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desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, shall stand in the holy place." It is not impossible, that a further setting up of the Roman abomination, remains yet to be manifested: and if so, it must necessarily be under the going forth of the three frogs, of Rev. xvi. 13. see p. 253. This would probably afford a more complete developement of the infidel beast, of Rev. xvii. 4. But, however this may be, the primary signification of Matt. xxiv. 15. is doubtless the siege of Jerusalem, from the troubles and destruction of which the first Christians were delivered under circumstances peculiarly providential. That another deliverance is also pointed at, is clear from the language which is used. The Christians in those days passed out from that ill-fated city in quietness and in peace into a place of security; and so may we expect the Church to be again led forth from the tents of the ungodly, in the last times. Isaiah lii. is very clear upon this point. "The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations"-and addressing the Church, he says, "Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing: go ye out of the midst of her, (that is, out of the midst of Babylon, as explained in Rev. xviii. 4) For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel shall be your rereward." And so also Isaiah lv. 12.

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"Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace." Micah ii. 12, 13. is, if possible, even more explicit" 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, as the flock in the midst of their fold. They shall make a great noise by reason of the multitude of men. The breaker is come up before them, they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it and their king shall pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them."

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Two other classes of Scripture texts, which are generally considered as referring to the latter-day deliverance, appear of doubtful application; but they must not be passed over without notice. In Isaiah xli. it is written, "Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel: I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument, having teeth. Thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them." So in Micah iv. 3. "Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass, and thou shalt beat in pieces many people."

So also in Zech. xii. "In that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people.”—“In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left." Again, in Malachi iv. "Ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet, in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of Hosts." These Scriptures, with others of like import, particularly Rev. xviii. 6. have been thought to favour the opinion, that in the latter-day deliverance, the Church shall execute vengeance upon her enemies. As the fulfilment is yet to come, it is not possible to aver that it may not be of this kind. But as the judgment upon the ungodly is not executed till after the Church is brought to Zion, it seems more congenial with the general tenor of other Scriptures, to refer these passages also to the judgment which shall be manifested, after the Church is brought into her rest, concerning which, more will be said in its proper place.

It is to be remarked further, that Isaiah xliii. 5. says, "I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west: I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep not back: bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth."-Isaiah

xlix. 21. "They shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders, and kings shall be thy nnrsing fathers, and queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and shall lick the dust of thy feet."—And so again, Isaiah Ixvi. 20. "And they shall bring again 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." The reader will judge for himself, upon examining these last-mentioned passages with their contexts, and with the other corresponding Scriptures, whether they do not rather refer to the time, when "the kings and the nations of the earth, shall bring their glory and honour into" the Millennial Church, after she has sat down in her rest, than to the Lord's remnant in the flesh, during their deliverance, and whilst travelling towards their rest.

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opinions are entertained, and no one, perhaps, is very competent to declare the exact fulfilment.

CHAP. XXXII.

Messiah's Judgment.

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The fourteenth chapter of Revelations describes the harvest and the vintage. The parable of the tares in Matthew xiii. refers also to the same events, There is a trifling variation, however, of the order in which the events are spoken of in these two places. In Rev. xiv. the harvest, or collecting together of his redeemed ones, is mentioned first.-In the parable, it should seem that the tares are first collected, and bound up into bundles to be burned and in the explanation, in verse 43, it is said, "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father."-Matt. iii. 12, quoting from Mal. iii. 3. describes the Lord Jesus as coming with his fan in his hand, "and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into his garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire:" and in that day every plant which God hath not planted will be rooted up.

The going forth of Messiah in the latter day, is described in Rev. xix.

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