whole hearts, that we may "have confidence before him at his coming."] 2. How may we welcome afflictions, provided we be truly upright! [What are afflictions but the sieve in our Father's hand, whereby he takes us from among the ungodly, and "purifies us unto himself a peculiar people?" And shall we distrust his skill, or doubt his love? If the countryman, instructed by him, knows how to suit his threshing-instruments to the nature of his corn, shall God be at a loss how most effectually to produce his ends on us1? Let us then leave ourselves in his hands, and submit cheerfully to the means, that we may at last attain the end.] 3. How important a grace is faith! [Under the various trials with which we are harassed, it is faith alone that can keep us steadfast, or afford us any solid comfort. If we be destitute of faith, we shall be tormented with ten thousand fears: but if we be strong in faith, we shall, under all circumstances, "stay ourselves on God, and be kept in perfect peacek." However sensible we be of our own weakness and unworthiness, we shall expect the accomplishment of God's promise, and shall dismiss our fears, "knowing that he is able to keep that which we have committed to him." May we all be enabled in this manner to trust ourselves in his hands, and to wait quietly for that salvation which he has prepared for us!] Isai. xxviii. 26-28. k Isai. xxvi. 3. 1 2 Tim. i. 12. MCXCV. CONVERSION OF THE JEWS AND GENTILES. Amos ix. 11, 12. In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this. PROPHECIES are of necessity involved in some measure of obscurity; so that the full extent of their meaning cannot be seen at first, nor the precise period for their accomplishment ascertained. To many of them is affixed an apparently determinate, but really indeterminate, date; "In that day." The expression, "In that day," always refers to some signally important time, but not always to the same time it sometimes refers to one advent of our Lord, and sometimes to another; so that we cannot determine, except by the passage itself, whether it relate to his coming in the flesh, or his coming to destroy Jerusalem, or his coming to reign in the Millennium, or his coming to judge the world. The context however will generally enable us to fix the period intended, if it relate only to one; or to specify the different seasons, if its reference be more extensive. It is with these words that the prophecy before us is introduced and in it the diversity of their meaning will appear. Let us consider, I. The import of the prophecy It evidently has different seasons of accomplishment. It speaks of, 1. The return of the Jews from Babylon [All the prophets who lived before that event spake of it; to some it afforded very ample scope for the minutest predictions. By their captivity in Babylon, the Jews were reduced to the lowest state of degradation: their polity, both civil and religious, was destroyed; and there were no remains of that grandeur to which they had been elevated in the days of David. But, on their return from Babylon, things were restored, in a measure," as in the days of old;" and their inveterate enemies of Edom became subject to them. This however is certainly only a subordinate sense of this prophecy; for it refers much more strongly to,] 2. The conversion of the Gentiles [When we speak of David's kingdom as typical of the Messiah's; and his enemies, of the Messiah's enemies; we perhaps may be thought to lean rather to the side of fancy than of judgment. But fancy should find no scope for exercise in interpreting the word of God: truth, and truth alone, should be the object of our research. The propriety of such representations is strongly marked by an inspired writer; who, when determining a controversy of the utmost importance to the Jews, adduces this very passage against them, to shew, that a Obad. ver. 18-21. God had, many ages before, decreed the reception of the Gentiles into his Church, without subjecting them to the rite of circumcision: and if that Apostle had imposed a sense upon the passage foreign to its real and received meaning, the Jews would doubtless have objected to his interpretation of it Here then we have one sense at least, (and that the most doubtful one,) of this important passage, fixed by undisputed and infallible authority. That in this sense it was accomplished, is too plain to stand in need either of proof or illustration: we ourselves, as of Gentile extraction, are living monuments o its truth.] 3. The future restoration of the Jews, and their union with the Gentiles in one universal Church [Though myriads of Gentiles have been converted to Christianity, we are far enough from having seen "all the heathen" subjected to the yoke of Christ; yet it is of all the remnant of the unconverted heathen that the prophet speaks. Nor have the Jews been so brought back to their own land as to be driven from it no more: yet it is to such a restoration of them that the prophet refers. Both of these events will take place together, or in the nearest connexion with each other: "the fall of the Jews has been the riches of the Gentiles," and the fulness of the Gentiles will be as renewed life to the Jews: then will both be united under one Head, the Lord Jesus Christ; and he, as the true David, will reign over them for ever. All his enemies then, whether Jewish or heathen, will be put under his feet; and all the kingdoms of the world become his undisputed possession.] Nor is this a speculative subject merely, but one replete with comfort: this will appear by considering, II. The encouragements to be derived from it Every prophecy admits of practical improvement; and this especially. It affords us rich encouragement, 1. In relation to individuals [The state of multitudes is altogether as desperate as was that of the Jews in Babylon. What hope is there of the proud infidel the abandoned sensualist-the cruel persecutor-the hardened backslider??-We should be ready to say concerning them, "There is no hope:" but there is nothing impossible with God; and he who restored the Jews from Babylon, and converted so many Gentiles by the instrumentality of a few b Acts xv. 13-17. d Rom. xi. 12, 15, 31. c ver. 14, 15. e Jer. xxx. 9. Zech. xiv. 9. f Shew in each of these states how desperate their condition is. poor fishermen, can at any time reclaim the prodigal, convert a Saul, or restore a David Let none then despair of themselves, as though they were beyond the reach of mercy; nor of others, as though God could not subdue them to the obedience of faith. Though they are "dry bones, very dry, the Spirit may yet enter into them, and they may lives."] 2. In relation to the world at large [Who that sees the state of the world at this moment, would conceive it possible that truth and righteousness should one day universally prevail? Yet God has ordained that the little grain of mustard seed which has sprung up, shall become a tree that shall extend its shadow over the whole earth If we look at the work indeed, we shall sit down in despair: but if we recollect who it is that says, " I, I will do it," we shall see not only the possibility, but the certainty, of that event. Many, from not adverting to this, laugh at the idea of missions: and many whom God has fitted for missionary labours, are afraid to engage in them. But "is there any thing too hard for the Lord?" and has he not " ordained strength in the mouths of babes and sucklings?" Has he not said too, "The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this?" Let us then look with pity both on Jews and heathens; and, in humble hope that the time of God's effectual interposition is fast approaching, let us labour, according to our ability, to extend the kingdom of our Lord, and to advance his glory.] 8 Ezek. xxxvii. 1-14. MCXCVI. THE MILLENNIAL STATE. Amos ix. 13. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. IT is gratifying to see what a harmony there is in all the prophets, in their descriptions of the glory of the latter day. The representations which heathen poets have given of what they call the golden age, are more than realized in their predictions. They appear indeed to speak of earthly things; but it is of heavenly things that they speak and by earthly images they embody truth, and present it to our minds with incomparably greater force than it could by any other means be conveyed. The idea of fertility, for instance, in all its richest luxuriance, is calculated to make a strong impression on the imagination it is tangible, as it were; and we can apprehend it; and, when it is set before us in glowing language, we can with ease transfer to spiritual things our perceptions with all their clearness, and our impressions with all their force. Most striking is the picture drawn by the Prophet Hosea. He represents the people uttering their complaints to the corn and wine and oil; and they to the earth; and the earth to the heavens; and the heavens to Jehovah: and all of them in succession conceding to the other the blessings solicited at their hands; Jehovah granting clouds to the heavens; they pouring out their contents upon the earth; the earth yielding its juices to the corn and wine and oil; and they nourishing the famished people. The Prophet Joel goes further, and describes the effects produced, the mountains dropping down new wine, and the hills flowing with milk'; whilst the Prophet Amos proceeds yet further, and represents the productions of the earth as so abundant, that there will scarcely be time to gather them in; "the plowman overtaking the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth the seed:" in other words, that the successive operations of husbandry will, by reason of the abundance, press so closely upon each other, as almost to interrupt the regular execution of them. It is with the spiritual import of these images that we are more immediately concerned. It seems indeed highly probable, that agreeably to the promise given by Moses, there will be, as nearly as possible, a literal accomplishment of these things in Palestine, after that the Jews shall have been restored to their own land; (for that event shall certainly take place in the appointed time:) but infinitely richer blessings a Hos. ii. 21--23. b Joel. iii. 18. c Lev. xxvi. 5. d ver. 14, 15. |