66 66 St. John could not poffibly take the numbers from "Daniel, if he understood Daniel to mean nothing more "than the short perfecution of Antiochus. And if he "did understand Daniel to mean a much longer and. greater and more remote tyranny, which John himfelf prophefied of as in his time ftill future; then the "wonder is ftill infinitely greater, that in thofe early "times, when there was not the leaft footstep in the "world of any fuch power as St. John diftinctly de"fcribes, (but which now is very confpicuous, as I fhall "presently obferve more particularly) it should ever "enter into the heart of man to conceive fo much as the "poffibility of fuch a power, fitting not upon the pavi"lion of heathen perfecutors, but exprefly (2 Theff. II. "4.) in the temple and upon the feat of God himself. 66 But thefe prophecies, which either relate to particu"lar places, or depend upon the computation of particular periods of time, are (as I faid) of fuch a nature, as that "they cannot be judged of, but by perfons fkilled in hiftory. There are fome others more general, running "thro' the whole fcripture, and obvious to the confi"deration of the whole world. ἐσ "For inftance: It was foretold by Mofes, that when "the Jews forfook the true God, they should be removed "into all the kingdoms of the earth; fhould be fcattered "among the Heathen, among the nations, among all people "from the one end of the earth even unto the other; fhould "there be left few in number among the Heathen, and pine 66 away in their iniquity in their enemies lands; and fhould "become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word, among "all nations; and that among these nations they fhould find no cafe, neither fhould the fole of their foot have reft; but the Lord fhould give them a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and forrow of mind; and fend a faintnefs "into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; fo that the "found of a shaken leaf thould chafe them. Had any thing like this, in Mofes's time, ever happened to any nation? Or was there in nature any probability, that any fuch thing fhould ever happen to any people? that, when they were conquered by their enemies, and led into captivity, they should neither continue in the 66 "place 66 place of their captivity, nor be fwallowed up and loft among their conquerors, but be fcattered among all "the nations of the world, and hated by all nations for many ages, and yet continue a people? Or could any defcription of the Jews, written at this day, poffibly be a more exact and lively picture of the ftate they have "now been in for many ages; than this prophetic defcrip"tion given by Mofes, more than 3000 years ago? 66 66 66 66 ૮૮ 66 The very fame thing is in like manner continually predicted through all the following prophets; that God would fcatter them among the Heathen; that he would "cause them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth; that he would scatter them into all the winds, "and disperse them through the countries of the Heathen; "that he would fift them among all nations, like as corn is fifted in a fieve; that in all the kingdoms of the earth, "whither they fhould be driven, they fhould be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, and an aftonishment and a hissing; and that they fhould abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a facrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, "and without teraphim. And here concerning the pre"dictions of Ezekiel 'tis remarkable in particular, that "they being fpoken in the very time of the Babylonian captivity, 'tis therefore evident from the time of his "prophefying, as well as from the nature and defcrip"tion of the thing itself, that he muft needs be under"stood of that latter captivity into all places, which was 66 66 to happen after the fulfilling the time of that age, "wherein God was firft to bring them again (out of the "Babylonian captivity) into the land where they fhould "build a temple, but not like to that which afterwards (after their final return) fhould be built for ever with a glorious building. The forefighted prophecies (I fay) "muft of neceffity be understood of that wide and long difperfion, which in the New Teftament alfo is exprefly "mentioned by our Saviour and by St. Paul. ""Tis alfo farther, both largely and diftinctly predicted, as well by Mofes himself, as by all the following prophets, that notwithstanding this unexampled difperfion Dd 4 "difperfion of God's people, yet for all that, when they "be in the land of their enemies, God will not deftroy them utterly; but when they fhall call to mind among all the "nations, whither God has driven them, and shall return "unto the Lord, he will turn their captivity, and gather "them from all nations, from the outmoft parts of heaven, "even in the latter days: That though he makes a full end of all other nations, yet he will not make a full end of "them; but a remnant of them fhall be preferved, and return out of all countries whither God has driven them; "That he will fift the house of Ifrael among all nations, "like as corn is fifted in a fieve; yet fhall not the leaft grain fall upon the earth: That the Lord fhall fet his hand again the fecond time, to recover the remnant of his people, and fhall fet up an enfign for the nations, and shalt affemble the out-cafts of Ifrael, and gather together the difperfed of Judah, from the four corners of the earth: "For I will bring thy feed from the caft, faith the Lord, "and gather thee from the weft; I will fay to the north, "Give up; and to the fouth, Keep not back; Bring my 66 fons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the "earth: Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles "and fet up my standard to the people, and they shall bring thy fons in their arms, and thy daughters fhall be carried upon their fhoulders: For a fmall moment have I forfaken thee, but with great mercy will I gather thee: In "a little wrath I hid my face from thee, for a moment; but "with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee. And "that thefe prophecies might not be applied to the re"turn from the 70 years captivity in Babylon, (which "moreover was not a difperfion into all nations) they are exprefly referred to the latter days, not only by "Mofes but by Hofea, who lived long after, (For the "children of Ifrael fhall abide MANY DAYS without à "king, and without a prince, and without a facrifice; AF, "TERWARD they fhall return, and feek the Lord their "God, and David their king, and Jhall fear the Lord and "his goodness in the LATTER DAYS) and by Ezekiel "who lived in the captivity itfelf; After MANY "DAYS [fpeaking of thofe who thould oppofe the "return of the Ifraelites] thou shalt be cifted, in the "LATTER "LATTER YEARS thou fhalt come into the land;upon the people that are gathered out of the nations;"In that day, when my people of Ifrael dwelleth fafely, "thou shalt come up against them,-it fhall be in the LAT"TER DAYS. Thefe predictions therefore neceffarily "belong to that age, when the times of the Gentiles thall be fulfilled, and the fulness of the Gentile be come in. "And that, through all the changes which have hap"pened in the kingdoms of the earth, from the days of "Mofes to the prefent time, which is more than 3000 years; nothing could have happened to prevent the poffibility of the accomplishment of thefe prophecies; "but on the contrary, the state of the Jewish and Chrif"tian nations at this day, fhould be fuch as renders them eafily capable, not only of a figurative, but even of a "litteral completion in every particular, if the will of "God be fo; this (I fay) is a miracle, which hath nothing parallel to it in the phænomena of nature. "Another inftance, no lefs extraordinary, is as fol"lows. Daniel foretels a kingdom upon the earth, which fhall be divers from all kingdoms, divers from all that were before it, exceeding dreadful, and shall devour the "whole earth: That, among the powers into which this kingdom fhall be divided, there fhall arife one power "divers from the reft, who fhall fubdue unto himself "three of the first powers, and he thall have a mouth Speaking very great things, and a look more flout than "his fellows. He fhall make war with the faints, and prevail against them. And he shall speak great words "against the moft High, and fhall wear out the faints of "the moft High, and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand, for a long feafon; even till the judgment shall fit, and the kingdom un"der the whole heaven fhall be given to the people of the faints of the most High. He shall exalt himself "and magnify himself above ecery God, and fhall speak "marvellous things against the God of Gods; -Neither jhall he regard (5) the God of his fathers, nor (6) the 46 (5) "The God of Gods, as in the (6) "Forbidding to marry, 1 Tim. "foregoing verfe" IV. 3." 86 66 66 defire of women, nor regard any God; for he shall magnify himself above all. And in his eftate fhall he honor "(7) the God of forces, and (8) a God whom his fathers "knew not, shall he honor.--Thus fhall he do in the most ftrong holds with a strange God whom he shall acknow"lege and increase with glory; and he shall cause them to "rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. Suppofe now all this to be fpoken by Daniel, of nothing more than the fhort perfecution under Antio"chus Epiphanes; which that it cannot be, I have "fhown above. But fuppofe it were, and that it was "all forged after the event: Yet this cannot be the cafe of St. Paul and St. John, who defcribe exactly a like power, and in like words; fpeaking of things to "come in the latter days, of things ftill future in their "time, and of which there were then no footsteps, "no appearance in the world. The day of Chrift, "faith St. Paul, fhall not come, except there come a falling away firft, and that man of fin be revealed, the fon of perdition: Who oppofeth and exalteth himself above. "all that is called God, or that is worshipped: fo that he, as God, fitteth (9) in the temple of God, showing himself "that he is God:-Whofe coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and figns, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteoufnefs. Again: "The Spirit fpeaketh exprefly, that in the latter times fome fhall depart from the faith, giving heed to feducing Spirits, and (1) doctrins of devils;-Forbidding to marry, "and commanding to abftain from meats, &c.-St. John in like manner prophefies of a wild beast, or tyran"nical power, to whom was given great authority, and "a mouth Speaking great things and blafphemies: And he (7) God's protectors, as 'tis in citing this text, alleges the follow"the margin of the Bible, or faints-ing words, as part of the text itself; protectors." σε εσοίλαι, γαρ, φησί, νεκροίς λα τρεύοντες, ως και εν τῳ Ισραελ σε εσεβάσθησαν. For they shall be, " fays the apostle, worshippers of the "dead, even as the dead were an"ciently worshipped in Ifrael. And "he applies the whole to the wor 66 (8) Changing times and laws, « Ch. VII. 25; fetting up new reli"gions." (9)"'Tis therefore a Chriftian (not an Infidel) power, that he here fpeaks of." (1) Doctrins concerning Demons, that is, ghofts or fouls of (good or bad) men departed. Epiphanius, 66 shippers of the bleffed virgin. "Hæref. 78. Sect. 22." "opened |