for idolatry-spiritual whoredom-that the ten tribes were "broken from being a people," by the judgments of God. "Ephraim is joined to idols. But when they are restored, Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols ?" +

Let him alone."

66

Led by the Divine Presence, in its cloud of glory, after the rebels have been purged out from among them, they are conducted, as we have seen, at the very period when God is about to judge their adversary and from some passages of scripture, it should seem that their sword too is employed in some part of the conflict with the invading foe; although the manifestation of the Divine agency is that which brings on the final catastrophe.

The party led through the desert was pointed out to us as "Ephraim, and the children of Israel, his companions," designating the ten tribes. But besides Ephraim, we read of the "tents of Judah," as distinguished from "the house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem." Perhaps both the travelling companies are brought together, under the conduct of the Divine Shechina, and are on this occasion united together as one people. We read, Hosea i. 11, "And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel shall be gathered together, and shall appoint to themselves one head; and shall come up out of the land" "to Jerusalem." They are evidently

to conclude, from Zech. xi. 14, and from the mention of twelve tribes in the New Testament, that the ruption was not complete till after the First Advent.

+ Hosea xiv. 8.

described as entering their country in a warlike attitude: (Zech. ix. 13.)

"For I have bent Judah for me,

And have filled my bow with Ephraim.

And I have raised up thy sons, O Zion,

Above thy sons, O Grecia,

And I have made thee as the sword of a warrior."

Does this last refer to the conquests of the Macedonian Alexander, which the world, at the date of the prophecy, was soon to witness, intimating that Israel in martial prowess should exceed even these renowned conquerors of the world? Or, is Greece, as now restored, to fulfil this prophecy in the latter days? Greece is not mentioned in the array of Gog.

To proceed:

"For Jehovah shall be seen over them,
And his arrows shall go forth as lightning.
And Adonai Jehovah shall sound the trumpet,
And shall march in the whirlwinds of the south.

Jehovah Sabaoth shall be a shield over them,

And they shall consume W with the sword,' and subdue with sling-stones.

And they shall drink and shout, as from wine,

And they shall be filled, as the bowl and corners of the altar.

And Jehovah, their El, will give them the victory," &c.

66

Also, in chap. x. after speaking of them as a flock whose shepherds" and "he-goats" have been visited with punishment, the oracle says:

* Or "though."

"Surely Jehovah Sabaoth will visit

Even his flock, the house of Judah,

And will make them his stately horse in battle.

From him is the corner-stone, and from him the nail,
From him the battle bow,

From him goeth forth every ruler altogether.

And they shall be in the war, as they that tread the mire.

of the street,

And they shall fight, for Jehovah is among them,

And the rider on horses shall be confounded.

And I will strengthen the house of Judah,

And will save the house of Joseph,

And will restore them, for I have pitied them.

And they shall be as though I had not rejected them,
For I am Jehovah, their El, and I will hear them,
And Ephraim shall become a mighty one.

And their hearts shall be gladdened as by wine,

And they shall see their sons, and be glad,

And their heart shall rejoice in Jehovah.

I will call them, and will gather them, for I have redeemed them :

And they shall increase as they did increase, for I will sow them among the nations;

And from distant places shall they remember me, and shall quicken their children, and return.*

I will bring them back from the land of Egypt,

And from Assyria will I gather them,

And to the land of Gilead and Lebanon will I bring them.

* "For I will call them, and will gather them,

When I have redeemed them;

They are numerous as ever.

For I had sown them among the nations;
And from distant regions they remembered me,
And quickened their children, and returned."

And place shall not be found for them;
And he shall pass over the sea to Tyre,*
And shall smite the waves in the sea.

And all the depths of the river shall be dried up,

And the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt depart.

And I will strengthen them in Jehovah, and in his name shall they walk.”

The last prophecy in Zechariah, entitled "the burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel," † points out clearly the introduction of these two favoured remnants, on the scene of the last conflict, where "tidings out of the east and out of the north" had brought back "THE KING," in Daniel, "with great fury to destroy and make an end of many."

"Jehovah hath spoken,

Who stretched out the heavens, and founded the earth,
And formed the spirit of man within him:

Behold, I make Jerusalem

A cup of trembling to all peoples around:

Ay, even upon 'the hand of' Judah shall it be,

In the siege against Jerusalem:

And it shall come to pass in that day,

That I will render Jerusalem

A burdensome stone to all the nations :

All who burden themselves with it shall be much hurt;
Though all the nations of the earth are gathered against her.

In that day, hath Jehovah said,

I will strike every horse with confusion,

And his rider with madness.

*Blaney. But perhaps the "smiting of the tongue of the Egyptian sea" may be intended.

+ Chap. xii. &c.

*

And to the house of Judah I will cause opening of eyes,*
And every horse of the nations will I smite with blindness.

And the leaders of Judah shall say in their hearts,
Strength to me will the inhabitants of Jerusalem be,

In Jehovah Sabaoth their El."

The deliverance, the final triumph, will be, from "the Redeemer's coming to Zion." This, it should seem, is first manifested to Judah, the captives purified in the desert, and now brought to the borders of the country, "They have seen him in the land afar off:" and though at this time the inhabitants of Jerusalem are in the utmost straits, and "the sinners in Zion are afraid," yet Judah perhaps has partly seen, and is expecting the full manifestation of Jehovah Sabaoth. In this confidence Judah seems emboldened to the conflict:

"In that day will I make the leaders of Judah

As a furnace of fire to wood,

And as the torch of fire to the sheaf:

And they shall consume on the right hand, and on the left,
All the nations that are round about.

And Jerusalem shall still be inhabited in her place.

But Jehovah will save the tents of Judah first,

So that the glory of the house of David may not be magnified, Nor the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, above that of Judah."

"The tents of Judah," as they lie distinct from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, girt in siege, first experience the mighty deliverance, and among the latter we may infer will be found at this time the descendants of the royal house of David. They

* Compare Psalm lxviii. 24, &c.