them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart." These expressions, as we have already seen, denote that they are to be settled in their own land, when they shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and mourn restored in an uncon verted state that they will attempt to build a temple for their worship. I have seen a prospectus, as mentioned before, of a Jewish society, for building that very temple. They are to be restored to their own land—the approaching downfall of Turkey preparing the way for them; each tribe is to mourn apart, showing that each is to be located in its own district. In the 14th chapter we learn that the last great conflict is to be fought in Palestine itself. These words, no doubt, will be literally fulfilled: "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth"—that is, the Lord Jesus-" and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light." Here we have the description of the last great battle, which is called in the Apocalypse the great conflict of Armageddon; in which, (according to Ezekiel,) Gog, and Magog, and Meshech, and Tubal-language singularly apposite to Russia-shall come up against God's people, and seek to destroy Jerusalem, and to put an end to the fulfilment of a thou sand brilliant promises scattered throughout the pages of inspiration. It may be said, "You cannot take these passages literally." predictions, however, relating to vent were most literally fulfilled. The most minute 22d Psalm, that "they parted my raiment, and for my vesture they cast lots." A mere philosopher reading that would say, "We cannot suppose that such a trifling thing will be literally fulfilled;" and yet we know that it was fulfilled to the very letter. So again, "Thy king cometh riding upon an ass." You would say, "That no doubt means that he will come in very great humility;" but it was literally fulfilled. And if these minute predictions respecting the minutest details of Christ's first advent were literally fulfilled, why should we suppose that the minute predictions respecting his second advent will not be as minutely fulfilled also? As I understand strictly and literally the predictions that have been strictly and literally fulfilled in the past, so I understand that God will literally gather all nations to Palestine. Everything is turning that way. What is the cause of the storm that has burst on the East, which statesmen have been mustering all their skill and ingenuity to conduct away? A quarrel about Palestine-about shrines and sacred places. At this moment that land is becoming the source of disquiet and conflict in the most powerful cabinets of the east and west of Europe. More recently the sufferings of the Jews in Jerusalem are exciting the sympathies of Christendom. May not these events be the budding of the branch? "I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle;" but whether before or after the Jews are restored, I feel it difficult to decide. And the Lord shall be against these nations, by those that he brings forward; or it may be, by hail, by plague, by storm, by earthquake. "And his foot shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives." Is it unreasonable to conclude that he will as literally stand upon that mount as he stood upon Mount Calvary? If there be a better explanation, let us accept it. It does seem contradictory that we should take those prophecies literally that he has literally fulfilled, but the remaining prophecies not yet fulfilled figuratively and symbolically; at least, it does not seem consistent. We have, therefore, in this 14th chapter, the gathering of all nations against Jerusalem; and we read, at the close of the chapter, of their utter destruction. In the 3d verse it is said, "The Lord shall go forth and fight against those nations.” The 12th verse describes what shall befall them: "And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen around about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. 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." Then we read, in the 9th verse: "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name one. All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner-gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's wine-presses. And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited." Now then, says the prophet, "In that day"when all this shall be accomplished, Jerusalem rebuilt, Palestine restored, the glory of the Lord, like the shechinah of old, taking up its abode in the midst of it,-"In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness unto the Lord; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusa |
