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his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb and the hand of the Lord shall be known towards his servants, and his indignation towards his enemies.

For behold the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire: for by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many. They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord. For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come, and see my glory: and I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow; to Tubal and Javan; to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord, out of all nations, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord: 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. 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. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. Is. lxvi. 1 to the end.

CHAPTER V.

PROPHECIES-LOOKING FORWARD TO CHRIST AND CHRISTIAN TIMES.

SHORTLY BEFORE AND DURING THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY; IN THE TIMES OF HABAKKUK, JEREMIAH, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. FROM ABOUT 630 To 534 YEARS BEFORE THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.

FROM HABAKKUKa.

No. CIII.

Upon the Certainty of Christ's coming, but at God's appointed

Time.

No. 103. I (i. e. Habakkuk) will

stand upon my

watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he (i. e. God) will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me, and

a The exact time when Habakkuk lived is not known. The date ascribed to him in the margin of our Bible is 626 years before the birth of Christ, and his first chapter, in which he speaks of the future invasion of the land by the Chaldeans, implies that he wrote before the Babylonish captivity.

b" Will stand." The prophet had been calling upon God in the preceding chapter to notice the visitations upon his people, and had asked, "How long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear; even 66 cry unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save?" &c. and he here betakes himself to his station, like a watchman, to receive God's answer.

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said, "Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, "that he may run that readeth it: for the vision is yet "for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak ", "and not lie; though it tarry ", wait for it, because "it will surely come, it will not tarry behold his "soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, but the "just shall live by his faith." Habak. ii. 1—4.

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"Write," &c. as if it were, not only for the people of that period, but for men of after-times.

"The vision;" i. e. probably, "the chief subject of pro"phecy;" the " deliverance by the Messiah :" the same word as in Dan. ix. 24.

"Yet," &c. not to be expected speedily; certain, but to come in God's appointed time.

"It," or "he," and " him :" so it is, says Bishop Chandler, in all the ancient versions. The Septuagint certainly is "wait for “ him, for he will surely come:” ὑπόμεινον αὐτὸν, ὅτι ἐρχόμενος ἥξει: and αὐτὸν and ἐρχόμενος, masculines, cannot agree with opaois, the vision, which is feminine.

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Speak and not lie ;" or appear and not disappoint."

h" Tarry," or " delay;" the Septuagint is "vorephon."

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"Tarry," or "wait beyond his appointed time." The Septuagint is χρονίσῃ.

"Behold," &c. According to the Septuagint, the translation here should be, "If any one draw back, my soul shall have no "pleasure in him, but the just who hath faith or confidence in “ me shall live.” Ἐὰν ὑποστείληται, οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐν αὐτῷ, ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως μου ζήσεται. And the Epistle to the Hebrews, which applies this passage to the coming of Christ at the destruction of Jerusalem, cites in nearly the very words of the Septuagint. ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἥξει, καὶ οὐ χρονιεῖ ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται—καὶ ἐὰν ὑποστείληται, οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐν αὐτῷ. "For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, "and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." Heb. x. 37, 38.

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No. CIV.

FROM JEREMIAH 1.

A Prophecy of the Coming in and Restoration of the Israelites upon their hearty Repentance and earnest Supplications.

No. 104. "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, neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they re"member it," &c. 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. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel: and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. But I said, "How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of na"tions?" And I said, " thou shalt call me my Father,' "and shalt not turn away from me." "Surely as a wife "treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye "dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel," saith the Lord. A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping" and supplications, of the house of Israel, for they

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1 Jeremiah began to prophecy in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, and continued till the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, (Jer. i. 2, 3.) from about 628 to 588 years before the birth of Christ. He was contemporary with Ezekiel and Daniel. They were carried to Babylon : but he remained at Jerusalem. The Babylonish captivity commenced 606 years before

the birth of Christ.

m "Jerusalem," i. e. (probably) the spiritual Jerusalem-the Church of Christ.

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Weeping." See Jer. xxxi. 9, and the note there.

have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God. "Return ye backsliding children, and "I will heal your backslidings." "Behold we come unto "thee, for thou art the Lord our God." Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our Fathers from our youth, even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God. "If thou wilt return, O Israel," saith the Lord, "return unto me; and if thou wilt put away thy abomination out of my sight, then shalt thou not re66 move. And thou shalt swear the Lord liveth in truth, "in judgment, and in righteousness.' And the nations "shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they "glory." Jer. iii. 16-25. Jer. iv. 1, 2.

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No. CV, CVI, CVII, CVIII, CIX.

Prophetic Intimations of the Coming of Christ, the Repentance and Conversion of the Israelites, and the Exertions God should make on their Behalf.

No. 105. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name.

The kingdom of Israel was put an end to 721 years before the birth of Christ, near a century before Jeremiah began to prophecy. In this and other passages, therefore, where Jeremiah mentions Israel, and mentions it, not figuratively for Christians, but with reference to the people of that name, he must refer to them as blended with the Jews, or as a distinct people. In some of the passages the latter seems to be the case. See Jer. iii. 12. &c. and post Jer. xxxi.

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