"Ye are my Witnesses." Thus saith the Lord,
Forsaken for a moment, and abhorred;
But with a love, deeper than hell's abyss,

And higher than Angelic homes of bliss.
Loved of their God! Soon Israel's sons shall be
Graffed in again to their own olive tree;
Soon, living branches of the living vine,
Yielding the richest fruit, the choicest wine.
Soon, Witnesses for Christ, their Lord and king,
O'er Judah's hills their triumph-songs shall ring;
For He hath formed them to show forth His praise,
And kept them through the dark and evil days,
That whereso'er their exiled feet have trod,
They might at length declare the love of God;
And the rich treasures of His grace proclaim
Who died to ransom them from sin and shame.

Amen! Amen! hasten, O Lord, the time
When Israel's sons to every land and clime
Shall bear the news to Bethlehem's shepherds given,
By the rejoicing messenger of heaven.

Hasten the time; when pardoned, blessed, restored,
They bear exulting Witness for their Lord!

J. T.

London: Printed at the Operative Jewish Converts' Institution,

Palestine Place, Bethnal Green.

THE JEWISH ADVOCATE.

APRIL, 1852.

THE FUTURE PROSPECTS OF THE JEWS.

PROPHECY.

III.

THE next Prophecy in order of time, wherein we meet with any thing that evidently relates to the restoration of Israel, is that of JOEL, who began to prophecy to the kingdom of Judah about 800 years before Christ.

Joel ii. 18. "Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people.

19. "Yea, the Lord will answer, and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen.

20. "But will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea; and his stink shall come up, because he hath done great things.

21. "Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice; for the Lord will do great things.

25. "And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you.

26. "And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

27. "And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else and my people shall never be ashamed.

Chap. iii. 1. "For behold in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem.

2. "I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people, and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

9. "Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up.

10. "Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong.

11. "Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.

12. "Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.

13. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get ye down, for the press is full, the fats overflow, for their wickedness is great.

14. "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of

decision ;* for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

15. “The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

16. "The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

17. So shall ye 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 her any more.

18. "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

19. "Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

20. "But Judah shall dwell† for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation,

21. “For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed for the Lord dwelleth in Zion."

In order to the right understanding of this prophecy, let us first endeavour to find out who are meant by the northern army in verse 20, of chap. ii. Now it is plain that this army can be no other than that described in the second and

* Or, the valley of threshing; or, the valley appointed. + Or, be inhabited. ‡ Or, avenge.

following verses of this chapter-A great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of generation and generation. A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness, yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, and as horsemen so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array, &c. That this cannot mean the Babylonian, or Assyrian forces, is plain; because it is said to be a great and strong people, there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of generation and generation, (as it is in the original,) a phrase which signifies, throughout all generations, or, for ever. But the Persians, Grecians, and Romans, were not only equal, but greater and stronger than the Babylonians. Another reason why the Assyrians cannot be here meant, is what is said, ver. 1, of the following chapter, For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people, whom they have scattered among all the nations, and have parted my land; none of which circumstances did happen when they were brought back from the Babylonish captivity. Add to this what is said, ver. 19, chap. ii., I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen; and it will be evident that the Babylonian or Assyrian forces cannot be here intended. If it be asked, of whom