The Prophecy of the 
Destruction of Jerusalem

PREFACE TO THE READER

      There is nothing more delightful to an honest mind than truth; nor more important than religious truth. In the holy Scriptures, a complete system of the latter is revealed. But it has unfortunately happened, that through prejudice and indolence, from whence has arisen implicit faith in the opinions of others, and sometimes from a misguided piety, truth has been concealed from the view of mankind, and Christ and his Apostles have been made to speak a language derogatory both to reason and religion, and directly contrary to fact and experience.

     But this is an age of enquiry, and Christianity is not of a nature to shrink from the severest scrutiny. It invites examination; and with the more freedom it is treated, the more conspicuously will it display its genuine beauties, and discover its sacred origin.

     Whether the enquiry contained in the following pages, will contribute to so valuable a purpose, must be left to the judicious reader to determine. It was undertaken to satisfy the author's own mind, and was submitted, in another form, to the perusal of a worthy friend who condescended to ask h s opinion upon the subject. As he proceeded, evidence increased, till at length he conceived it his duty to communicate the result to the public; hoping that at least it might excite others, better qualified, to do it justice.

     With respect to the manner in which he has treated the subject-he has avoided every thing that appeared to him unintelligible, even to the lowest class of men; from a conviction that all are highly concerned in it, if they wish to understand the New Testament.

     He has only to add, that when he has had occasion to think differently from the writers whom he has quoted, he hopes he has neither treated them with disrespect on the one hand, nor deserted the cause of truth on the other.

AN ATTEMPT, &c

     It cannot escape the observation of any one, in the least conversant with the writings of the Evangelists, that the prophecies, relating to the destruction of Jerusalem, form a very considerable and important part of our blessed Lord's discourses. Many of his parables have an evident relation to that melancholy event, and were probably delivered at an early period of his ministry, when it would have been inconsistent with the great ends of it to have been more explicit.

In the following places, our Lord uses the parabolic method in speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem. Luke xiii. 6- 29. Matt. xxii. 1-7. Luke xiv. 17-24. Matt. xxi. 33-46. Mark xii. 1-12. Luke xx. 9-19. Luke xix. 11-27.

     Towards the close of his life, he threw aside the parabolic method, and assumed a plainer language upon the subject, both to his own immediate followers, and to the multitude. Bishop Newcome, in his excellent observations on our Lord's conduct as a divine instructor, is of opinion, that the large discourse, which we have recorded in the 24th of Matthew, and the parallel chapters of Mark and Luke, was delivered but four days before his crucifiction, when Jesus took his final leave of the temple. And it seems to contain the substance of all that is to be met with upon this subject, in the Gospel History.

     In the fulfilment of these predictions, as recorded by Josephus, an historian of undoubted credit, who was not only an eye-witness of the transactions of the Jewish war, but bore a considerable share in it, and was an enemy to the christian name; an argument of no small weight arises in favour of the divinity of our Lord's character and mission; for to allude to what Nicodemus said in the case of miracles, No man could foretel events of such magnitude and importance, and with the precision which he did, unless God was with him. A wise man, says the great writer above-mentioned, may foresee some events, relating to an individual or a nation, which depend on a formed character and a connected train of circumstances; but reason and experience shew, that there are likewise events of so contingent and improbable a nature, that the foresight of them exceeds the greatest human sagacity.

     Of this nature were the predictions of our Saviour concerning the destruction of Jerusalem; upon the completion of which, the very credit and fate of Christianity depended; not in some distant and uncertain period, but in that very generation in which they were delivered. Verily, says Christ, this generation shall not pass away, before all these things be fulfilled. This is not the language of an impostor, but of one who knew that his predictions would be most exactly fulfilled.

     Christ foretold, says Dr. Jortin, the total destruction of the city and temple; the coming of false Christs and false prophets; famines, pestilences, earthquakes, fearful sights and great signs from heaven; the persecution of the apostles, the apostacy of some Christians; the preservation of the faith; the spreading of the gospel through the Roman world; the Roman standards defiling the holy place; the city encompassed with armies, walls and trenches; the retiring of the Christians to the mountains; the greatest tribulation that ever was known; the time when these things should happen; the comparative happiness of the barren woman; wars and rumours of wars, nation rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom; the dispersion of the captive Jews through all nations; the continuation of the desolation; a shortening the days of vengeance for the sake of the elect: all which came to pass. Jortin's Remarks on E. Hist. vol. i.

     If the reader is desirous to see in what manner these signs were fulfilled, he may consult Bishop Newton on the Prophecies and the present Bishop of Waterford's excellent observations on our Lord's conduct as a divine instructor.

     The accomplishment of our Lord's prophecies of the destruction of Jerusalem, may likewise be considered as a standing monument to all future ages, of the truth of the observation of the wise man; that righteousness exalteth a nation, but that sin is eventually, the ruin of any people.

     The Jewish nation were favoured with many very extraordinary privileges, both of a civil and religious nature, which, if properly improved, would have distinguished them in an eminent degree above all their surrounding neighbours for national happiness. The whole history of that people, affords ample evidence that they enjoyed prosperity, or suffered affliction, proportioned to their virtous or vicious conduct. But in our Saviour's time they were remarkable for their profligacy and wickedness, and their punishment was equally distinguished for its severity. It was such as had no example in former ages, and would never again be repeated.

     To give a particular account, says Josephus, as quoted by Dr. Jortin, of all their iniquities, would be endless. Thus much in general, it may suffice to say, that there never was a city which suffered such miseries, nor a race of men, from the beginning of the world, who so abounded in wickedness. I verily believe that if the Romans had delayed to destroy these wicked wretches, the city would either have been swallowed up by the earth, or overwhelmed by the waters, or struck with fire from heaven as another Sodom; for it introduced a far more impious generation than those who suffered such punishments.

     This account is confirmed in a variety of instances by what we meet with in the gospels, but no where more eminently, than in the 8th chapter of St. John, verse the 9th, and their crucifying the Lord of Life. In the former case, they brought a woman to Christ, who had been taken in the very act of adultery, and demanded judgment against her for so flagrant a crime, when it appeared that they themselves were as guilty of a like breach of the marriagecontract. In the latter, they put a person to death, whose innocent and inoffensive life was proof against their utmost malice, and whose benevolent and astonishing miracles testified that he was far superior to any one that ever appeared, and had a divine commission from the Father to rescue them, not from the Roman yoke, as they fondly imagined, but from the more intolerable yoke of sin, and to set them free from the burden of the ceremonial law. This last was the most capital sin of their nation, and is constantly assigned as a principal cause of the destruction, that was coming upon them! Many other instances might be brought from prophane history of the fatal effects of vice on public and national communities: but the same causes, will always product the same effects. Wickedness and punishment, are so closely connected, in the plan of the divine government of the world, that they never were and never can be separated. It is virtue; it is religion alone, that can render nations either happy or durable.

     The calamities undergone by the Jews, says the Bishop of Waterford, were unparallel'd in their history, and will remain so. The many and great evils arising from their own distractions and intestine madness, were peculiar to this time. And Josephus asserts in general that no other city underwent such sufferings. In particular he says, that the number of captives, throughout the whole war was 97 thousand and that one million one hundred thousand perished in the course of the siege: To these must be added 237,490 of whom express mention is due by this historian, as being destroyed in other places; besides innumerable others, not subject to calculation, who were swept away by fatigue, famine, disease and every kind of wretchedness and violence. Thus did the awakened vengeance of heaven require of that generation, the blood of all the prophets, which had been shed from the foundation of the world. Newcome's Observations, p. 246.

     There is another important use to be made of the prophecies of our Lord, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, which I have chiefly in view in what is to follow, viz. That they serve as a key to many parts of the writings of the Apostles, which otherwise we shall not be able to explain, in a satisfactory manner.

     For want of having given sufficient attention to these predictions and to the language of the antient prophets, much obscurity still remains, particularly in the epistles, which have, I think not unfrequently, been totally mistaken by commentators of deserved eminence and repute.

     The passages I allude to, are those which speak of the coming of the Lord being at hand, drawing nigh, being ready to be revealed, and coming as a thief in the night, with other expressions of the like nature; which have commonly been understood to relate to the great and final judgment of the last day, or the consummation of all things.

     Such language as this, applied to an event, the time of which was altogether unknown, and certainly some thousands of years distant, must appear very extraordinary in any writer; much more in the Apostles of our Lord, whose character for veracity and accuracy is deservedly esteemed.

     It is now full a century, since the learned Dr. Hammond, in his Paraphrase of the New Testament, was so extremely dissatisfied with the application of this langunge to the day of judgment, as to speak of it in the following very strong terms. "If," says he, in this coming of the Lord, this day of vengeance belonged to the day of judgment (now after so many years not yet come) what a forbearance were this? What a delay of his coming? and consequently what an objection against the truth of the christian religion. As Mahomet having promised, after his death, he would presently return to life again, and having not performed his promise in a thousand years, is by us justly condemned as an impostor."

     This reasoning appears to me so just and forcible, that no other satisfactory reply can, I think, possibly be made to it, than what that great man has furnished us with, namely, that neither Christ nor his Apostles, had any view in them, to the great day of judgment at the end of the world, but to the destruction of Jerusalem, and to that only. And accordingly he has uniformly applied those expressions to that event.

     His opinion has not, however, been adopted by succeeding commentaors, tho' they seem to have been much embarrassed to determine the meaning of the Apostles, in these passages; sometimes applyng them to the destruction of Jerusalem; sometimes to the final account which all men are to give of their actions, and very often to both those events.

     Dr. Taylor, the author of the much-esteemed Paraphrase of the Romans, not being able to reconcile any or these Interpretations with his ideas of the scripture account of those passages, has adopted one of his own, which, I believe has been well received: It is, that the day of the Lord, the day approaching, &c. mean the time of a person's death; which he truly says, ends the Christian's course of preparation, duty, sufferings, watchings and patience. But this account is by no means satisfactory to me, and I am well persuaded, was not the Apostles meaning. Nor can I agree with him when he says, that our blessed Lord knew very well that he should not come, while that generation, to whom he preached, was alive, and that all his Apostles knew this, as well as he; for this is expressly contrary to our Lord's own assertion, in many parts of the gospels, that the Son of Man would come before that generation was wholly passed away. And that the Apostles themselves understood that he would come before that age was completed in a sense different from that of Dr. Taylor, is apparent from the declaration of the apostle Paul, that the Christians were not in darkness, that that day should over-take them unawares, as were the unbelieving Jews; For I suppose no one will think that they had been favoured with a revelation of the time of their death. But this passage will be more fully considered hereafter. In short this hypothesis appears to have been the offspring of necessity, and not quite consistent with that knowledge and penetration, for which he has been distinguished. But we are all liable to mistakes.

     I am fully sensible I shall be liable to the heavy charge of presumption, pretend to see farther than the many great and learned men who have gone before me; many of whom have spent their whole lives in the ardent pursuit of scripture knowledge But the name of Hammond, whose great learning and sound judgment in general is acknowledged, must be my refuge from the imputation of such arrogance. If I have been able to add any thing to what he has advanced upon the subject, it should be remembered that I have his excellent labours, and those of the respectable commentators who differ from him, to assist my enquiries: and that it sometimes happens, that even the opposers of any opinion, may contribute, what may tend to establish the doctrine against which they are engaged.

     The subject, it will be allowed on all hands, is of importance; and an attempt to remove difficulties, and to ascertain the genuine meaning of the Apostles, on this subject, if conducted with becoming temper and moderation, will, it is hoped, be received with that candour which is due to an upright intention! I am persuaded that the records of the New Testament are an invaluable treasury of knowledge of the most important kind; that they only want to be rightly understood, to be more generally admired and more seriously attended to, and that the most humble attempt to throw light upon them, is an employment, not unworthy of any, who are persuaded of the truth of Christianity.

     I have already observed that the predictions of our Lord concerning the destruction of Jerusalem appear to me, to be the only true key to the understanding the passages we propose to examine, and that the sum of those predictions is continued in the 24th of Matt. and in the parallel chapters of Mark and Luke. It will therefore be necessary to examine those chapters, and to enquire into their true meaning, so far at least, as they are the subject of controversy; for some very eminent commentators and divines have strenuously maintained, that some of these predictions relate, not to the destruction of Jerusalem, but to the solemnities of that more awful day, when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed; and it must be owned, that at first sight, some expressions there made use of, appear to favour their opinion.

     But an impartial attention to the language of Scripture, and to the connection in which they stand, will, I am persuaded, remove all doubt upon the subject, and convince us that the Evangelists have their eye upon the destruction of Jerusalem, and upon that only.

     To prevent trouble to the reader, let it be observed, that I shall make the 24th of Matthew the ground of my enquiry; taking notice occasionally, of any difference of importance in the other Evangelists.

     All the three historians agree, that these remarkable prophecies, took their rise from a survey of the temple and its magnificent buildings, which Jesus then told his disciples, should ere long be thrown down, and not one stone left upon another; that is, should be utterly demolished.

Not leaving one stone upon another, says the Bishop of Waterford, is a proverbial and hyperbolical way of speaking to denote very exemplary destruction. The temple was so magnificent, says Dr. Jortin, that it was esteemed for art and beauty one of the wonders of the world; whence it was natural to expect that the Romans according to their usual custom, amidst their conquests, would endeavour to preserve it safe and entire. And Josephus tells us that Titus laboured with all his power to save it, but that his soldiers, as if moved by a divine impulse, would not hearken to his positive and repeated orders, but set fire to every part of it till it was entirely consumed and the soil on which it stood was ploughed up and not one stone left on another. See Jortin's Remarks on E. Hist. vol. i, p. 30.

     Upon this assertion, his disciples very naturally asked him, when these things should be, and what would be the sign of his coming? St. Matt. alone has this addition, and of the end of the world; which Bishop Pearce has, I think, more justly translated, the end of the age, during which the Jewish state was to last, and which age, the disciples imagined, would be at an end, when the Christ came, and visited the Jewish nation.

     This makes the question stated by the three Evangelists, to relate to one and the same event, viz. to the destruction of Jerusalem, and well agrees with the declaration upon which it was founded; which certainly had no relation to the final judgment of the great day. On the contrary, if our translation is admitted to be right, the disciples not only introduce a question, which has no connection whatever, with the occasion which gave rise to it, but which was directly opposite to their well-known sentiments. (Note: This last sentence should probably read, ". . . . if our translation is not admitted to be right, etc."). So far were they from conceiving, that the end of the world was at hand, that they became the followers of Jesus, from a belief that he was the Messiah, and they afterwards gave various evidences even till after his resurrection, that they expected, he would erect a temporal kingdom in the world. Lord, said they, wilt thou not at this time restore the kingdom to Israel. - Acts i.7.

     To corroborate this translation, I shall produce a passage or two from the epistles, which even the mere English reader, who is at all conversant with the New Testament, will see, must necessarily be restrained to the times when they were written. The first is in the 10th chapter of the 1st epistle to the Corinthians, verse 11th: All these things (the things which he had before been speaking of) happened to them for ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Bishop Pearce's note on this passage is remarkable. "St. Paul," says he, "did not imagine, that the end of the world was at hand (as some commentators have, much to his prejudice, supposed): He only alluded to the Jewish distinction of time." The other passage is in Hebrews ix, 26. Now once in the end of the world hath he (Christ) appeared, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself; "which phrase of the 'end of the world; "says the writer just mentioned, "relates, not to the end of the world, strictly speaking, but to the preceding ages, be ing ended."

     In answer to the latter part of the disciple's question, What shall be the sign of thy coming? Or as it is in Luke, what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? Our Lord proceeds to point out to them the various signs by which they might assuredly know, that the ruin of the Jewish nation was approaching, and to give them some useful directions, for the regulation of their conduct under that heavy calamity. This he doth down to the end of the 31st verse. But it is not universally agreed, that the 29th and following verses relate to the destruction of Jerusalem, though the preceding verses evidently have that event in view.

     Let us then proceed to consider those passages which have been thought to be ambiguous and of a doubtful interpretation. The first is Matt. xxiv, 29. Immediately after, or during the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. -The parallel expressions in Mark are nearly the same; but those of St. Luke are less figurative, and of course will more easily admit of an application to the temporal calamities that were to come upon that generation. Luke xxi, 25. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves thereof roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Distress of nations, refers to such nations as inhabited the several countries called by the name of Judea in its widest extent, including Jews, Galileans, Samaritans, &c. Bishop Pearce on the place.

     The difficulty of applying these expressions, to temporal calamities, will, I apprehend, be removed, by observing with Sir Isaac Newton, that in sacred prophecy, the darkening, smiting, or setting of the sun, moon and stars, is put for the ceasing of a kingdom, or for the desolation thereof, proportional to that darkness.-And it is an observation of Dr. Warburton, which I am persuaded will give great pleasure to the reader, as it has done to myself, "that this language was borrowed from the antient hieroglyphics: for as in hieroglyphic writing, the sun, moon, and stars were used to represent states and empires, kings, queens, and nobility; their eclipse and extinction, temporary disasters, or entire overthrow, &c. so in like manner, the holy prophets call kings and empires by the names of the heavenly luminaries; their misfortunes and overthrow are represented by eclipses and extinction; stars falling from the firmament are employed to denote the destruction of the nobility, &c. In a word, the prophetic stile seems to be a speaking hieroglyphic. These observations will not only assist us in the study of the Old and New Testaments, but likewise vindicate their character frin the illiterate cavils of modern libertines, who have foolishly mistaken that for the peculiar workmanship of the prophets' heated imagination, which was the sober, established language of their times, and which God and his Son condescended to employ as the roperest conveyance of the high, mysterious ways of Providence in the revelation of themselves to mankind." Warburton's Divine Legation, vol. ii, book sect. 4.

     A few passages from the prophetic writings of the Old Testament, evidently, and beyond all dispute, descriptive of temporal calamities, will sufficiently illustrate the observations of these great men, and put it out of doubt, that ur blessed Lord had the ruin of the Jewish nation in view, in these highly gurative expressions.

     I shall here transcribe them at full length, though I shall again have occaision to refer to them, when I come to examine into the Apostle's meaning, n those passages of the several epistles, which have been proposed for examination. The reader will then be able to see, and judge for himself, to what ent to refer our Lord's language in the passage now before us. I add, that may be well worth the reader's trouble to read over the whole of those hapters of the prophets, that he may be fully satisfied, they have temporal alamities only in view.

     The first which I shall produce is from the prophet Isaiah, xiii, 10, relating o the destruction of Babylon, as appears from the beginning of the chapter. The stars of heaven, and the consolations thereof, shall not give their light: he sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause er light to shine." Still more remarkable is what the same prophet says of he destruction that was to come upon Idumea, xxxiv, 4. "All the host of eaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scrole; nd all their host shall fall down, as a leaf falleth off from the vine, and as falling fig from the fig- tree." Ezekiel speaking of the ruin of Egypt, thus presses it, xxxii, 7,8, "When I shall put thee out, I will cover the heavens, nd make the stars thereof dark: I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the oon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark ver thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God." I shall menon only one more passage to this purpose, from the prophet Joel, ii, 30, s it is thought to relate to this very calamity, of the destruction of Jerusalem. I will shew wonders in the heavens, and in the earth, blood and fire and illars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into lood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come."

     After reading these remarkable prophecies of temporal calamities, it is ardly possible to entertain a doubt, that our Lord had a particular view to them in the passage under consideration, and that he applied it to the destruction that would soon overtake the Jewish nation. The preceding context requires that it should be restricted to that event, and it is afterwards declared our Saviour, to be among the things that would come to pass in that generaon. To the Jews this language was perfectly familiar and intelligible, though eir mistaken notions, concerning the Messiah's kingdom, would not suffer em to apply it to themselves.

     The Evangelist goes on, verses 30 and 31, in the same figurative stile.
"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn; and they shall see the sign of the Son of man, coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory; and he shall send his angels" or rather messengers, (as the Greek word properly signifies, and is so translated in Mark 1, 2, and Luke vii,14) with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

The words in the Greek, should be translated, "tribes of the land:' which, with great propriety, apply to the people of the Jews, who, it is well known, were divided into 12 tribes.

I beg leave to propose it as a query, Whether the expression here used, "from one end of heaven to the other," has not its signification precisely determined, by the signification of the words, heaven and powers of the heavens, in the 29th verse, which I have endeavoured to shew, mean the Jewish state and constitution, and whether the gathering the elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other, will not bear to be thus translated: -From the four quarters of the land; from one end of the Jewish dominions to the other?

     It is clear from what has been already said, that the 29th verse relates to the destruction of Jerusalem; this appearance of the Son of Man, in the particular circumstances here described, must necessarily relate to the same event; for it is not only limited to the sane period of time by the particle then, but is likewise, one of those things that was to come to pass in that generation. It is also to be observed, that it was a direct answer to the question of the disciples, "What shall be the sign of thy coming?" "The plain meaning of it is " says Bishop Newton, "that the destruction of Jerusalem will be such a remarkable instance of divine vengeance, such a signal manifestation of Christ's power and glory, that all the Jewish tribes shall mourn, and many will be led from thence to acknowledge Christ and the Christian religion. In the antient prophets, God is frequently described, as coming in the clouds, upon any remarkable interposition and manifestation of his power; and the same description is here applied to Christ. The destruction of Jerusalem will be as ample a manifestation of Christ's power and glory, as if he was himself to come visibly in the clouds of heaven." I shall only add, that the sign of the Son of Man is evidently that of which the prophet Daniel speaks, chapter vii, 13, 14. "1 saw in the night visions, and behold one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him, and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people and nations should serve him."

This is the sign which the Jews so frequently required from our Saviour; the expectation of which, was founded upon this very prophecy of Daniel. By the manner in which he alludes to the prediction on this occasion, he expressly contradicts their interpretation of it, as being inconsistent with Daniel's real meaning. They expected that the Son of Man would descend visibly from heaven to take upon him the government of the Jews, and to lead them out to victory over all their enemies. But he informs them, that they ought to expect something almost totally the reverse of this; the Son of Man, not descending visibly, but interposing powerfully and irresistibly, not for raising the Jews to universal empire, but for executing dreadful judgments and destruction on them. They could scarce fail to perceive, that coming in the clouds of heaven implied executing judgment; for the expression is used several times in their own scriptures, and always mean no more than this; they notwithstanding strained it to a literal sense; to the meaning of a visible appearance in Daniel's prediction; and though they understood it to imply, the execution of judgment, yet it was only upon their enemies, not upon themselves. But Jesus informed them, that they themselves were the objects of that judgment. See Gerard's Disertations, sect. 4.

     This kingdom was erected, and the foundation of that universal empire laid, which the prophet here says was to take place, when Christ told his disciples, "that all power was given to him in heaven and on earth, and a name given to him that was above every name." And it appears to me particularly worthy of observation, that the ruin of the Jewish nation is described, not only in the passage before us, but in many others, by the coming of the Son of Man, and by his coming in his kingdom. Remarkable to this purpose is Luke xvii, 20, and following verses. When he was asked when the kingdom of God should come, he entered upon the subject of the destruction of Jerusalem, and dwelt largely upon it; using many of the very same expressions to describe that event, which we find in the 24th of Matt. and the parallel chapters of Mark and Luke. On another occasion, Matt. x, 23, he told his disciples, when they should suffer persecution for their attachment to his cause, to flee from one city to another; "for verily," says he, "I say unto you; ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man be come," "i. e." says Bishop Pearce, "the gospel would not be particularly and fully preached to the cities of Israel, before the ruin of the Jewish state, and his taking vengeance on it" So again Matt. xvi, 28. "Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here, who shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

     While this work was in the press, a friend of mine put the sermons lately preached at Bapton's Lectures, by Ralph Churton, M. A. into my hands. I have been only able to run my eye over them in a very cursory manner; but he does not seem to interfere with my plan; except in applying Matt. xvi, 29, to his transfiguration; which I have referred to the time when the Jewish economy was to cease.

     His argument, that the ancients are unanimously on his side, has as little weight with me, as with the best commentators in modern times; for as Mr. Dodwell long ago observed; they fell far short of the solidity of the moderns, who excel them, not only in philosophy and learning, but in the knowledge of antiquity, and even of their own languages. The principal argument used by Mr. Churton, is the close connection of Matthew xvi, 28, and the parallel chapters of Mark and Luke, with the account of the transfiguration. But, with due submission, I think the connection is evidently, not with the transfiguration, but with the preceding context. We need only go back to the 27th verse, to perceive this, "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, there will be some standing here, who shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." -The coming of the Son of Man in the former, and his coming in his kingdom, in the latter of these verses, clearly determines the connection between the two; for in the account of the transfiguration, which immediately follows, there is not a word said of his coming. Besides, to foretel that the disciples would not die till an event took place which was to happen but six days after, this, as Bishop Newcome observes, would be a prophecy unworthy of Christ.

     I have only to add, that the same connection is observable in mark ix, 2, and in Luke ix, 28.

     And to add no more, John xxi, 23, "If I will that he tarry till I come , what is that to thee?"

     It evidently appears, I think, from these passages, that Christ's coming, and this assuming kingly power and authority, mean one and the same thing. I cannot resist transcribing what Dr. Warburton has written upon this subject in his Julian, which, as Bishop Newton observes, will much illustrate and enforce the foregoing exposition." The prophecy of Jesus concerning the approaching destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, is conceived in such high and swelling terms, that not only the modern interpreters, but the antient likewise, have supposed, that our Lord interweaves into it a direct prediction of his second coming to judgment. Hence arose a current opinion in those times, that the consummation of all things was at hand; which hath afforded a handle to an infidel objection in these, insinuating that Jesus, in order to keep his followers attached to his service, and patient under sufferings, flattered them with the near approach of those rewards, which completed all their views and expectations. To which the defenders of religion have opposed this answer, that the distinction of short and long, in the duration of time, is lost in eternity; and with the Almighty, a thousand years are but as yesterday, &c. But the principle both go upon is false, and if what hath been said be duly weighed, it will appear, that this prophecy doth not respect Christ's second coming to judgment, but his first; in the abolition of the Jewish policy, and the establishment of the Christian: that kingdom of Christ which commenced on the total casing of the theocracy. For as God's reign over the Jews, entirely ended with the abolition of the temple, so the reign of Christ, in spirit and in truth, had then its first beginning.

     This was the true establishment of Christianity, not that effected by the donations or conversions of Constantine. Till the Jewish law was abolished, over which the Father presided as king, the reign of the Son could not take place; because the sovranty of Christ over Mankind, was that very sovranty of God, transferred, and more largely extended.

     This therefore being one of the most important aeras in the economy of grace, and the most awful revolution in all God's religious dispensations; we see the elegance and propriety of the terms in question, to denote so great an event, together with the destruction of Jerusalem by which it was effected." Warburton's Julian, book i, chap. 1.

     Our Lord having touched upon the most material circumstinces and events, which were to take place, prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, and having thus answered the latter part of the question, what the signs of his coming should be, proceeds to answer the other question concerning the time of his coming to destroy Jerusalem. Verse 32 and 33. "Now learn a parable of the fig-tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near," or he is near, "even at the doors." And farther to express his coming as very near, he declares verse 34, "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." Upon which Bishop Newton thus expresses himself- "It is to me a wonder how any man can refer part of the foregoing discourse to the destruction of Jerusalem, and part to the end of the world, or any other distant event, when it is here said, so positively, in the conclusion; All these things shall be fulfilled in this generation. It seemeth as if our Saviour was aware of some misapplication of his words, by adding yet greater force and emphasis to his affirmation, verse 35, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away"

     But though the time was hastening on for the completion of our Lord's prophecy of the ruin of the Jews; yet the exact time of this judgment, laid hid in the bosom of the Father. Verse 36. "Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." St. Mark has it: "Neither the Son, but the Father;" but the sense is the same. Some men of great learning and eminence have thought that our Lord is here speaking, not of the destruction of Jerusalem, but of that more solemn and awful one of the day of judgment. But I can by no means think that the Evangelists are such loose, inaccurate writers, as to make so sudden and abrupt a transition, as they are here supposed to do; much less to break through the fundamental rules of good writing, by apparently referring to something which they had said before; when in reality they were beginning a new subject, and the absurdity of the supposition will appear more strongly, if it is recollected that the question of the disciples was, "When shall these things be?" "Why," says our Saviour, "of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels in heaven, but my Father only."

     The improbability of the Evangelists having the day of judgment in view in this passage, will be still more evident, if we attend to what immediately follows in the 37th verse. "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be;" which the reader will observe, is the very expression just before used, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, and is the common language of the gospels relative to that event. This sudden appearance of Christ, the Evangelist farther illustrates in the 40th and 41st verses. --!'Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left."

The providence of God over my disciples, and the effect of their attention to my forewarnings, will then be remarkable: a distinction will take place between those whose external circumstances are alike. My disciples will be preserved, and others will perish. See Bishop Newcome's Observations on our Lord's conduct as a Divine Instructor.

     Should there be any doubt to what event these expressions belong, it will be removed by comparing them with the xviith of Luke, from the 20th verse to the end of the chapter, where Christ evidently describes the destruction of Jerusalem, and uses the very words of St. Matthew just quoted. Thus it appears that the preceding and subsequent context relate to one and the same event; and the only reason that could have induced commentators to interpret the passage before us, of the final judgment, must have been the difficulty of conceiving, that Christ should not know, when the destruction of Jerusalem was to take place, though he had so minutely foretold the signs and fore-runners of that calamity: but it is equally difficult to imagine that he who is said to have, all power in heaven and in earth, and is appointed to be the judge of quick and dead, should not know when the day of judgment was to happen.

     Bishop Peace questions the authenticity of the last clause of this and the parallel verse in St. Mark, and quotes Ambrose, as saying they were not found in ancient Greek manuscripts of his day; and it is remarkable that St. Luke omits the whole of this verse; I but I do not know that any thing can be gathered from that, as each of the Evangelists have taken notice of some particular which has not been recorded by others. It may however be questioned, whether the sense of this passage is not to be found elsewhere? Acts 1, 7. "It is not for you to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power."

     But whatever is the true sense or reading of this text, the justness of the argument now laid before the reader, is not at all affected by it; for the connection of the whole chapter requires, the day and hour there spoken of, to be restricted to the destruction of Jerusalem, and to that alone. And every one, I believe, will acknowledge, that the connection of a writer is the only true criterion by which to determine his meaning: at least I know of no other.

     It is unnecessary to be very particular in our enquiries into the meaning of the remaining part of the chapter, as it is so clear and so evidently, an improvement of the whole, and especially of the 36th verse. The greatest calamity that ever befel a nation was not far distant-That generation would not wholly pass away, till all the things that had been foretold, would be fulfilled-The signs of its approach had been accurately pointed out to them; but of the exact time, they were not apprized. As therefore they regarded their own safety, it behoved them to watch, to be always ready, and to behave like faithful servants, whom their Lord had entrusted with an honourable and important charge. Such conduct would, when their Lord came, receive its reward. But the servant that was careless and negligent, unfaithful and oppressive, would be surprized by the unexpected coming of their Master, who would not fail to punish them with the serverity they deserved.

     I cannot conclude this examination of the meaning of the xxivth of St. Matthew, without animadverting upon what I conceive to be a great inconsistency in Bishop Newton's conclusion of this subject. He does not hesitate to interpret every part of this chapter, of the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the signs of its approach; and he deserves the highest credit for the masterly manner in which he has handled it. But the reader will be surprized to find him afterwards saying, that some of these passages, particularly Matt. xiv, 29, 30, and 31, in a figurative sense, may be understood of the destruction of Jerusalem, but in their literal sense can be meant only of the end of the world. In like manner; that text, 'Of the day and season, knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only;' "the consistence and connection," he says, "of the discourse oblige us to understand it, as spoken of the time of the destruction of Jerusalem; but in a higher sense, it may be true also of the time of the end of the world, and the general judgment. All the subsequent discourse too, we may observe, doth not relate so properly," he farther says, "to the destruction of Jerusalem, as to the end of the world, and the general judgment. Our Saviour loseth sight, as it were, of his former subject, and adapts his discourse more to the latter."

     These are the Bishop's own words, which, I confess, I am utterly unable to reconcile with the whole tenor of his former reasoning upon the xxivth of Matthew, nor do I understand the propriety of his distinction between the figurative and literal sense, as he has applied it. When these prophecies were first delivered, concerning the ruin of Babylon, of Idumea, and of other nations, which were devoted to destruction by the Almighty for their iniquities; the prophets speak of these calamities, in the high wrought language, familiar to the Eastern nations, and they could only be understood figuratively of what was to happen to them. In their literal sense, the Sun and moon and stars continued to shine as before, without any essential alteration in them; nor can it be made to appear, that the prophets had any allusion to a literal completion of the dissolution of these powers; it being their frequent practice to speak in a metaphorical, without regarding the literal sense of their expressions.

     With regard to the application of this language by our Saviour, Bishop Newton has himself expressed his wonder, (as we have already seen) how many can refer part of the foregoing discourse to the destruction of Jerusalem, and part to the end of the world, when it is said so positively here in the conclusion, "All these things shall be fulfilled in this generation:" and yet contrary to his own assertion, that "the consistence and connection of the discourse oblige us to understand it, as spoken of the destruction of Jerusalem," he says, "in a higher sense, it may be true also of the time of the end of the world, and the general judgment." But so far was our Saviour from understanding the words in a literal sense, that he declared the prophecy, in common with the others he had before mentioned, would be accomplished in that very generation. How unworthy of his character would it have been, to have a reserved meaning, in which that assertion would not be true, and which was not to be discovered, either by the consistence or the connection of the discourse. Upon the whole, I cannot see the smallest ground for supposing that the passages under consideration do at all relate to the great and final judgment; or that our Saviour had any farther view and meaning than what I have endeavoured to lay before the reader. -I have been necessarily obliged to take this notice of an opinion, which is supported by a person of Bishop Newton's distinguished reputation; for while there remained the least doubt of the true meaning of the prophecies we have been considering, our reasonings from them would of course be vague and inconclusive.

     Before I enter upon the consideration of those passages in the epistles, which are the principal object of this enquiry, I shall request the reader's attention to a few observations, which appear to me of no small importance in determining the sense of them.

     One observation is this, that if the 24th of Matt. with the parallel chapters of Mark and Luke, relate wholly to the destruction of Jerusalem; it follows, that whatever events are there pointed out, as significative of that grand catastrophe, may very naturally be expected to be taken particular notice of by the Apostles, in address to those who were any way concerned in them; and that in describing those events, or the signs of their approach; they would adopt a language similar to that of their great Master.

     Thus our Lord exhorts his disciples, to "take heed that no man deceived hem; for that many would come in his name, saying, I am Christ, and would deceive many" Matt. xxiv, 4, 5. Mark xiii, 6. Luke xxi, 8. In St. Matt. xxiv, 24, he assures them that there would "arise false Christs and false prophets, who would shew,' or promise to perform, "great signs and wonders, insomuch hat, if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect" See also Mark xiii, 22.

The Greek word, which is here translated, to shew, signifies to give; that is, says Dr. Farner, they will appeal to, promise, or undertake to produce, such signs, using the very language of the Jewish legislator, who represents a prophet as giving, that is proposing and appealing to a sign or wonder, whether it did or did not come to pass. Farmer on Miracles, p. 304.

     In another place he tells his disciples to beware of false prophets, who would come to them in sheeps clothing, but who were inwardly ravening wolves.

     This is in fact the very language of the Apostles. St. Paul speaks of false prophets, as being among the Corinthians; calling them deceitful workers, who transformed themselves into Apostles of Christ. In the 2d epistle to the Thessalonians, he mentions one whom he characterizes as the Man of Sin, whose coming would be after the working of Satan, with all power and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish. St. John assured those to whom he wrote, that many antichrists and many false prophets, were already gone out into the world; whereby they knew it was the last time, or the time when the Jewish polity was arrived to its utmost period, and Jerusalem would be destroyed. St. Peter also mentions some false teachers, who would bring in damnable or destructive heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

     It is farther to be observed, that our Saviour mentions the exceeding greatness of the calamity that was coming upon the Jewish nation. He particularizes many very extraordinary instances of distress and misery which they would undergo, and asserts that the tribulation would be such as was not from the beginning of the world to that time, no nor ever would be again. The destruction would be complete, and not one stone left upon another. And we have seen that he makes use of the strong language of the antient prophets, to express the magnitude and extent of it.

     Nor are the Apostles a whit less energetic in their discriptions of a terrible calamity that would certainly overtake a particular class of men. 2 Thess. 1, 7. "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." Heb. x, 26. "If we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth; there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins; but a certain looking-for of judgment, that shall devour the adversaries." And verse 28. "He that despised Moses's law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God?" 2 Peter iii, 7. "The heavens and the earth, which are now, are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." And verse 10. "The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up."

     I do not intend to enter upon the question at present, to what events these expressions were actually applied by the Apostles: that will be considered when we come to examine them in their connection, which can alone determine their meaning, and the event to which the Apostles refer them. It is enough to my present purpose to observe, that the awful description our Lord gave of the destruction of Jerusalem, together with the account of it transmited to Josephus, the great historian of that calamity, will justify these very strong modes of speech; especially if the language of the prophets, concerning like, or the same calamities, is also taken into consideration. And they are, on all these accounts what might have been expected, when they were upon that subject.

     Again, the Evangelists, in relating the predictions of our Lord, concerning the downfall of the Jewish nation, constantly represent it, as taking the unbelieving part of that people by surprize; coming upon them as a snare, and as a thief in the night, while they were unapprehensive of danger. Matt. xxiv, 37. "As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be: for as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, and knew not, till the flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." See the like representations in Luke xii, 35 to 41. xvii, 20 to the end. xxi, 35. Mark xiii, 35. St. Matt. speaking of some professors of Christianity, represents them as saying; "My Lord delayeth his coming," and from their subsequent conduct declaring, they did not believe he would come at all. St. Luke does the same, xii, 45, 46.

     To this language of the Evangelists, that of the Apostles is exactly conformable. St. Paul says, that the Thessalonians knew perfectly that the day of the Lord would come as a thief in the night; for when they should say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction would come, as sorrow upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. St. Peter says, 2d epistle, iii, 10, that "the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night:" and he speaks of scoffers or mockers as saying, "Where is the promise of his coming?"

     Another observation that I shall make relates to the design of the epistles. The great and leading view of St. Paul's letters to different churches, was to assert the liberty of the Gentile Christians, against the imposing spirit of the Jews, who wished to constrain them to be circumcised, and to observe the law of Moses. It was on this account that they suffered such violent persecutions, as sometimes to endanger their fortitude and perseverance in that pure and unadulterated profession of Christianity. The same may be said of the design of some of the other epistles, written by the other Apostles. Hence they were obliged to exert all their influence and credit with them, to engage them to stedfastness; to watch every motion of their adversaries; to combat their false reasonings and malicious insinuations, and afford that consolation to their brethren in affliction, which the nature of their situation required.

     Among other arguments which they made use of, they had frequent recourse to this, that their sufferings would be but of short continuance; that they who were the chief sources of their present troubles, would ere long be deprived of the power of injuring them, as they had hitherto done, and in a word, that the promised coming of their Lord was at hand, to take vengeance on them for their obstinate infidelity and unreasonable and violent opposition to the gospel; and that then their sufferings from that quarter would cease, and be succeeded by a glorious and signal deliverance from the impending calamities! A greater design than this, or one more suitable to the known situation of the Christians, to whom the epistles were addressed, can hardly be conceived!

The last observation I shall make is, that the Apostles, in describing the calamities that were coming upon that generation, never mention the particular objects of the divine vengeance by name, nor say any thing of the nature of their punishment, but in general and indefinite terms. This was unnecessary in writing to Christians, with whom they had frequent personal intercourse, and who could not be unacquainted with our Lord's predictions, at least by tradition: for according to Dr. Lardner, it does not appear that the four gospels were published so early as most of the epistles, being probably delayed till the power of the Jews to hurt them, was rendered ineffectual, by the calamities with which they themselves were surrounded. If they had been published long before the calamities of war came upon them; the caution the Apostles observed, would have been useless; because the prophecies of our Lord would have been perfectly intelligible, and could not have failed to have exasperated the Jews against the Christians to a degree of madness, and have rendered their situation still more deplorable.

     For the same reason therefore, that the first records of Christianity were delayed by the wise providence of God; the Apostles forebore to expose themselves and their Christian brethren to the resentment of the civil magistrate, by too open and explicit a declaration of what was to happen to that devoted people. In this repsect they imitated the example and conformed to the precept of their great Lord and Master, being "wise," or cautious, "as serpents, and harmless as doves." They adopted a language that was highly figurative; giving such hints of the destruction of the Jews, as were easily enough understood by those to whom they wrote; but which the enemies of Christianity could not lay hold of to their disadvantage.

     Hence we read of a falling away, apostacy or rebellion; of a man of sin, and son of perdition; of one who let, and would let, till he was taken out of the way; and of times and seasons, and of last times, last days, and the like. Such a cautious method of writing, every one must see, was perfectly justifiable, in the circumstances they and their friends were in; though it is now, I believe a principal cause of the obscurity that prevails upon this subject, particularly in the passages just mentioned.

     There are other causes of the obscurity of this part of the sacred writings, which I shall present to the judicious reader in the words of the great Mr. Locke. ---!'The nature of epistolary writings," says he, "in general disposes the writer to pass by the mention of many things, well known to him to whom this letter is addressed, which are necessary to be laid open to a stranger, to make him comprehend what is said. And it not seldom falls out, that a well-penned letter, which is very easy and intelligible to the receiver, is very obscure to a stranger, who hardly knows what to make of it. The matters that St. Paul write about, were certainly things well known to those he writ to, and which they had some peculiar concern in; which made them easily apprehend his meaning and see the tendency and force of his discourse. But we, having now at this distance, no information of the occasion of his writing, little or no knowledge of the temper and circumstances of those he writ to, were in, but what is to be gathered from the epistles themselves; it is not strange, that many things in them lie concealed to us, which, no doubt, they who were concerned in the letter, understood at first sight. Add to this that in many places, 'tis manifest, he answers letters sent, and questions proposed to him, which if we had would much better clear those passages that relate to them than all the learned notes of critics and commentators, who in after-times, fill us with their conjectures, for very often, as to the matter in hand, they are nothing else" See Mr. Locke's preface to his Paraphrase on the Epistles.

     These observations, if they are not a presumptive evidence of the real meaning of the Apostles in the passages we have proposed to examine, will, it is hoped, at least ensure a patient and candid attention to their connection and design, and perhaps throw light upon some of them, which have hitherto baffled the skill of the most able interpreters.

     The two epistles of St. Paul to the Thessalonians challenge our first attention, not only on account of their being the first written of all the epistles; but because, I apprehend, the meaning of the Apostle in them is more generally misunderstood and misapplied by than in most other passages, that are the subject of our present enquiry.

     The learned Mr. Pyle, having applied some of the passages which we shall presently consider, indiscriminately to the day of final judgment, and that of the destruction of the Jewish nation; his account of the design of these epistles cannot well be suspected. I rather choose therefore to lay it before the reader, than to give it in my own words, which cannot more fully express my sentiments of it. "It is," says he, "the opinion of the most exact chronologers, that there could not pass above a year between the writing of these two epistles. What the chief aim of them was, will be learned, partly from the history of the acts, relating to St. Paul's preaching to this church, and partly from passages in the epistles themselves. Acts xvii, we find St. Paul preaching in a Jewish synagogue at Thessalonica. The converts he then made, according to the account there given, consisted of some Jews, but mostly of Greeks, proselyted to their religion. But some Gentiles also came in, before either of these epistles were sent, and made this, like most others, a church consisting of both kinds of believers, seem clear from several expressions, and from advices directed to Gentile converts, as in I Thessalonians i, 9. iv, 3, 5, 6. Of the violent opposition to the Apostles doctrine, and implacable malice where-with the generality of the Jews persecuted him, we read in the forementioned chapter of the Acts. And the whole strain of these epistles, together with the time of their inditement, shew his design to have been, to support his new Christians under the furious attacks and to guard them against the false and malicious suggestions of those Jewish zealots." With this account agrees, that of the most celebrated commentators and divines, and it is indeed too evident to be denied.

     I shall begin with the 5th chapter of the 1st epistle, which from its close connection with the conclusion of the former chapter, has generally been supposed to be a continuation of the subject of the general resurrection at the last day, of which the Apostle is there speaking. "Of the times and the seasons brethren, ye have no need that I write to you." In answer to this representation, it might be observed, that the Apostle apparently concludes his former argument by adding, in the last verse, "wherefore comfort one another with these words" and this certainly deserves some attention, independent of any other consideration.

     Besides; if the times and the seasons relate to the time of the resurrection at the last day, the Apostle could not have said, that the Christians were not in darkness, that that day should overtake them as a thief; for I presume it will be allowed by all, that they were as much in darkness, as to the time when it should take place, as the unbelieving Jews themselves; not to mention that it was a matter of mere curiosity, which the Apostle would hardly have indulged.

     It is an observation of Bishop Newton, that if we consult reason, if we consult revelation, about the time when the general judgment shall come, neither of them afford us any light: both of them leave us in darkness. See his dissertation on the general Judgment.

     I think this must appear to every attentive reader, to be an argument of some considerable weight against the common interpretation. But other evidence is not wanting, that the Apostle in this chapter has begun a new subject; or rather, that the conclusion of the former chapter was only an occasional digression from the main design of the epistle.

     The only way to ascertain the Apostle's meaning, and of course to determine the sense of the ensuing context, is to examine in what sense the phrase, "times and seasons," is used by the sacred writers; for upon that the whole evidently depends. The instances where this expression occurs, are indeed but few, yet enough, I believe, to determine the Apostle's idea of it.

     In the 2d chapter of Daniel, that prophet, having been favoured with the revelation of the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had forgot, expresses his adoration of the divine perfections, displayed in the government of the world, in these remarkable words, verses 20, 21. "Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever; for wisdom and might are his: and he changeth the times and the seasons; he removeth kings and setteth up kings." Here the prophet evidently uses the very expression of the Apostle for a change of government, or an alteration of the political state of a nation, as he afterwards more fully illustrates it, in the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, verses 39, 40. "After thee shall arise another kingdom, inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth; and the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron." In the 7th chapter of the same prophet, the expression is a little varied, but the sense is manifestly the same. Speaking of a king that should arise in future times, he says of him, verse 25, that "he shall think to change times and laws."

     There is one passage more, where this phrase is used, and that is in the New Testament, by our Saviour himself, and he evidently adopts the sense, as well as the expression of the prophet; for when his disciples asked him, when he would restore the kingdom to Israel, without giving them a direct answer to their question, he replied: "it is not for you to know the times and the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power." As if he had said ---!'You have no business to pry too curiously into the dispensations of Heaven, in producing those great revolutions which his wisdom may see fit to bring about; but to rest satisfied that they will take place in their proper time.

     It should be particularly attended to, that the disciples, by restoring the kingdom to Israel, undoubtedly meant the Messiah's exercising kingly power and authority, and rescuing the Jewish nation from that servitude to the Romans which they had long submitted to with great reluctance. At the time the Apostle wrote his epistles, the nature of kingdom was better understood, and the carnal notions of the Jewish believers corrected.

     When, therefore, the Apostle uses the like phrase, probably, as in the case of our Lord, in answer to some query put to him, it is not likely that he should vary the established meaning of it, by referring it to the general resurrection, but applied it to that period, when the Jewish constitution was to be abolished, and Jerusalem laid in ruins; especially if it is considered that this period was then very near at hand.

     If