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. in the English version, 18) 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.

(See also Hosea ii. 20, or "And in that day will I

(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 my people, and the voice 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) "They shall not build and another

inhabit, they shall not plant and another eat, for as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands."

(h). At the time of the Messiah the Shechinah (effulgency of divine presence) shall return to Israel as in former days, and the people of Israel increase in prophecy, wisdom, and knowledge, as may be seen by the following quotations from the prophets. (Ezek. xxxvii.26) "Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will establish and multiply them, and set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore." (Ver. 27) "My residence also shall be among them. Yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Ver. 28) "And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." (Ib. xxxix. 29) "Neither will I hide my face any more from them, for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God." (Ib. xliii. 7) " And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever," etc. (Ib. xlviii. 35) "And the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there'" (Joel ii. 27)" And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and there is none else; and my people shall never be ashamed." (Ib. iii. 1; in the English Version ii. 28) "And it shall come to pass afterwards, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions." (Ib. iii. 17) "So ye shall know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through it

66

any more." (Ib. iii. 21) "For I will avenge their blood that I had not avenged, for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.” (Zec. ii. 14; in the English Version, ii. 10) Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for, lo! I come and dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord." (Isa. xi. 9) "For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." (Jer. xxxi. 34) " And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall know me, from the lowest of them to the highest, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more."

The above indications pointed out by the prophets as indispensable attributes of the true Messiah, have not been fulfilled in Jesus the Nazarene. Nor have we hitherto seen realised the prophetic assurances already named, or others that we have omitted, to avoid prolixity. And we therefore arrive at the just conclusion, that the true and expected Messiah has not yet come. In him alone all the predicted attributes undoubtedly will be manifested, and through him alone and in no other way, the scriptural promises will be accomplished.

CHAPTER II.

AN argument has been adduced by Christians, to the effect, that the Almighty has rejected the Israelitish nation, because they would not listen to the teachings of the Messiah, his messenger, and because they executed judgment on him. The Lord has, therefore, say they, chosen the Christian nation, and he permitted Christ to suffer martyrdom for their sake and for the salvation of their souls, because they had acknowledged him and put faith in him.

REFUTATION.

This argument is unfounded; for the Christians themselves confess, that before the coming of Jesus, they (as Gentiles) denied the Almighty, and were idolaters. Even after the coming of Jesus, he was not received as a God, nor believed to be such until some hundred years subsequent to his existence. Yea, they (the Gentiles) themselves carried on exterminating persecution against him, his disciples, apostles, and followers. Nero, the emperor of Rome, for instance, caused Peter and Paul to die an unnatural death, on account of their endeavours to persuade and urge the people to believe in Jesus. Decius, the Roman emperor, caused, in a like spirit, Laurentius to be roasted alive in the year 254 of the vulgar era, because he persuaded people to embrace Christianity. So acted all the emperors that followed him; they persecuted the Christians, and killed the popes, and those who followed the religion of Jesus, as may be gathered from their ecclesiastical histories. The first Byzantine emperor who adopted the Christian faith, was Constantine, who established laws for his co-religionists 300 years after the death of Jesus. In his days lived Arius who composed a controversial work against the Christian dogmas, but Constantine lent no ear to his opinions. After the death of this monarch, Constantine the Second attached himself to the sect of Arius, and slighted the established doctrines; and his succeeding relative Julian, likewise adhered to the Arian views, and rejected the general principles of the Christian Faith. His example was imitated by several of his successors. There are, even in our times, people who acknowledge the authority of Arius, and who constitute the sect called by his name. This (the original repudiation of Christianity by the Gentiles) is also to be noticed among