live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. ... 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.... And the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them, . . . and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army! Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, 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. 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, and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land." Ezekiel xxxvii.

Here the prophet represents the political overthrow of the Jews, and their captivity in Babylon, under the figure of being dead and in their graves; and their deliverance from captivity and restoration to their own land, as a resurrection, a coming forth to life. And the Saviour represents the gross darkness and unbelief of the Jews and Heathen, under the figure of being dead and in their graves; and their awakening from this state through the preaching of the Gospel, under the figure of a resurrection.' Those who,,

'The same figure is common with us, as the following from WATTS will show:

"But where the Gospel comes,

It sheds diviner light,

It calls dead sinners from their tombs,

And gives the blind their sight.”

in this state of ignorance and darkness, had followed what light they possessed, and done good as far as they knew, on hearing the voice of the Son of man, or the Gospel, would find their conduct approved, and would rejoicingly come forth from the grave of ignorance and unbelief to a resurrection of life; but those who had done evil, hearing the searching truths of the Gospel would find their evil deeds reproved, and would come forth to the resurrection of damnation. For example: Cornelius, while dead, or in the grave of pagan ignorance, did good as far as he knew, lived a life of charity and love; hence, when he heard the voice of the Son of man in the truth preached by Peter, he came forth to the resurrection of life. In other words, the Gospel approved his conduct, and God blessed him for his faithful improvement of his one talent. On the other hand, the Pharisees, Priests and Scribes came forth at the voice of the Son of man, to the resurrection of damnation, for the false, hypocritical and wicked life they had lived, though the very oracles of God were in their keeping. The same thing, in fact, we see now, every day, where the Gospel is preached to the mixed multitude of good and evil men. "He that believeth not is condemned (damned) already" by the truth. "And this is the condemnation, (or damnation, the same original word which occurs in the phrase 'resurrection of damnation,') that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." John iii. 18, 19.

These various testimonies establish the fact that the death, resurrection, life and damnation here spoken of are all realized in this world, while yet in the

flesh; and therefore, that Christ is not speaking of a literal resurrection, nor of a damnation to come after the soul enters the spiritual world.

And now let us proceed to notice the passage in Daniel, where, though the words "damnation" and "resurrection" do not occur, we find what are, perhaps, their equivalents — "awaking from the dust, and "everlasting contempt." And since the text is put down in the margin of all our Bibles as parallel with the preceding, and the resemblance in language and metaphor is so marked, it seems fitting to give it an examination here.

"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt." xii. 2. This is probably a prophetic description of what would take place when the old dispensation of the Law should be abolished, and the new dispensation of the Gospel set up in its place. The thought is precisely that of John v. just reviewed; only that the prophet seems to have more special reference to the Jews, while the Saviour, who doubtless had the language of Daniel in mind, extends the application to Jews and Gentiles. alike.

The meaning of the phrase, "sleeping in the dust of the earth," is the same as that of our Lord, “all that are in the graves"; indicating a state of spiritual sloth, stupidity, ignorance and unbelief. And the time of awaking from this, or of the resurrection here intimated, is definitely fixed by a comparison of the words of the prophet with those of the Saviour in Matt. xxiv.

Daniel says, "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. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." xii. 1-3. And in verse 11 he speaks of the time when "the abomination that maketh desolate shall be set up." This is the connection; and it will be seen that this awaking to "everlasting life" and "everlasting shame and contempt," was to take place when there should be a time of trouble such as never was before, and the abomination of desolation should be set up in the holy place.

Now the Saviour refers to this very language of the prophet, and fixes its fulfilment at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the abolition of the Law dispensation. Speaking of this event, he says: "When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains (if the end of the material world were meant, what security would it give to flee into the mountains? It is evident that the judgment referred to was the destruction of the city, fleeing from which into the country, or into the mountains, they would find refuge and safety)—for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be. . . . Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled." Matt. xxiv. 15-34.

Daniel and the Saviour both speak of the abomination of desolation; and both speak of a time of trou

ble or tribulation such as was never known beforeand while Daniel says that this resurrection of some to "everlasting life," and of others to "shame and everlasting contempt," shall take place "at that time,” the time of this great tribulation; Christ fixes "that time," by saying it should come before the generation then living passed away. And history records the truth of the declaration, by showing that within that period the Law was abolished and the Gospel kingdom set up; the faithful and believing entering into the freedom, security and joy of a new life, while their old persecutors and enemies fell into the "shame and everlasting contempt," the damnation of which Christ speaks in John, and which they still suffer, a by-word, a reproach and a hissing among the nations. And thus the words of Jesus in Matt. xxiii. 34, are exactly fulfilled: "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?... That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth.... Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation."

Substantially, therefore, the two passages under review refer to the same kind of a resurrection, and to the same kind of damnation. That of the prophet is more restricted in its purpose and application, being confined to a particular people and a particular event; while that of the Saviour refers not only to the people who then heard his voice, and to events then happening, but to all nations and all times where and when the Gospel should be preached.