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"the fword, and his young men fhall be dif "comfited. And he fhall pafs over to his ftrong "hold for fear, and his princes fhall be afraid "of the enfign, faith the Lord, whofe fire is in "Zion, and his furnace in Jerufalem ;” Ifa. xxxi. 8, 9. This prophecy may have a double meaning. Every word of it is applicable to Sennacherib. His army fell by the fword of the angel, not therefore by the sword of a mighty He fled from the sword, and

or a mean man.

his army was difcomfited. He paffed over to Nineveh, his strong hold, for fear, and his princes or captains haftened out of the land of Judea, for fear of that God whofe refidence was in Zion, and whom they experienced to be a confuming fire to his enemies.

But the prophecy, as appears from the connection, points likewife to the fall of the blafphemous king, fo often termed the Affyrian, and the expreffions are so happily chosen, that every word is applicable to his cafe. The power and interpofition of the Deity, fhall be confpicuous in his fall; but previous to that he shall flee for fear of the fword of the Jews, to Jerufalem his ftrong hold, the armies that fupport him fhall be discomfited. He and the kings of the earth fhall be confumed at Jerufalem, as in a furnace, by fire from heaven. The reprefentation here as to the place and manner of his

fall

fall, accords with that in the paffage quoted immediately before.

"Let the heathen be wakened, and come up "to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will "I fit to judge all the heathen round about;" Joel iii. 12. From ver. 9. to 18. we have an animated description of the battle of Armageddon; for the expreffions of it are quoted and applied to that event, Rev. xiv. 14.-20. In the preceding context, we have an account of the perfecution carried on by the blafphemous king previous to the battle, as I have already observed, and in the following context, there is a description of the Millennium, according to the order of events laid down in the Apocalypfe; fo that the battle of Armageddon must be intended; but the place of that battle is the valley of Jehoshaphat, which is a continuation of the valley of Tophet, or the son of Hinnom, lying to the eaft of Jerufalem, through which the brook of Kedron runs.

"Behold, I will make Jerufalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, "when they shall be in the fiege both against "Judah and against Jerufalem ;" Zech xii. 2. The word tranflated against, fignifies concerning, and is rendered for, as often as against. It is fo tranflated in the verse immediately preceding, for Ifrael." It ought to be fo rendered in this

verse,

verfe, and the whole paffage would run thus: "The burden of the word of JEHOVAH for Ifra"el. JEHOVAH faith, who ftretcheth forth the "heavens, and layeth the foundations of the "earth, and formeth the spirit of man within "him, Behold, I will make Jerufalem a cup of "trembling unto all the people round about.

(It fhall be alfo for Judah, in the fiege for "Jerufalem)." The laft words intimate, that the prophecy concerns Judah as well as Ifrael, and that it shall be accomplished at Jerufalem, in a fiege for that city. Now, the prophecy reprefents a fignal interpofition of the Deity for the deftruction of their enemies, which can be no other than the battle of Armageddon; for the time is fixed by the circumstances of the narration. It is in that day when “all the peo- . "ple of the earth are gathered together (against) "it," (Zech. xii. 3.) or (for) it. It is the occafion of their gathering; when the Jews are the inftruments in the hand of God, to punish their enemies. "I will make the governors "(leaders) of Judah like a hearth of fire among "the wood, and like a torch of fire in a fheaf; "and they fhall devour all the people round "about, on the right hand, and on the left;" Zech. xii. 6. When they fhall be restored to the poffeffion of the land given their fathers, "Jerufalem shall be inhabited again in her own

"place,

"place, even in Jerufalem;" Zech. xii. 6. In a word, about the time they are converted to the faith of the Saviour whom their fathers crucified; Zech. xii. 10.-14. These circumftances apply fully and only to the battle of Armaged don. If fo, the place of the battle is near Jerufalem, the occafion a fiege of that city by the Jews, while it is defended by the combined forces of the kings of the earth, and their armies.

SECTION II.

The Parties are, on the one fide the Papal Power, affifted by the Kings of the Earth and their Armies; on the other Side, the converted Jews.

THESE are in general the parties. They are ftated on the one fide by the Prophet Isaiah, chap. xxiv. 21. "And it fhall come to pass in "that day, that the Lord fhall punish the hoft "of the high ones that are on high, and the "kings of the earth upon the earth." The

high ones" are Satan and his hoft, "wicked "fpirits that dwell in high places;" for, after the battle of Armageddon, Satan is bound 1000 years, Rev. xx. ; at the end of that period he is loofed, and stirs up enemies of a fimilar spirit with the kings vanquished at Armageddon; and fo it

66

is faid here, Ifa. xxiv. 22. "They shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be vifited" that is "loofed." They are mentioned by Zephaniah, chap. iii. 8. “ My de"termination is to gather the nations, that I may "affemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them "mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; " for all the earth fhall be devoured with the "fire of my jealousy." By Zechariah, chap. xii. 3. "And in that day will I make Jerufalem a "burdensome stone for all people: All that bur"den themselves with it, fhall be cut in pieces, "though all the people of the earth be gathered "together against it." Both parties are stated by Joel, chap. iii. 11. "Affemble yourselves,

"and come all ye heathen, and gather your"felves together round about: Thither cause "thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord."

By the kings of the earth we are to understand the Popish and Pagan powers. And we muft reckon them fewer than the expression would at first indicate, when we reflect that the feventh trumpet founded about 70 years before the battle of Armageddon, and that the gofpel was mightily prevailing during all that period, in the western regions of the world; and that it is by no means probable the Proteftant churches, who have all along looked and prayed for the converfion of the Jews, fhould, upon their conversion,

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