in her own place, from Benjamin's gate mito 
 the place of the first gate, unto the corner-gate, and from 
 the to\ver of Hananeel unto the king's wine-presses. 
 11. And men shall dwell in her, and there shall be no 
 more utter destruction * ; but Jerusalem shall sit in 
 security. 
 
 12. And this shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord 
 will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusa- 
 lem : their flesh shall consume away, while they stand 
 upon their feet ; and their eyes shall consume away in 
 their holes ; and their tongue shall consume away in their 
 mouth. 13. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a 
 vgreat tumult from the Lord shall be among them ; and 
 they shall lay hold every one of them on the hand of his 
 neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of 
 his neighbour. 14. And Judah also shall fight at Jeru- 
 salem : and the wealth of all the nations round about 
 shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, 
 in great abundance. 15. And so shall be the plague of 
 the horse, of the mule, of the camel, of the ass, and of 
 all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. 
 
 16. And it shall come to pass, that every one, that is 
 left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall 
 go up even from year to year, to worship the King, the 
 Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of the tabernacles. 
 
 17. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all 
 the families of the earth unto Jerusalem, to worship the 
 King the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. 
 
 18. And, if the family of Egypt go not up, and come 
 not, although there be not upon them the plague t where- 
 with the Lord will smite the nations that come not up to 
 keep the feast of tabernacles ; 19. The same shall be the 
 
 * There shall he no more utter destruction.'] " 1 he city shall never be utterly 
 destroyed, as it\vas by the Chaldeans and Romans." Mr. Lovvth in loc. 
 
 •j- Although there he not upon them the plague.] " That is, althougli they be 
 not visited precisely in tlie same manner as the other nations, namely with a 
 want of ^ain,"^vhich of itself would be no punishment to tliat country where 
 by tlie situation of the country no rain usually falls ; yet, as it follows in the 
 next verse, tiiey should not be exempt from, the same punishment with the 
 other nations that sinned in like manner, namely famine, whicli would be the 
 ^sure consequence, as Abp. Newcome observes, if the rains did not fall in 
 Ethiopia so as to cause an overflowing of the Nile. This interpretation is 
 according' to the present reading of the text, which needs no alteration" 
 ■Dr. Blayney in loc. 
 
361 
 
 punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the na- 
 tions, that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 
 
 20. In that day shall there be upon the bells of the 
 horses, Holiness unto the Lord; and the pots in the 
 Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. 
 21. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be 
 holiness unto the Lord of hosts : and all they that sacri- 
 fice shjill come and take of them, and seethe therein : and 
 in that day there shall be no more a trafficker in the house 
 of the Lord of hosts *. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 From this concluding and very minute prophecy of 
 Zechariah, we learn several most interesting particulars 
 respecting the period of the restoration of Judah f. A 
 great confederacy of many nations is to invade Palestine 
 and to besiege Jerusalem. This confederacy^ when we 
 consider the era to which it is assigned, can only be the 
 same as that of DanieVs wilful king : in other w^ords, it 
 
 * Every pot— no more a trafficker.'] "The meaning of this passage seems 
 to be, that every thing in Judah and Jerusalem should be accounted so holy 
 and acceptable to God, that the common utensils in their houses might be 
 used for the purpose of sacrificing without offence ; so that those who came 
 to sacrifice might take and use them indiscriminately ; which would effec- 
 tually supersede that traffic, which was carried on in the temple for the 
 supply of such things as were wanting on those occasions. Our Saviour 
 speaks of the traffickers in the temph^ in his days, whom he drove out, and 
 forbad to make his father's house a house of merchandise." Dr. Blayney 
 in loc. 
 
 f "It is not difficult to perceive," says Dr. Blayney, "that the prophecies 
 in this and the two following chapters (Zech. xii. xiii. xiv.) relate to future 
 times— But, without pretending to determine precisely concerning the inva- 
 ders, the substance of the prophecy in this (Chap, xii.), and on to the seventh 
 verse of the next chapter, will be found to amount to this ; that Jerusalem 
 will be besieged by a multitude of hostile nations, to the great terror of the 
 people in its vicinity, as well as of "Judah Itself; but that the attempts of 
 those nations will be frustrated through the special interposition of the Deity, 
 and will terminate in their total discomfiture and ruin, and in the permanent 
 peace and prosperity of the victorious yevis. After which the Jeius will be 
 brougiit at length to see and lament the sin of their forefathers in putting 
 their Messiah to death ; and thereupon will have the means of purification 
 and atonement afforded them ; and, being thus cleansed from past guilt, will 
 renounce all their former offensive practices, and carefully abstain from a 
 future repetition of them" (Dr. Blayney in loc). Dr. Blayney thinks it pro- 
 hable, that the covibination agtfinst judah, here predicted, is the same as that 
 (if Gog and Magog, iovetolA by Ezekiel. I differ from him for the reasons 
 \rhich I have already abundantly assigned when treating of that remarkable 
 I^rophecy. It clearly appears to me, that the subject of the present predic- 
 tion is the overthro^i' of Antichrist. 
 
 46 
 
362 
 
 is the confederacy predicted l:iy St. John, of which Anti- 
 christ^ then become the last head of the Roman beast^ is 
 destined to be the leader. To the armies then of Anti- 
 christ, God declares, that he will make Jerusalem a cup 
 of trembling and a stone of burden ; and that he will 
 smite every horse with astonishment and blindness, and 
 his rider with madness. Afterwards however we learn, 
 that, notwithstanding the final preservation and victory 
 of Judahy Antichrist with his congregated nations shall 
 first succeed in making himself master of Jerusalem ; 
 where he will conduct himself ^vith his wonted cruelty 
 and profligacy. Half of the hihabitants he will upon this 
 occasion make his captives, but the rest of them shall 
 not be cut off from the city. And now, while elate with 
 victory and breathing vengeance against his remaining 
 enemies he is leading his host to the valley of Megiddo, 
 suddenly the glory of the Shechinah will appear in the 
 midst of Jerusalem *,'and the Lord himself will go forth 
 to fight against the nations, as when he fighteth in the 
 day of battle. Mount Olivet will own its present God f, 
 and cleave asunder beneath him. An earthquake will 
 announce the descent of the triumphant Messiah ; and 
 the king of saints will go forth to war in behalf of his 
 ancient people. Then will he suddenly smite with a 
 horrible plague all the peoples that have fought against 
 Jerusalem, and cause them madly to unsheath every man 
 his sword against his neighbour. Judah likewise shall 
 fight against them : for in that day the Lord will make 
 the govei'7iors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the 
 wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall 
 devour all the peoples round about, on the right hand 
 and on the left. 
 
 Nearly about the same time, and most probably imme- 
 diately before the sacking of Jerusalem and the subse- 
 
 * Zechar. ii. 5, 8. 
 
 f " The glory of the Lord, that is the Shechinah or s} mbol of God's pre- 
 sence, when it departed from the city and temple, settletl itself upon the 
 mount of Olives (Ezek. xi. 23.). So, when God shall return to Jerusalem, 
 and make it the seat of liis presence again, it shall return by the same way 
 it departed (See Ezek. xliii. 2.). We may add, that, when our Lord ascended 
 from the mount of Olives, the angels told his disciples, Iw should come airain 
 in like manner, Xh-iX'is, in a visible and glorious appearance at the same place ^ 
 Mr. Lowth in loc. 
 
363 
 
 'iiuent destruction of the nations, such of the Jews as had 
 been restored by Antichrist, and placed in the capital of 
 Palestine, will be converted to the faith. They will look 
 upon him whom they have pierced, and mourn for him 
 as one that mourneth for an only son. This conversion to 
 protestant Christianity, and consequent dereliction of the 
 cause of Antichrist, is in fact the only reason that can be 
 assigned for his turning his arms against his late allies. 
 We may collect from Daniel, that, after he had settled 
 them in Jerusalem, and while he was engaged in the 
 conquest of Egypt, suddenly he hears fi'om the north and 
 from the east (as he would do, supposing him to be then 
 in Egypt) the unpleasant tidings of the landing of the 
 great maritime power with the converted Jews, and of the 
 penitence and defection of those whom he had himself 
 restored in an unconverted state. Enraged at the intel- 
 ligence, he goes forth menacing utter destruction to all 
 his opponents: and, as Zechariah similarly predicts, he 
 plants the curtains of his tents between the seas in the 
 glorious holy mountain ; or, in other words, he besieges 
 and takes Jerusalem *. Then, and not till then, he shall 
 €ome to his end, and none shall help him. 
 
 Here it must be observed, that Zechariah very re- 
 markably divides the restored of Judah into two parts ; 
 styling the one the tents of Judah, and the other the house 
 of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and he asserts, 
 that the Lord shall save the tents of Judah first f. After- 
 wards he proceeds to describe tlie conversion of the house 
 of David and Jerusalem, as taking place subsequently to 
 their restoration. Judah in tents then is placed in contra- 
 distinction to Judah in Jerusalem ; Judah the first saved 
 by the laord, to Judah not brought to salvation till after- 
 wards. This exactly accords with the opinion, which 
 I have more than once had occasion to advance : that 
 part of the Jexvs will be restored, in a converted state, by 
 
 * Compare Dan. xi. 41—45, where the route of Antichrist is very minutely 
 described. 
 
 f " Tlie meaning' here is, that God would save the tents of yuitah first, or 
 previously to any other ; and for this flie reason immediately follows, that 
 the house of David and the inhabitants of yerusalem might not be tempted to 
 value themselves too hig-hly on the preference given to them (supposing that 
 had been the case) above the rest of yudah." Dr. Blayney in loc. 
 
364 
 
 the great maritime power ; and part^ in an unconverted 
 state, by Antichrist. The converted Jews are described 
 as being in tents ; because they are attached to the army 
 of the maritime power, and have not yet acquired a per- 
 manent settlement : while the unconverted Jews, whose 
 conversion in their own country Zechariah foretells in 
 the present prophecy, are said to be dxvelling in Jerusa- 
 lem, Here they are besieged by Antichrist ; and, as a 
 just punishment for their former impiety, several of them, 
 so far as this world is concerned, are suflered to perish. 
 Such a fate precisely agrees with the many predictions, 
 which ^"ery explicitly declare, that the Jews shall return 
 in a time of great trouble, and shall be made severely to 
 suffer in the course of their restoration *. In short, these 
 two divisions of Judah are clearly those two divisions of 
 the flock, which Ezekiel calls the sheep and the goats f. 
 The overthrow of Antichrist, as I have repeatedly had 
 occasion to observe, will take place in Palestine, or the 
 
 * .Terem. xxx. 1 — 17. Ezek. xx. 33—38. 
 
 ■}■ See Ezekiel xxxiv. In the first edition of my Dissertation on the 1260 
 years, 1 was right in asserting, that this passage plainly taught us to expect 
 a two-fold restoration oj" the jfews ; but at that time I had by no means a clear 
 conception of the precise meaning of it. Hence I mistook the import of the 
 expression *' the Lord shall save the tents of Judah first ;" supposing it to 
 denote, that the division called ^udah should be restored previous to the re- 
 storation of the other division called the house of David and the inhabitants of 
 yerusalem .• but, how tlie one was to be distinguished from the othei", 1 could 
 not then conceive ; being aware from their description, that both the divisions 
 must be composed of ye=ws properly so called. I readily acknowledge, that, 
 ■when that work was first published, I did not entertain the slightest sus- 
 picion that tlie hottse of Israel would ever be restored separately from the 
 house of yudah, and that afterwards the two would coalesce into one king- 
 dom. Taking up the common notion, that the ten tribes are irrecoverably lost 
 excepting such individuals as reitirnedfrom Babylon ii'ith yudah, I had a con- 
 fused idea, that all those prophecies, which speak of the restoration both of 
 yudah and Ephraini, meant that of Epliraini only as included in that of yudah. 
 A more exact, laborious, and connected, view of the subject has now led me 
 to adopt a very different opinion, Not that the j^resent passage of Zechariah 
 relates to the twofold restoration of yudah and Ephrai))i: in sup]50sing it to 
 relate to a twofold restoration (f yudah only, I was perfectly right ; but I erred 
 in fancying it to relate to a two-fold successive restoration of Judah. I am 
 now convinced, that it predicts a two-fold contemporancnus restoration of 
 Judah, previous to the subsequent restoration of Israel : the one division of' 
 yudah, accurately denominated the tents of yudah, will be first brought to 
 salvation, being restored in a converted state by the great maritime poiuer ; 
 the other division of yudah, no less accurately denominated the house of David 
 and the inhabitants of yerusalem, will afterwards be brought to salvation, 
 being restored in an unconverted state and for mere political purposes by 
 Antichrist. See my Dissertation, vol. ii. p. 395, 396 (Ist edit.). 
 
365 
 
 region between the seas : and St. John even tells us the 
 particular part of that country, where this great event 
 will happen; informing us, that it is called in the Hebrew 
 tongue Armageddon, or the cu7'smg to utter destruction at 
 Megiddon. It is remarkable that Zechariah has an allu- 
 sion to the same place, which he interweaves with his 
 account of the penitence manifested by the converted 
 Jews. " Their mourning," says he, " shall be like the 
 mourning at the vintage-shouting of Rimmon in the val- 
 ley of Megiddon." He may, I believe, primarily refer 
 to the inourning on account of the overthrow of Josiah, 
 which happened in this valley * : but, from the peculi- 
 arity of his phi^aseology, I am strongly inclined to think, 
 that he ultimately though covertly alludes to the destruc- 
 tion of Antichrist. Adopting the metaphorical language 
 of Isaiali, language adopted on the same occasion by St. 
 John, he directs our attention to the vintage-shouting of 
 Rimmon, which is a small town in the valley and neigh- 
 bourhood of Megiddon. Hence we may naturally sup- 
 pose, that this shouting is the shouting when the vintage 
 ofGod^s wrath is gathered in, and when the Almighty 
 Word treads the wine-press of the mystic Edom and 
 sprinkles his garments with the blood of his enemies. 
 The other Rimmon, which the prophet afterwards men- 
 tions in connection with Gebaf, is a different town of 
 the same name, which lies south-west of Jerusalem. 
 
 The same subject is continued in the I3th chapter. 
 When a fountain for sin and for uncleanness is opened 
 to the house of David, and when the inhabitajits of Jeru- 
 salem have availed themselves of the mediatorial sacrifice 
 of Christ J, then all idolatry and all false prophets shall 
 for ever cease among them. They shall at once enjoy 
 the blessings of true religion and temporal security ; for 
 in that day the Lord will smite him, who is both their 
 oppressor and the enemy of his Church. The sword of 
 divine justice shall awake against Antichi'istk, against 
 
 * 2 Kings xxlii. 29, 30. f Zechar. xiv. 10. 
 
 + •* The blood nf Christ, i^ohich cleanseth from all sin, is manifestly here 
 intended, the yeivs being- upon their conversion and repentance to be admit- 
 ted to all the privileg-es of the Christian covenant." Dr. lilayney in loc. 
 
 § After having examined tiiis passage as carefully as I am able, I rest in the 
 opinion of Dr. Blayney, that it has not the most distant relation to the death 
 
366 
 
 that presumptuous shepherd or ruler, that mighty tyrant ; 
 who, after having spoken marvellous things against the 
 God of gods, at length in the last days, even when the 
 
 and sufferivgs of Christ. I believe that our Lord cites a part of It merely as 
 a proverbial saying', laying' it down as a matter of course, for the followers 
 to disperse when their leader was taken off. The arguments, which Dr. 
 Eveleigli brings to prove that the word n^DjJ denotes the equality and consul?- 
 stantiality of the Pather and the Son, do not appear to me conclusive. The 
 word itself signifies a neighbour ov felloia-citizen, in which sense it frequently 
 occurs in the book of Leviticus. Now, when one man is said to be the neigh- 
 bour of another, UiatfAej; are of the sa'ine nature follows indeed of course, but 
 certainly not because they are neighbours but because they are inen ; tliat is to 
 say, the idea of sameness of nature is incidental, it does not spring out of tlie 
 term iieighbour. So again, the circumstance of two men being neighbours or 
 fellonv-citizens does not pro've that those two men are equal or upon the same 
 level in society. This being the case, if a person be said for some reason or 
 another to be the neighbour of God, I see not how either consubstantiality or 
 equality is at all necessarily implied. The subject of the present prophecy is 
 the restoration of yudah and the overthrovi of a m,ighty confederacy before Jeru- 
 saleni. In the course of it we are told, that some shepherd or prince, some 
 mighty man who made himself the neighbour of God, should be smitten by 
 a sword : tliat the wrath of the Almighty should be kindled not only against 
 him, but against the little ones or mean ones ; or those, as Dr. Blayney justly 
 observes, "that are usually held of less account, the common people :" that, 
 in consequence of this display of the divine vengeance, such as escaped 
 should be scattered : that these scattered ones should compose the third part 
 of the whole, the two other parts having- been cut off: and that this third 
 part, consisting of the scattered ones, sho\dd by the severity of their suffer- 
 ings be converted to the profession of the truth. In all this there is so much 
 that is applicable to the general drift of the ])rophec.y, and so little that is 
 applicable to the times of our Lord, that I think with Dr. Blayney, "perhaps 
 the passage in question miglit never have been considered differently from 
 the rest, Iiad not our Saviour thought fit to make use of it for the purpose of 
 •illustration." 
 
 A shepherd denotes a prince. But lahat remarkable prince is to be smitten 
 at the era of the restoration of yudali, except Antichrist now become the last 
 head of the Eoman beast ? God styles him viy shepherd, as he styles Nebucliad- 
 nezzar wj' servant, merely because he is an instrument of vengeance in his 
 iiand. And lie speaks of him as being mighty, and as making himself his 
 neighbour, because he attempts as it were to elbow the Almiglity out of his 
 own peculiar residence, the glorious holy mountain of Zion. I take the idea 
 t') be something similar to that of Milton : 
 
 '• The chief were those, who from the pit of bell 
 
 " Roaming; to seek their prey on earth durst fix 
 
 '• ITieir seats lonfj after next the seat of God, 
 
 "Their altai's by his altar, gods lulor'd 
 
 ■' Among the nations round, and durst abiile 
 
 •' Jehovah thundering out of Zion, thron'd 
 
 "Between the Cherubim; yea, often plac'd 
 
 "Within his sanctuary itself their shrines, 
 
 * .\bominations ; .md with oirsed things 
 
 *-' His holy rites and solemn feasts profanM, 
 
 '• .\.u<l with their darkness durst affront his lif^Iil.'' 
 
 This inteqiretation exactly harmonizes with the general tenor of the prc- 
 .-iMit prediction, and with what we are taught to expect by the other inspired 
 Tx'riters at tlie eventful period of rAe restoration of yudah. Antichrist will then 
 place himself in the mo'ant of God. But the sword of the Messiah will speedi- 
 
367 
 
 judgments of heaven are abroad, dares to make himself 
 the immediate neighbour of the Lord, and sets up a new 
 abomination of desolation in the peculiar city of the Most 
 High, by planting the curtains of his pavilions between 
 the seas in the glorious holy mountain*. When the 
 shepherd is smitten, such of his flock, as escape the 
 avenging sword of him that rideth on the white horse f, 
 shall be scattered far and wide ; and, agreeably to the 
 parallel prophecy of Isaiah |, shall carry into all nations 
 the tidings of their overthrow, and of the marvellous 
 manifestation of the power of God. Great however w^ll 
 first be the slaughter of them ; for the Lord will turn his 
 hands, not only against the leader, but likewise against 
 the mean ones, even all his inferior followers. Of the 
 whole Antichristian army two thirds shall perish, and one 
 third only shall be preserved. This third part shall be 
 brought through the fire of affliction to sincere faith and 
 repentance ; and every one, that is left of all the nations 
 which came against Jerusalem, shall go up from year to 
 year to worship the king, the Lord of hosts. But first, 
 as I have just observed, and as we are taught both by 
 Isaiah and Zechariah, they will be scattered through all 
 countries ; and, carrying wherever they go the wonder- 
 ful tidings of their own defeat and of the restoration cf 
 Judah^ they will be made instrumental in bringing about 
 also the resto?'ation of Israel. 
 
 In the I4th chapter, which contains a prediction of the 
 sacking of Jerusalem, and a more particular account c-f 
 the manner in which the confederacy of Antichrist will 
 be overthrown § ; it is said, that, in the great day of the 
 
 ly be drawn against him ; and he will come to his end, none being able to 
 help him. His vast armament >vill be overthrown with dreadful slaughter ; 
 and such as escape will be scattered over the whole world, and in the severe 
 school of adversity will at length be broug'ht to a hearty penitence for tJieir 
 past offences. 
 
 * " A new section commences here (Chap. xiii. 7.), but not, T think, a new 
 subject of prophecy. For, as far as we can judge of a prophecy l)efore its 
 accomplishment, it appears to be a continuatioa of the same subject, which 
 was entered upon at the beginning of Chap, xii ; namely, the alarming inva- 
 sion of yudah, and siege of ijferusalem, by a numerous body of nations." Dr. 
 Bluviiey in loc. 
 
 t" Rev. xix. 11,15. + Isaiah Ixvi. 19, 20. 
 
 ^ •' This chapter goes on to foretell a siege, in which Jerusalem will be 
 taken and sacked, and half of its inhabitants carried into captivity, whilst the 
 rest will be enabled to stand their ground- la this rritical siiiiaiion ihev 
 
368 
 
 Lord, there sliall not be light, but cold and a thick fog ; 
 that it shall be, as it were, neither perfect day nor perfect 
 night; but that in the evening it shall be light. It seems 
 most natural to understand these expressions allegori- 
 cally. The meaning of them may perhaps be, that, at 
 the beginning of the period styled the great day of the 
 Lord, the high counsels of God shall not be clearly 
 understood. The temporary success of Antichrist, par- 
 ticularly his taking Jerusalem even after the conversion 
 and penitence of its inhabitants, vi'ill throw over them a 
 veil of darkness and obscurity. Even the pious may 
 begin to doubt, whether the time for the restoration of 
 God's ancient people be yet arrived. But, when the 
 I^ord goeth forth to fight against his enemies, when his 
 feet stand upon the mount of Olives, when the hitherto 
 victorious legions of Antichrist are suddenly cut off in 
 the midst of their strength ; then will all darkness be 
 removed, then will the purposes of heaven be clearly 
 understood, then will the interposition of the Almighty 
 be acknowledged. Obscure as the greatest part of that 
 wonderful day may be, at evening-time it shall be light. 
 
 When the enemies of God and his people are subdu- 
 ed, living "waters shall go forth from Jerusalem- The 
 children of Israel shall be sown through all nations, and 
 shall be greatly instrumental in spreading universally the 
 knowledge of the truth. Every one then shall have 
 an opportunity afibrded him of drinking of the waters 
 of life. 
 
 The prophecy concludes with foretelling the holiness 
 and happiness of the Millennium, when the Lord shall be 
 king over all the earth. It intermingles however with 
 
 will be relieved by the arm of divine power, exerting itself wonderfully in 
 their beliaH", and attended with the most beneficial consequences ; such as 
 living- waters going forth out of Jerusalem ; the name and majesty of the 
 true God acknowledged through the whole earth ; and the entire re-establlsh- 
 ment of Jerusalem in security. In the mean time, the hostile invaders, debi- 
 litated by sickness, thrown into confusion, and falling foul upon each other, 
 will yield themselves and their wealth an easy conquest to the assailing ^ews. 
 After this a conformity in religious worship will be required of all the nations 
 under a severe penalty ; and all things in Judah and Jerusalem, from the least 
 to the greatest, shall thenceforward be accounted holy. Such are the great 
 outlines of this extraordinary prophecy ; to fill up which with any tolerable 
 certainty, it will be necessary perhaps to wait the times of its accomplish- 
 ment." Dr. Blavnev in loc. 
 
369- 
 
 these promises of general felicity an oblique intimation, 
 that some will, notwithstanding such visible tokens of 
 divine interposition, fall away from the faith even of the 
 Millennian Church. A plague is denounced against such 
 families of the earth as shall refuse to come up to Jeru- 
 salem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts : whence 
 it is natural to infer, that some families xvilt withhold the 
 adoration which is due from them. Accordingly we are 
 told veiy particularly by Ezekiel and St. John, in their 
 prophecies concerning those last rebels against God 
 whom they agree in calling Gog and Magogs that this 
 will certainly be the case. But the last confederacy will 
 be overthrown like the former confederacy ; and the 
 Church will at length be translated from earth to heaven. 
 
 PROPHECY XLI. 
 
 The restoration of the Jews at the close of the times of the 
 Gentiles. 
 
 Luke xxi. 20. When ye shall see Jerusalem compass- 
 ed with armies, then know, that the desolation thereof is 
 nigh. 21. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the 
 mountains ; and let them which are in the midst of it 
 depart out ; and let not them that are in the countries 
 enter thereinto. 22. For these be the days of vengeance, 
 that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23. But 
 woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give 
 suck in those days ! for there shall be great distress in 
 the land, and wrath upon this people. 24. And they shall 
 fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away cap- 
 tive into all nations : and Jerusalem shall be trodden 
 down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be 
 fulfilled. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 In these words of our Lord, we have an oblique though 
 a decisive prediction that the Jeivs shall be restored. 
 Having foretold, that Jerusalem shall be besieged and 
 47 
 
370 
 
 taken by the Romans, and that the Jews shall be led 
 away captive mto all nations, Christ adds, that Jerusa- 
 lem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times 
 of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Hence we must necessarily 
 infer, that, so soon as the times of the Gentiles are ful- 
 filled, Jerusalem shall cease to be trodden down by them, 
 and the, scattered Jews shall be restored to their own land. 
 
 What is meant by the times of the Gentiles is suf- 
 ficiently plain from the circumstance of the expiration of 
 those times being CDupled in point of chronology with 
 the return ofJudah. When Judah begins to be restored, 
 the 1260 years will be finished, and the judgments of 
 God will go forth against the Roman empire under its 
 last head. Hence it follows, as Bp. Newton observes, 
 that " the titnes of the Gentiles will be fulfilled, when the 
 times of the four great kingdoms of the Gentiles accord- 
 ing to Daniel's prophecies shall be expired, iuid the fifth 
 kingdom or the kingdom of Christ shall be set up in 
 their place, and the saints of the Most High shall take 
 the kingdom, and possess the khigdom for ever, even 
 for ever and ever *." 
 
 Wliether the remarkable hieroglyphical passage f , 
 which succeeds this prophecy, may be applied to the 
 times of the second advent^ or whether it must be con- 
 Jined to the figurative coming of our Lord in judgment 
 against Jerusalem when it was sacked by the RomanSy 
 depends entirely, as it appears to me, upon the meaning 
 of the word generation in the 32d verse. " Verily I say 
 unto you, this generation shall not pass away, till all be 
 fulfilled^." \i generatio7i here denote a generatioji of 
 contemporary men, it seems unwarrantable to extend the 
 prediction, relative to the coming of the Son of man, to 
 the second advent; when Christ so expressly tells us, 
 that both it, and his preceding literal prediction of the 
 sacking of Jerusalem, will be accomplished ere the then 
 existing generation shall have passed away. But, if with 
 Mr. Mede we suppose it to denote a nation or people,' as 
 the word y^'f* undoubtedly may do, and if by this ?iation 
 
 * Bp. Newton's Dissert. XX. f Luke xxi. 25—28. 
 
 ^ The same declaration occurs, and in the same part of the prediction, in 
 the parallel prophecies rccorh-d by St. Mathew and St. Mark, though neither 
 of those evangelists meuuon tae impUed promise oft/ie restoration of yudal:. 
 
371 
 
 we understand widi him the nation of the Jews ; wc arc 
 then at hberty to extend the prophecy to the times of 
 the second advent. In that case, our Lord's declaration, 
 when paraphrased, would amount to this : "I solemnly 
 assure you, that, notwithstanding this people shall be led 
 away captive into all nations, and their capital city trod- 
 den under foot until the times of the Gentiles shall be 
 accomplished; yet they shall in no wase pass away; they 
 shall in no wise lose their separate existence ; but shall 
 be wonderfully preserved in the land of their dispersion 
 a distinct and unmixing nation, till all be fulfilled, till a 
 series of tremendous political revolutions has ushered in 
 my second advent^ till I appear in the clouds of heaven 
 pouring down vengeance upon Antichiist and his confe- 
 derated multitudes.'''' I believe it to be almost an axiom 
 in prophetic interpretation, that there is scarcely a pre- 
 diction relative to the first advent which does not look 
 forward ultimately to the second advent ; and certainly 
 no prediction seems more worthy of such an extension 
 than that of our Lord himself, provided only we be war- 
 ranted in thus extending it by his assertion that " this 
 generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled." That 
 the prediction primarily relates to the siege of Jerusalem^ 
 no one I apprehend will be disposed to deny ; and I think 
 we may venture to add, that our Lord himself else^vhere 
 seems peculiarly to direct our attention to this event. 
 He declares, that the disciples " shall not have gone over 
 the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come*';" and, 
 in another place, yet more explicitly, that some of those 
 very disciples " shall not taste of death, till they see the 
 Son of man coming in his kingdom -j." Assertions like 
 these, plainly delivered in allusion to his subsequent pro- 
 phecy, lead one to doubt the propriety of Mr. Mede's 
 exposition of the word generation^ and incline one rather 
 to think that its most obvious meaning is that intended by 
 our Lord. If then it do mean simply a generatioji of co- 
 existing rnoi, we are scarcely warranted in extending the 
 prediction to the times of the second advent. It is in this 
 sense that Bp. Newton takes the word, and thence ver} 
 
 * Matt. X. 23. 
 
 ]• Matt. xvi. 25. See also Mark ix, 1 . nncl Luke W. '27 
 
372 
 
 jiaturally ai*gues as I have done. " It is to me a wonder," 
 says he, " how any man can refer part of the foregoing 
 discourse to the destruction of Jerusalem, and part to the 
 end of the world or any other distant events when it is 
 said so positively here in the conclusion. All things shall 
 be fulfilled in this generation. It seemeth as if our Sa- 
 viour had been aware of some such misapplication of his 
 words, by adding yet greater force and emphasis to his 
 affirmation. Heaven and earth shall pass axvay^ but my 
 word shall not pass away — In another place he says, 
 There are some standing here, who shall not taste of 
 death, till they see the Soji of man co??ii?ig in his kingdom: 
 intimating, that it would not succeed immediately, and 
 yet not at such a distance of time, but that some then 
 living should be spectators of the calamities coming upon 
 the nation." Yet does his Lordship afterwards, not very 
 consistently with his prior remarks, suppose the prophecy 
 ultimately to relate to the end of the world and the day of 
 judgment. He observes, what no doubt is perfectly true, 
 that " it is usual Avith the prophets to frame and express 
 their prophecies so, as that they shall comprehend more 
 than one event, and have their several periods of comple- 
 tion." But, if our Lord expressly limit this prediction 
 to the siege of Jerusalem, as he certainly does, if with the 
 Bishop we suppose generation to mean a gefieration of 
 co-existent men, what right have we, conti'ary to his own 
 declaration, to extend it to the end of the xvorld^ ? 
 
 But, in whatever sense we are to understand that part 
 of the prophecy, which speaks of signs in the sun and ift 
 the inoo7i and iii the stars, of disti'ess of nations, of the 
 roariiig of the sea and the waves, of the shaking of the 
 powers of heaven, and of the Son of man coming in the 
 clouds ; whether we are to understand it limitedly as re- 
 ferring solely to the destruction of Jerusalem and the wars 
 which preceded it, or extendedly as refeiTing likewise to 
 the awful political revolutions of the last ti7nes which 
 according to the general voice of prophecy will usher in 
 the second advent: in whatever sense, I say, we are to 
 
 * See Bp. Newton's Dissert. XXI. Tlie reader will find the whole of 
 ;Mr. Mede's scheme of interpretation in his Works, Book iv. Epist. xii. p 
 752t 753. 
 
373 
 
 understand it, there is no ambiguity, or difficulty in our 
 Lord's explicit declaration, that the Jews shall be scat- 
 tered through all nations, and that Jerusalem shall be 
 trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gen- 
 tiles shall be fulfilled. Since this prediction was delivered, 
 the Jews have been led away captive by the Romans, 
 and to this present hour continue dispersed over the face 
 of the whole earth. Jerusalem has never ceased to be 
 trodden down of the Gentiles ; being successively occu- 
 pied by the Romans, the Persians, the Saracens, the 
 Turks of the Selzuccian race, the Egyptian caliphs, the 
 Latin Christians, the Egyptian caliphs a second time, the 
 Mamalucs, and the Turks of the Ottoman race. These 
 last are its present masters ; and ere the times of the 
 Gentiles are fulfilled, it is destined likewise to be trodden 
 down by Antichrist. But, when those times are fulfilled, 
 then it will cease to be trodden down ; and, after all the 
 political changes which it has witnessed, will once more 
 revert to its ancient possessors, the children of Judah. 
 Thus are the Jews themselves, through the whole period 
 both of their dispersion and restoration, a standing evi- 
 dence of the divine mission of him, whom thev refuse to 
 acknowledge as the promised Messiah. 
 
 PROPHECY XLII. 
 
 The restoring of the kingdom to Israel. 
 
 Acts i. 6. When they therefore were come together, 
 they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time 
 restore again the kingdom to Israel ? And he said unto 
 them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, 
 which the Father hath put in his own power. 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 This is another oblique prediction of the restoration of 
 Israel, Our Lord does not answer the question of his 
 disciples, by telling them that they were completely mis- 
 taken in their belief that the kingdom wotdd be restored 
 
374 
 
 to Israel^ but only by informing them that it was not ibr 
 them to know the times or the seasons; thus tacitly allow- 
 ing that such a restoration would, sooner or later, assur- 
 edly take place *. 
 
 IVe are at present in just the same state of uncertainty 
 that they were, respecting the precise era of this great 
 event. For, although we know in general, as they like- 
 wise might have known, that Judah will begin to be re- 
 stored at the efid of the 1260 years ; yet, in pai'ticular, 
 we cannot be positive respecting the true date of those 
 1260 years ; we can merely pitch upon such a one as 
 appears to us most probable ; the event alone can bring 
 certainty to men, lor the Father hath put in his own 
 power the times and the seasons. To myself the year 
 606 appears the proper date : but, after all, it is verj- 
 possible that I may be quite mistaken, as Mr. Mede and 
 other of my predecessors have been before me. 
 
 PROPHECY XLIIL 
 
 The present rejection and final conversion of the Jews, when the 
 fuhiess of the Gentiles shall have come. 
 
 Romans xi. 1. I sa}^ then. Hath God cast away his 
 people ? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite of the 
 seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2, God 
 hath not cast away his people which he foreknew — 11. I 
 say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God 
 forbid : but rather through their fall salvation is come 
 unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. 
 12. Now, if the fall of them be the riches of the world, 
 
 * They seem to liave expected, that, wlicn the Spirit was in "so extraor- 
 dinary a manner poured out, and the world according' to Christ's prediction 
 (John xvi. 8.) convinced of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, the whole 
 nation of tAe yevis would own him for the Messiah, and so not only shake off 
 its subjection to the Romans, but itself rise to very extensive and perhaps 
 universal dominion. The word «5rox«0<s-oiV£(5 intimates the shattered arid 
 weakened state, in which Israel jwiv ivas. And I cannot but think our Lord's 
 answer may intimate, it should at length be restored, though not immedi- 
 ately, or with all the circumstances they imagined ; which concession seems 
 the most satisfactory answer to Rabbi Isaac's objection against Christianity, 
 from his mistaken sense of these words." Dr. Doddridge's Comment, in loc 
 
375 
 
 and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles ; 
 how much more their fuhiess? 13. For I speak to you, 
 Gentiles ; inasmuch as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles, 
 I magnify mine office : 14. If by any means I may pro- 
 voke to emulation them which are my flock, and might 
 save some of them. 15. For, if the casting away of them 
 be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving 
 of them be, but life from the dead? 16. For, if the first- 
 fruit be holy, the lump is also holy : and, if the root be 
 holy, so are the branches. 17. And, if some of the 
 branches be broken oft', and thou being a wild olive-tree 
 wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of 
 the root and fatness of the olive-tree ; 18. Boast not 
 against the branches. But, if thou boast, thou bearest not 
 the root, but the root thee. 19. Thou wilt say then, The 
 branches were broken off", that I might be graflfed in. 
 20. Well ; because of unbelief they were broken oflT, 
 and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but 
 fear. 21. For, if God spared not the natural branches, 
 take heed lest he also spare not thee. 22. Behold there- 
 fore the goodness and severity of God : on them which 
 fell, severity ; but toward thee, goodness ; otherwise 
 thou also shalt be cut off. 23. And they also, if they 
 abide not in unbelief, shall be graffed in : for God is 
 able to graff them in again. 24. For, if thou wert cut 
 out of the olive-tree which is wild by nature, and wert 
 graffed contrary to nature into a good olive-tree ; how 
 much more shall these, which be the natural branches, 
 be graffed into their own olive-tree. 
 
 25. For I would not, brethren, that ye should be igno- 
 rant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own 
 conceits ; That blindness in part has happened to Israel, 
 until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 25. And 
 so all Israel shall be saved : as it is written. There shall 
 come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn a^ray un- 
 godliness from Jacob. 27. For this is my covenant unto 
 them, when I shall take away their sins. 28. As con- 
 cerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sakes : 
 but, as touching the election, they are beloved for the 
 fathers' sakes. 29. For the gifts and calling of God are 
 without repentance. 30. For. as ye in times pa,st have 
 
376 
 
 not believed God, yet have notv obtained mercy through 
 their unbeUef ; 31. even so have these also now not be- 
 lieved, that through your mercy they also may obtain 
 mercy. 32. For God hath concluded them all in unbe- 
 lief, that he might have mercy upon all. 
 
 33. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and 
 knowledge of God ! How unsearchable are his judg- 
 ments, and his ways past finding out ! 
 
 COjNIMENTARY, 
 
 The whole mystery of the call of the Gentiles, the re- 
 jection of the unbelieving and Jervs, and the final conver- 
 sion of their posterity in the last ages, is here very fully 
 and explicitly set forth. The Jews were rejected of God, 
 because they rejected and crucified the Messiah. But, 
 when the fulness of the Gentiles shall have come in, or, as 
 our Lord expresses it, when the times of the Gentiles 
 shall be fulfilled : that is to say, when the times of the 
 four great monarchies of the Gentiles shall have expired, 
 and when the three times ajid a half shall have come 
 to their close : then shall the natural branches, now no 
 longer abiding in unbelief, be graifed into the good olive- 
 tree of the Church. 
 
 The e\'ents of the day shew, that the coming in of the 
 fulness of the Gentiles cannot be very remote ; for the 
 last times of atheism and infidelity, so minutely described 
 and predicted by the apostolical prophets *, have indis- 
 putably commenced: but the times of the Gentiles are not 
 yet altogether fulfilled, their fulness is not yet perfectly 
 come in; because we still behold Jerusalem trodden 
 down of the Gentiles. Nevertheless, when the appointed 
 th7'ee tijnes and a half shall have expired, the Lord will 
 assuredly begin a wonderful work in the earth. He will 
 go forth in his wrath, and cut off those ingraffed branch- 
 es that have not continued in his goodness : and at length, 
 after the destruction of Antichrist is completed, all Israel, 
 in both his great divisions, shall be converted and saved. 
 Glorious will be the inauguration of the Millennian 
 Church ! If the fall of the Jexvs have been hitherto the 
 
 * See my Dissert, on the 1260 years. CUap. 3. 
 
377 
 
 riches of the world ; and the diminishing of them, the 
 riches of the Gentiles : how much more their fulness! 
 In the hand of God, they shall be a most powerful 
 instrument of spreading the Gospel through all nations. 
 The harvest of the first advent shall not be comparable 
 to the harvest of the second advent. For the name of 
 Christ shall be known from the east to the west ; and his 
 praises shall be heard in the utmost parts of the earth. 
 Israel shall be made the seed of the Church ; and thus, 
 from first to last, will prove the true Jezrael of God*. 
 
 I think it right to observe, that Mr. Mede, Dr. Whit- 
 by, and Dr. Doddridge, have given an interpretation of 
 thevoming in of the fulness of the Ge?itiles, different from 
 that which I have done. By this phrase they understand 
 the great co7wersion of the Gentdes to Christianity at the 
 time of the second advent: but, in adopting such an inter- 
 pretation, they do not seem to have sufficiently consider- 
 ed the order of events. We leam from St. Paul, that 
 what he terms the fulness of the Gentiles is to come in 
 previous t to the general conversion and restoration of 
 Israel: whereas the second great harvest of the Church j 
 or the universal conversion of the Gentiles to the faith, 
 is to be posterior to it, and in a great measure the conse- 
 quence of it. Antichrist is first to be overthrown, and the 
 whole house of Israel to be brought back both to their 
 own land and the fold of tlie Church : then, and not till 
 then, the general conversion of the Gentiles is to take 
 place. In short, ho^v can the Jews be made instruments 
 of converting others, how can they become the seed of 
 the Millennian Church, unless they themselves be first 
 converted ? But the fulness of the Gentiles comes in 
 before the conversion of the house of Israel : therefore it 
 cannot denote the conversion of the Gentiles, which will 
 not be accomplished till afterwards, and that by the in- 
 strumentality of the now converted Israelites, as we are 
 repeatedly taught in various prophecies. It is somewhat 
 remarkable, that Dr. Doddridge does not seem to be 
 
 *Hoseai. 11. ii. 22, 23. 
 
 ■j- " Blindness in part hath happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gen- 
 tiles be come in." Whence it is plain, that the fulness of the Gentiles must 
 first come in ; and afterguards the blindness of Israel be removed. 
 
 48 
 
378 
 
 aware how much he contradicts himself, when, in ano- 
 ther note on this same prediction of St. Paul, he very 
 justly remarks, that, when the restoration and conversion 
 of the Jews " shall be accomplished, it will be so unpa- 
 ralleled, as necessarily to excite a general attention, and 
 to fix upon men's minds such an almost irresistible de- 
 monstration both of the Old and New Testament revela- 
 tion, as will probably captivate the minds of many thou - 
 sands of deists in countries professedly Christian : nor 
 will this only captivate their understanding, but will have 
 the greatest tendency to awaken a sense of true religion 
 in their hearts : and this will be a means of propagating 
 the Gospel with an amazing velocity in Pagan and Mo- 
 hammedan countries." How can all this be the conse- 
 quence of the restoration of Israel^ if the general conver- 
 sion of the Gentiles (supposing such to be the import of 
 St. Paul's expression the coming i?i of the fuhiess of the 
 Gentiles) take place before Israel is restored ? Mr. Mede 
 is liable to the very same charge of self-contradiction *, 
 and, what is yet more, of absolute inconsistency. For, 
 while in one part of his works he explains the phrase to 
 mean the conversion of the Gentiles, he elsewhere suppo- 
 ses it to be parallel to that of our Lord the fulfilling of the 
 times of the Gentiles, which he rightly conceives to de- 
 note the end of the last great monarchy at the termination 
 of the three times and a half\, Bp. Newton is guilty of 
 much the same inconsistency. He teaches us, that the 
 
 * Compare his works, p. 197, 891, 892. 
 
 \ "Because f Ac Jeivs are not yet called, it followeth that the fulness of the 
 Gentiles is yet to come : and whr.t then should \.\\\s fulness be, but the fulness 
 <f the GospeVs extent ooer all the nations of the Tjorld?--- 
 
 " Some think, that St. Paul in this place hath reference unto that speech 
 of Christ (Luke xxi. 24.), where he foretells, that the yews should fall by the 
 edge of the s'vcord, and be led captive into all nations, and. Jerusalem should be 
 trodden down nf'the Gentiles, until the times cfthe Gentiles should he fulfilled ov 
 accomplished. But it seems to me, that the fulness of the Gentiles and the ful- 
 filling or accomplishment of their times should not be the same, howsoever 
 they may be coincident." Mede's Works, Disc, xxxvi. p. 197. 
 
 Here Mr. Mede denies the parallelism of the two phrases. 
 
 *' The yews shall be carried away captive over all nations, and yerusale'iii shaU 
 he trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled : that is, 
 tmtil the monarchies of the Gentiles should be finished. For these times of 
 the Gentiles are that last period of the fourth kingdom prophesied of; a time, 
 times, and half a time ; at the end whereof the ang^el swears unto Daniel 
 (Chap. xii. 7.), that God should accomplish to scatter the power of the holy people. 
 This is ih^Xfulness of the Qentiles, which being come, St, Paul tell3 U3, the 
 
379 
 
 Jidfiilhig of the times of the Gentiles means the expiration 
 of the times of the four great kingdoms of the Gentiles 
 when the last of them shall be overthrown, and that the 
 cojning in of the fulness of the Gentiles signifies their 
 general cojwersion; and yet he represents, like myself, 
 the two phrases as being parallel to each other * . 
 
 The common application of St. Paul's expression to the 
 conversion of the Gentiles, seems principally to have arisen 
 from the word ito-tx6n, shall come ifi ; as if it related to the 
 Gentiles coming into the Church. But it by no means 
 necessarily bears any such sense. It may with equal 
 propriety be translated shall take place or shall happen f. 
 In this case therefore the whole phrase would be, Until 
 the fulness (namely of the times) of the Gentiles shall take 
 place or arrive. nxripufA^x is the parallel substantive to the 
 verb used by our Lord in St. Luke J. Accordingly, it 
 is elsewhere employed by the inspired writers to denote 
 fulness of time ^. 
 
 PROPHECY XLIV. 
 
 The visible manifestation of Christ to confound Antichrist. 
 
 Rev. i. 7. Behold he cometh with clouds ; and every 
 eye shall see him : and they which pierced him : and all 
 kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even 
 so, Amen. 
 
 Deliverer shall cotne out of Zion, and all Israel shall be saved. Rom. si. 26." 
 Works B. iii. Treatise on Daniel's Weeks, p. 709. 
 
 Here, if I mistake not, he asserts their parallelism. 
 
 * " The times of the Gentiles will be fulfilled, when the times of the four 
 great kingdoms of the Gentiles according to Daniel's prophecies shall be 
 expired, and the fifth kingdom or the kingdom of Clirist shall be setup in their 
 place.— Jerusalem, as it hath hitherto remained, so probably will remain, in 
 subjection to the Gentiles, until these ti')nes of the Gentiles be fulfilled ; or, a.s 
 St. Paul expresseth it, until the Julness of the Gentiles be come in, and so all 
 Israel shall be saved, and become again the people of God. The fulness of the 
 .T^eiu* -will come in, a[s well as the fulness of the Gentiles'* Dissert, xx, at the 
 end. 
 
 f As in Luke ix. 46, i Lute xxi. 24. 
 
 fl See Ephes. i. 10. GaUiv.4'. 
 
380 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 These words contain an evident allusion to a prophecy 
 of Zechariah relative to the restoration and conversion of 
 the Jews *. Like that prediction, they certainly give us 
 jreason to believe, that there will be a visible manifestation 
 of the Lord, at the period when Antichrist is overthown, 
 and the Jexvs are resettled in their own land. This awful 
 manifestation St. John afterwards describes at large f. 
 Here he briefly tells us, that all the kindreds of the earth, 
 meaning I suppose the great confederacy of the Latin 
 earth or Roman e?npire, shall wail because of the Mes- 
 siah ; that every eye shall see him ; and that they also 
 which pierced him, the lately unbelievifig but 7ioxv peni- 
 tent Je7vs, shall look upon him. Amen. Even so come. 
 Lord Jesus % ! 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Such are the various prophecies which treat of the 
 restoration of Israel and the overthrow of Antichrist, and 
 such are the conclusions which I have thought myself 
 warranted in deducing from them. It is obvious, that 
 in expounding Scripture we must not make some parts 
 of if contradict others. This is the principle, on which 
 I have proceeded in the present work ; and it is the only 
 principle by which a consistent interpretation can be pro- 
 duced. Some prophecies teach us, that the children of 
 Israel will be restored in a converted state ; others, that 
 they will be restored in an unconverted state : some, that 
 they will be restored contemporaneously with the last 
 expedition of Antichrist ; others, that they will be restor- 
 ed after his overthrow and in consequence of the tidings 
 of it which will be carried among all nations by such as 
 escape from that great catastrophe : some, that they will 
 be restored by the instrumentality of a maritime nation 
 of faithful worshippers ; others, that they will be restored 
 by the instrumentality of a tyrannical power which ojffi- 
 tiously intermeddles in the concerns of its weaker neigh- 
 
 * Zecliar. xii. 10. f Rev. xiv. 17—20. six. 11—21. 
 
 4 Rev. xxii. 20, 
 
381 
 
 bours^ and of which Ashur or Babylon was a type : in 
 short, some, that they will be restored in a time of unex- 
 ampled trouble, and that they will suffer very severely 
 as their forefathers did during their exodus from Egypt ; 
 others, that they will be restored in much joy and tran- 
 quillity, and will be brought back with great honour by 
 the nations among which they are dispersed. These dif- 
 ferent matters appear at first sight contradictory : and yet, 
 since they are all foretold by the same spirit of God, they 
 all rest upon the same divine authority. We must there- 
 fore believe that they will all come to pass. Hence a 
 commentator cannot be uselessly employed, who en- 
 deavours to remove their apparent contradictoriness, and 
 to exhibit them as perfectly harmonizing with each other. 
 
 If we adopt the scheme, which I have attempted to 
 establish in the preceding pages, this contradictoriness 
 undoubtedly will be removed; and, whether I be right 
 in every particular or not, it will at least have been shewn, 
 that each prediction is capable of receiving its full accom- 
 plishment without jarring with other seemingly opposite 
 predictions. Thus, in interpreting these various prophe- 
 cies, there is no inconsistency in supposing, that Judah 
 will be restored contemporaneously with the Antichris- 
 tian expedition^ and that Joseph and his brethren of the 
 ten tribes will be restored subsequently to it ; that Judah 
 will be restored partly in a converted and partly in an 
 unconverted state, partly by some great maritime power 
 and partly by Antichrist; that, being thus restored in the 
 midst of wars and tumults, he will suffer veiy severely ; 
 and that the ten tribes^ being restored after the downfal 
 of Antichrist and consequently after the ceasing of those 
 wars and tumults, will return in peace and tranquillity to 
 the land of their fathers. I presume not indeed to say, 
 that my interpretation must in all points be necessarily 
 the true one, for positive knowledge can only spring out 
 of the event : but this I certainly will say, that the differ- 
 ent prophecies themselves are in no wise inconsistent, 
 because even before their accomplishment they are capa- 
 ble of being reduced to perfect harmony. 
 
 The subject is a very awful one, particularly in times 
 like the present, when the judgments of God are so mani- 
 
88^ 
 
 festly abroad in the eaith. My wish has been to turn 
 the attention of a//, both Christians and Jews^ to those 
 predictions which I have collected together, and upon 
 which I have commented : for all are most deeply con- 
 cerned in their accomplishment. I may add, that we. of 
 this great protestant maritime nation are peculiarly inter- 
 ested ; for it certainly is not impossible, that we may be 
 the messenger -people described by Isaiah as destined to 
 take a veiy conspicuous part in the conversion and resto- 
 ration of Judah. Hitherto we have been preserved, a 
 column in the midst of surrounding ruins. While mighty 
 empires totter to their base, and while Antichrist advances 
 with rapid strides to his predicted sovereignty over the 
 enslared kings of the Roman earth ; roe, through the bles- 
 sing of divine Providence, have attained to a pitch of naval 
 preeminence unknown and unexampled in former ages* 
 Such being our present circumstances, it is no less our 
 interest as politicians, than our duty as Christians, to 
 endeavour, each according to our opportunity and mea- 
 sure, to promote the conversion of the house of Judah, 
 Whatever may be our success, and whether we be the 
 predicted messenger-people or not, of this at least we may 
 assure ourselves, that no labour of love, undertaken for 
 the sake of extending Christ's spiritual kingdom, will be 
 unrequited by our divine master. Should this work be 
 made instrumental through the blessing of God in open- 
 ing the eyes of a single individual of the lost sheep of the 
 house of Israel, the author will not have laboured in vain. 
 
 I cannot conclude with greater propriety than in the 
 words of Bp. Newton. 
 
 *' The Jews were once the peculiar people of God: and 
 as St. Paul saith, Hath God cast away his people? God 
 forbid. We see, that after so many ages they are still 
 preserved by a miracle of Providence a distinct people : 
 and why is such a continual miracle exerted, but for the 
 greater illustration of the divine truth, and the better 
 accomplishment of the divine promises, as well those 
 which are yet to be, as those which are already, fulfilled ? 
 We see that the great empires, which in their tunis sub- 
 dued and oppressed the people of God, are all come to 
 suin ; because, though they executed the purposes of 
 
God, yet that was more than they understood : all that 
 they intended was to satiate their own pride and ambition, 
 their own cruelty and revenge. And, if such hath been 
 the fatal end of the enemies and oppressors of the Jeivsy 
 let it serve as a warning to all those, who at any time or 
 upon any occasion are for raising a clamour and persecu- 
 tion against them. They are blameable no doubt for 
 persisting in their infidelity after so many means of con- 
 viction ; but that is no warrant or authority for us to pro- 
 scribe, to abuse, injure, and oppress them, as Christians 
 of more zeal than either knowledge or charity have in all 
 ages been too apt to do. Chanty is greater than faith : 
 and it is worse in us to be cruel and uncharitable, than it 
 is in them to be obstinate and unbelieving. Persecution 
 is the spirit of Popery ; and in the worst of popish coun- 
 tries the Jews are the most cruelly used and persecuted : 
 the spirit of Protestantism is toleration and indulgence to 
 weaker consciences. Compassion to this unhappy peo - 
 pie is not to defeat the prophecies : for only wicked 
 nations were to harrass and oppress them, the good were 
 to shew mercy to them ; and we should choose rather to 
 be the dispensers of God's mercies, than the execution- 
 ers of his judgments. Read the llth chapter of the 
 Epistle io the Romans; and see what the great apostle of 
 the Gentiles, who certainly understood the prophecies bet- 
 ter than anyof us can pretend to do, saith of the infidelity of 
 the Jews. Some of the Gentiles of his time valued them- 
 selves upon their superior advantages ; and he reproves 
 them for it, that they, who xvere cut out of the olive-tree 
 which is xvild by nature^ atid xvere graffed contrary to na- 
 ture into a good olive-tree, should presume to boast against 
 the natural branches : but what would he have said, how 
 would he have flamed and lightened, if they had made reli- 
 gion an instrument of faction, and had been for stirring up 
 a persecution against them? We should consider, that to 
 them we owe the oracles of God, the scriptures of the 
 New Testament as well as the Old ; we should consider 
 that the glorious company of the apostles and the goodly 
 fellowship of the prophets were Jews; we should consider, 
 that of them as concerning the flesh Christ ca?ne, the Sa- 
 viour of tlie world : and surely something of kindness and 
 
384 
 
 gratitude is due for such infinite obligations. Though 
 they are now broken off, yet they are not utterly cast away. 
 Because ofunhelief^ as St. Paul argues, they were broken 
 ojf, and thou standest by faith ; be not high-minded, but 
 fear. There will be a time, when they will be graffed 
 in again, and again become the people of God ; for, as 
 the apostle proceeds, / would not, brethren, that ye should 
 be ignorant of this mystery (lest ye should be wise in your 
 own conceits J that blindness in part has happened to Israel, 
 until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in ; and so all 
 Israel shall be saved. And which (think ye) is the most 
 likely method to contribute to their conversion, which 
 are the most natural means of reconciling them to us and 
 our religion, prayer, argument, long-suffering, gentleness, 
 goodness ; or noise and invective, injury and outrage, 
 the malice of some, and the folly and madness of more ? 
 They cannot be worse than when they crucified the Son 
 of God, and persecuted his apostles : but what saith our 
 Saviour ? Father, forgive them, for they know not what 
 they do : what saith his apostle St. Paul ? Brethren, my 
 hearfs desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they 
 7night be saved. In conformity to these blessed examples 
 our church hath also taught us to pray for them ; and 
 how can prayer and persecution consist and agree toge- 
 ther? They are only pretended friends to the church, but 
 real enemies to religion, who encourage persecution of 
 any kind. All true sons of the church, all true protes- 
 tants, all true Christians, will, as the apostle adviseth, 
 put away all bitterness, and ivrath, and anger, and cla- 
 mour, and evil-speaking, with all malice ; ^nd will join 
 heart and voice in that excellent collect — Have mercy 
 upon all Jexvs, Turks, infdels, and heretics, and take from 
 them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of 
 thy word: and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy 
 flock, that they may be saved among the remnant of the 
 true Israelites-, and be made one fold under one shepherd^ 
 Jesus Christ our Lord*.'' 
 
 • Bp. Newton's Dissert, viii. 5. 
 
 SINIS. 
 
I 
 
 
'*tVf- 
 
I 
 
4 
 
 ^ 
 
■•;,"\j.^ 
 
 ^, 
 
 i^^ 
 
 ;0%' 
 
m 
 
 f'y.'.% r; 
 
 ^^^mte^ 
 
 m 
 
 vvA;j 
 
 : >-'a-v' 
 
 
 •I ''-»k' 4^ 
 
 ' ^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 v' ■ ' ■r, 
 
 ,,,XA. 
 
 ''%M^ 
 
 'H\r^''-:-\ 
 
 
 ^-yr 
 
 ;4»i