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.

66

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.

66

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

this northern army is to consist? I answer, that it seems to me, that all those nations at least, who have had a hand in scattering Israel, or parting his land, will come in for a share of those judgments. What still further proves the accomplishment of this Prophecy to be yet future, is what is said in ver. 26, 27, My people shall never be ashamed. And ver. 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 stranger pass through her any more. And again, ver. 20, But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

IV.

Amos the prophet lived in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel, and prophesied about 787 years before Christ.

Amos ix. 11. "In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof, and will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.

12. "That they may possess the remnant of ́Edom, and of all the heathen which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doth this.

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.t

The meaning here is, that they which are called by my name may possess the remnant of Edom, &c., and not the remnant of Edom, and all the heathen which are called by my name, as it may be understood from our translation. † Or, be fruitful.

14. "And I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof: they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

15. " And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God."

This Prophecy is so express and clear, that it wants no explanation. I shall only observe, that the last verse proves the restoration here spoken of to be yet future.

ར.

HOSEA prophesied about the year 785, to the kingdom of Israel, in the days of the same Jeroboam the son of Joash.

Hosea iii. 4. " ·For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim. Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days."

The latter days signify the latter ages of Christianity, or of the world, which forbids the applying this prophecy to any former return. Besides, this prophecy being spoken to the kingdom of Israel in particular, prevents the application of it to the return from Babylon, to which place they were never carried.

(To be continued.)