So we read also in Daniel ii. 28, "And (God) maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days." Which passage refers to the subsequent prophecy, ib. ver. 44, "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the sovereignty shall not be left to other people," etc. Hence we see clearly that the prophets predicted that the coming of the true Messiah would happen at the "latter days," and not before.

4thly. We have to consider the promises contained in the words of the prophets, which were not fulfilled in the time of Jesus, but are to be realised in future at the time of the true Messiah, who is still expected. They may be classed under the following heads:

(a.) At the time of the king Messiah there is to be only one kingdom and one king, namely, the true king Messiah. But the other empires and their rulers shall cease at that period, as we read in Daniel ii. 44, "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." Whereas, we now actually see that many empires, different in their laws and habits, are still in existence; and that in each empire a different king is ruling; consequently the Messiah is not yet

come.

(b). At the time of the king Messiah, there is to be in the world but one creed and one religion, and that is the religion of Israel, as is proved by Isaiah (lii. 1), "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean." And further (chap. lxvi. 17),

"Who sanctify themselves and purify themselves [we prefer the literal translation of this obscure passage to the unwarranted and still more obscure translation of the Authorised Version] in the gardens, behind one in the midst of them who eat the flesh of the swine, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together saith the Lord." "And (ver. 23) it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh.come and worship before me, saith the Lord." Moreover, it is written in Zechariah (xiv. 16)," And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles." In the same book (chap. viii. 23) we read, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men of nations of diverse languages shall take hold, even shall take hold of the skirt of a Jew [Authorised Version renders it" of him that is a Jew"], saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you." There are many other passages in that book to the same effect.

(c.) At the time of the Messiah, the idolatrous images and their memorial, as also the false prophets and the spirit of profanity are to vanish from the earth, as may be seen in Zechariah xiii. 2. "And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols from the earth, and they shall no more be remembered, also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit [literally the spirit of uncleanliness'] to pass away from the earth." So also it is written in Isaiah ii. 18. "And the idols he shall utterly abolish.” So it is also said in Zephaniah ii. 11. "The Lord will be terrible unto them, for he will cause all the gods of the

earth to waste away, and men shall worship Him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen."

(d.) At the time of the Messiah, there will be no sins and iniquities in the world, particularly not among the Israelitish nation. Thus we find in the law (Deuteronomy xxx. 6.), " And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." Again, in Zephaniah iii. 13. "The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies, neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth." Again, in Jeremiah iii. 13. "At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem, neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart." Again, in Ezekiel xxxvi. 25. "And I will sprinkle clean water upon you: from all your impurity, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. And I will give unto you a new heart, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them." Moreover, see Ezekiel xxxvii. 23. "Neither shall they defile themselves any more with the idols nor with their abominations, nor with their transgressions, and I will save them out of all their dwelling-places wherein they have sinned, and I will cleanse them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, and David my servant shall be king over them, and they shall have one shepherd, and they shall walk in my judgments and observe my statutes and do them."

(e.) At the time of the king Messiah and after the

war with Gog and Magog there will be peace and tranquillity throughout the world, and men will no longer require any weapons of war. So it is written in Isaiah ii. 4. "And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." See also Ezekiel xxxix. 9. "And they

that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years (ib. ver. 10.) so that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests, for with the weapons shall they kindle the fire." With these words agrees the prophecy of Hosea ii. 20. according to the division of chapters in the Hebrew Bibles, (in the English version it is chap. ii. ver. 18.) " and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and I will make them to lie down safely." So says also Zechariah ix. 10, "And the battlebow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace unto the heathen," etc.

(f.) At the time of the king Messiah there will be peace in the Holy Land between the ferocious and domestic animals, so that they will not injure each other, and much less injure a human being, as is evident from the following prophecies of Isaiah xi. 6. "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them." (Ver. 7) "And the cow and the bear shall feed together; their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox." (Ver. 8) "And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the

cockatrice's den." (Ver. 9) "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord," etc. and (ib. lxv. 25) "And the wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord." (See also Ezekiel xxxiv. 25) "And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land, and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods." (Ver. 28.) "And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them," etc. (See also Hosea ii. 20, or in the English version, 18) "And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground," etc.

(g.) At the time of the Messiah there will be no troubles, cares, and anxieties, among the restored Israelites, who will then be blessed with a prolonged and more happy life, as is foretold in the following passages of Isaiah (lxv. 16). "He who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth, and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth, because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes. (Ver. 19) " And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying." (Ver. 20) "There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days, for the child shall die a hundred years old, but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed." (Ver. 21) "And they shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them." (Ver. 22) (Ver. 22) "They shall not build and another

my people, and the voice