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' afcend and come like a storm; all of them

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riding upon horfes, a great company, and

a mighty army, fo that they shall cover the land like a cloud. For, the Ifraelites

having lived for fome years in peace and 'quiet, and gotten riches, and plenty of cattle and goods, they will come against ' them with a wicked intention, to destroy ⚫ a defenceless people, which they will flat

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ter themselves they fhall the more easily accomplish, as the Ifraelites,' as was before obferved, will dwell in unwalled villages, having neither bars nor gates. Now fo great an army of enemies, coming against so defenceless a country, naturally brings great devaftations and diftrefs; to which the account given by Daniel of these times exactly agrees, that there shall be a time of trouble, fuch as never was fince • there was a nation, even to that fame time. • Dan. xi. 45. and xii. 1.

And it seems to be of this fame period, that Zechariah fpeaks, when he tells us, • that all, that is, many, nations fhall be ga" thered

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thered against Jerufalem to battle, and the city fhall be taken, and the houfes rifled, and

half of the people of it taken captive; and farther, that two parts of the inhabitants of the whole land shall be cut off, and the

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third part only be left alive, Zech. xiv. 2,

and xiii. 8, 9. And what we think determines this prophecy to these times is, because now we find the Lord defcends

upon the Mount of Olives, to fave the remainder of the Ifraelites, and to destroy their enemies; and because the glorious and happy times immediately fucceed, when the Lord fhall be king over all the earth, and a river of living waters shall go out from Jerufalem; which city shall 'from henceforth be fafely inhabited, and many people of all the nations, that came against Jerusalem, fhall come up every year at the feast of tabernacles, to worship the King, the Lord of Hofts.

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It is alfo thefe times, we think, the prophet Joel, i. 6. and ii. 2, defcribes, a nation is come up upon my land, &c. And

• the

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the defolation and affliction, they will oc

cafion, are strongly defcribed in Joel ii. 3.

a fire devoureth before them, &c. &c.' And the terror and confufion of the Ifraelites ' are expreft in Joel i. 15, and ii. 1, 2, 6, 11. ⚫ Alas! for the day of the Lord is at hand,&c.

But he affures them, that whoever shall 'call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered; and that he will plead with the nations, that are come up against them, and will remove far off from them this northern ar

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my: Then will God alfo dwell in Zion his holy mountain, and Jerufalem fhall be

come holy, and there fhall no strangers pass

through her, or fubdue her, any more, but

Judah fhall dwell from henceforth for ever, and ferufalem from generation to generation: Joel ii. 20, 32. and iii. 1, 2, 16. to the ' end.

"We now find the remainder of the Ifraelites will be preferved by God, and their enemies destroyed. For Zechariah xiii. 8, 9. and xiv. 1 to 6, tells us, that, after two thirds of the people of the

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land fhall be cut off, &c. then shall the • Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, and his feet fall ftand in that day on the · Mount of Olives, which fhall cleave in the midft thereof, and there shall be a great earthquake. The Lord alfo fhall fave the tents of Judah first, &c.&c. and he will pour upon the house of David, &c. the Spirit

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of grace and of fupplication. Zech. xii. 7, 8, 10. and xiii. 1,2.

• For now the special providence of God • will exert itself in the preservation of all the good and virtuous, who will by these • afflictions be thoroughly tried and purified, ⚫ and the wicked only be destroyed. For Daniel xii. 1. tells us, that at that time • Michael fhall ftand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of Ifrael, and they shall be delivered, even every one that shall be found written in the book, that is, who is good and holy. And fo God by Zechariah xiii. 9. fays, I will bring the third part of the inhabitants of the land through the fire, and will refine • them

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them as filver, &c. they fhall call on my • name, and I will bear them; I will fay it

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is my people, and they shall fay, the Lord is

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God. And it feems to be of these times • Isaiah iv. 2 to 6. speaks, he that is left in Zion, &c. fhall be called holy, &c. when • the Lord fhall have purged the blood of Jerufalem by the fpirit of judgment and of burn• ing.

It is not easy to affign here, what will ⚫ be the causes of fo great a depravity among the Ifraelites, that they should go through 'fuch great afflictions, and two-thirds of ⚫ them be cut off, before the Lord comes to 'preserve the remainder. One reafon per

haps may be, their having lived for fome · years in peace and plenty, crowned with temporal profperity and happiness, which too often bring on a forgetfulness of God, ⚫ and of our obligations to him.

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"We now come to the deftruction of their enemies, for though God has permitted their wicked defigns in fome measure to 'fucceed,

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