resurrection, many of whom had long rested from their labours, and could die no more; as it is of that "comforting of the nations upon earth," by removing these dire effects of the fall and of sin, among mortal men in the flesh.

Another prophetic circumstance serves to identify as to its localities this "holy and heavenly Jerusalem" with Mount Zion and the former site of the temple:

Ver. 23." And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it; and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there, and they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it."

The kings of the nations bringing their glory and honor into the heavenly city, I look upon to signify their free surrender of all regal authority and independent sovereignty, that "the Lord whose name is one," may be the alone "King over all the earth," and all be governed by the same theocracy.

The political constitution of Israel, I should suppose, to be a model for all other nations of the earth. Of that constitution the outlines were traced in the desert, when Israel came up out of Egypt; it is also very minutely described, in the last chapters of Ezekiel, as re-established for ever, when Israel shall be restored from its present dispersion. It is, we discover, because of her close connection with “ the most holy and heavenly Jerusalem," that the city, as restored upon earth, has the honour of being "the city of the Great King."

As a city, however, restored on earth, language bearing some analogy to that which we have now quoted from the Revelation of St. John, is found respecting it in the ancient prophets. See in particular the sixtieth of Isaiah:

"Arise, shine; for thy light is come,

And the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee.

For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And gross darkness the peoples:

But Jehovah shall arise upon thee,

And his glory shall be seen upon thee.

And the Gentiles shall come to thy light,

And kings to the brightness of thy rising," &c.

And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls,

And their kings shall minister unto thee.”

"Therefore thy gates shall be open continually,

They shall not be shut day nor night,

That they may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles,
And that their kings may be brought.

For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall
perish,

Yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted," &c.

"The glory of Lebanon shall come to thee,
The fir-tree, the pine, and the box together,

To beautify the place of my sanctuary ;

And I will make the place of my feet glorious." -"The place of my feet." How does this convey to us the notion of a particular spot of the divine manifestation among living men, descending as it were from some higher abode: and though the mansion as it occupies a mountain upon earth. is set forth in many figures of beauty; yet how in

parably mean the language, when compared with the language in which St. John describes the vision of the bright and heavenly city! But still "the place of his feet is glorious."

"And the sons of thine oppressors shall come to thee to do homage;

And all that rejected thee shall prostrate themselves at the soles of thy feet;

And they shall call thee the city of Jehovah,

The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Instead of being deserted and hated,

And no man passing through thee;

I will make thee an eternal boast,

The delight of generation after generation;
And thou shalt suck the milk of the nations,
Even the breasts of kings shalt thou suck.

And thou shalt know that I am Jehovah, thy Saviour,
And thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

Instead of brass I will bring gold,

And instead of iron I will bring silver,

And instead of wood, brass,

And instead of stones, iron.

And I will make thine inspectors peace,

And thy governors righteousness.

Violence shall no more be heard of in thy land,

Destruction nor injury in thy borders.

And thou shalt call thy walls salvation,

And thy gates praise.

It shall not continue to be to thee the sun for a light by day,

Nor, on her shining, shall the moon give light to thee.

And Jehovah shall be to thee an everlasting light,
And thy Elohim for thy glory.

Thy sun shall no more go down,

Nor shall thy moon be withdrawn.

For Jehovah shall be to thee an everlasting light,
And the days of thy mourning* shall be changed.

And thy people shall be all righteous,
They shall inherit the land for ever," &c.

Their joint participation in this light of the glory of the Lord, above the brightness of the sun, whatever be the excellency of majesty denoted and symbolized by the created light which our mortal eyes have seen, clearly identifies the local situation of the restored Jerusalem and the heavenly city; and it is because of its near connexion with the latter, that this glory rests upon the former. But the earthly inhabitants of this glorious metropolis, though a holy people and most blessed, are not to be confounded with "the saints in light, "the children of the resurrection," "clothed upon with their house which is from heaven"-though the connexion between the two is indissoluble, and the state of both in its duration everlasting-a want of such a distinction was that which led to the monstrous error of the ancient Chiliasts.

The "Jerusalem above," and the Jerusalem restored below, though united together, ought, therefore, to be ever carefully distinguished, though the latter is, in some sort, invested with the beams of that bright light, and manifestation of the glories of the Divine Majesty, which shines from the former.

So much, indeed, is said, in the description of the renewed land of promise, that it seems to bear the impress of the heavenly country above. We

* Or "of thy vicissitudes-alternation of light and darkness."

are to remember, that there is to be "a new heaven," as well as "a new earth," in order to the establishment of Jerusalem in the full amount of the prophetic symbols. We read of a scene in "the heavenly places," revealed to St. John:

Rev. xxii." And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him. And they shall see his face; and his name shall be upon their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light and they shall reign for ever and ever."

:

Now, as though it were a counterpart of this heavenly mansion and country, not only is the earthly Jerusalem described as illuminated by a beam of the same heavenly glory, so that she needs not the light of the sun and moon; but, in the land of promise, as new created by the hand of God, there is something that corresponds to this pure river of the water of life, and to the tree of life on its banks: and yet there is distinction enough to shew, that they are not the same, or symbols of the same, blessings. Thus Ezekiel tells us,* he beheld waters issuing out from under the threshold of the house eastward: he is shewn how these waters gradually swell into a great river, which flows eastward, and revives the desert country, healing the waters of the Dead Sea, and causing them to teem with life.

* xlvii. 1.