they were first driven out of the land, there'fore wherever the restoration of Ifrael is mentioned, it must relate to a future pe'riod. And, as the Jews, or the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, have had only a return from Babylon, which lies east of their country, fo wherever the restoration of Judah is fpoken of, as from the north,

and from all the countries, wherein they are fcattered; this muft alfo be ftill future. (Note, by Judah is meant the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which are commonly called Jews; and by Ifrael, or Ephraim, the other ten tribes; but whereever we find all the boufe of Ifrael, or, the whole boufe of Ifrael, or, all the families of Ifrael, or, the children of Ifrael, &c. there all the twelve tribes muft, I think, be understood.) Lo! the days come, faith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity

Ifrael and Judah, and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall poffefs it. After this, he fays, he will multiply them, and make them glorious, that they shall be his people, and he will be their God;

but

but denounces his anger against the wicked, and then adds, in the latter days ye fhall confider it. Jeremiah xxx. 3, 18 to ⚫ the end.

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By another prophet God declares, he 'will not utterly deftroy the house of Jacob, but that all the finners among them • shall die by the edge of the sword; that he will bring again the captivity of his people Ifrael, that is, will restore them to their own land, and they fhall build their waste cities, and be bleft with great plenty; and then affures them, they shall • no more be pulled up out of their land; Amos ix. 8. to the end, which plainly determines this to be a yet future restoration, as they will never be rooted out of ⚫ the land any more.

And thus, God having by Hofea foretold, that the children of Ifrael fhould

abide many days without a king or a prince, and without a facrifice, &c. as has been the cafe with them for several ages, and Atill continues to be at this time, yet he ' immediately

immediately adds, afterwards fhall the • children of Ifrael return, and feek the Lord their God, and David their king, that is.

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the Meffiah, and shall fear the Lord, and

his goodness in the latter days, Hosea iii. 4, 5.

So alfo in Jeremiah xxiii. 5 to 9, we have another promife, that God will reftore the feed of Ifrael, that is, the twelve tribes, that this return fhall be from the north, as well as from all other

parts, and that a branch of David, that is the Meffiah, shall reign over them with righteousness and equity; none of which things have ever yet been fulfilled, and therefore must relate to a future period.

And again, Ifaiah,fpeaking of the great• nefs and excellency of this king, and of • the peaceable and happy times, that will flourish in the world under his government, to whom even the Gentiles shall feek, adds, it shall come to pass in that day, • that the Lord fhall fet his hand again, a fecond time, to recover the remnant of his 'people,

• people, which shall be left:

And he shall affemble the outcafts of Ifrael, and gather

together the difperfed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Isaiah chap. xi.

But, the more fully to confirm the certainty of a future restoration of all the Ifraelites, let us confider the glorious and happy times, when the Meffiah fhall reign. ' over them at Jerufalem. which cannot be • accomplished, till they are restored to 'that land. And here I would obferve, that, as the prophecies relating to Babylon, to Egypt, to Tyre, &c. and many of ⚫ those relating to the Jews, as their capti'vity by Nebuchadnezzar, their restoration

by Cyrus after feventy years, their destruction by Titus, and prefent difperfion, • &c. have been literally fulfilled; fo we have the fame reafon to conclude, that all the rest of the prophecies, concerning the state of the Ifraelites, yet unfulfilled, will be alfo as literally accomplished, and among them thofe contained in Isaiah 'xlix. 22. lx. lxi. lxvi. 12, 18, 20. and • Jeremiah

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"Jeremiah iii. 17, 18. God affures them, ⚫ Ezekiel xxxvii. 19. he will take Ephraim with the tribes of Ifrael his companions, and will join them with Judah and his companions, and then adds in verses 22, 24 to 27, I will make them one nation upon the mountains of Ifrael; and one king' fays he 'fhall be king to them all, and they shall no more be two nations, and David my 'fervant,' that is the Meffiah, Shall be king over them. They shall alfo walk in my judgments, and obferve my fatutes, and do them; and they shall dwell in the land that · I gave unto Jacob my fervant, wherein your fathers have dwelt, and they shall dwell • therein, even they and their children, and • their childrens children, for ever, and my fervant David fhall be their prince for ever. ← Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them, it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will place them, and multiply them, and will fet my fanctuary in • the midst of them for evermore; yea I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Here we have a full prediction of a restoration

of