in adjusting all things in such a manner that the last correspond to the first, yet it is altogether contrary to that modesty which becomes us to feign for ourselves certain resemblances and correspondences, according to which the works of God are to be conducted. Unless there be sufficient evidence regarding the will of God, it is an instance of temerity on our part, to have recourse to reasons of that sort. But nothing respecting the will of God as to this matter, can be concluded from the passages alleged. The words of the Angels in the Acts refer unquestionably, not to the place, but to the manner, of the coming of Christ.

XXXVIII. The inferences, deduced from the third Chapter of Joel, are also mere conjectures. 1st, It is uncertain whether the valley of Jehoshaphat be a proper name, or an appellative. The latter seems more consonant both to the subject, and to the enigmatic language of prophecy. 2dly, If it is allowed to be a proper name, it still remains uncertain, what part of the world is so called. Many think that this designation is given to the valley in which the enemies of Jehoshaphat perished, where Jehoshaphat himself blessed the Lord, and where he had said; "O our God, wilt "thou not judge them ?" But that valley is called "the valley of Berachah," that is, of Blessing. Nowhere in Scripture, or in the writings of Geographers, is it denominated the valley of Jehoshaphat. It was situated too, it is certain, at a considerable distance from Jerusalem: for it was near the place where the overthrow of the enemies happened, that were assembled at Hazazon-tamar, which is Engedi, whither

a

the Israelites went forth through the wilderness of Tekoa, which, according to Jerome, is twelve miles distant from Jerusalem; as likewise, after having obtained the victory, and rendered thanks to God, they began their march to return to Jerusalem. It is quite Gincredible then, that this valley is adjacent to Olivet.

Others therefore imagine that it is a place betwixt Jerusalem and the mount of Olives, which might be called the valley of Jehoshaphat, either from the sepulchre of that King being situated in it; or from some of his buildings, suppose a triumphal arch, erected there to commemorate his victory. But this last suggestion of those writers is uncertain, and supported by no authority; and the former is utterly false; for Jehoshaphat was buried in the city of David,d not in any valley without the precincts of Jerusalem. Cornelius a Lapide, besides, has committed a prodigious blunder,* in maintaining that the valley of Jehoshaphat is the valley of Kidron, and at the same time asserting that it contains Gehenna, or the valley of the sons of Hinnom. The valley of Kidron, it is clear, was on the east of Jerusalem, betwixt the temple and Olivet; whilst the valley of the sons of Hinnom lay on the south. 3dly, Wherever the valley of Jehoshaphat may be situated, and whatever may be the extent of the valley so called, it cannot be sufficient for the many thousands of myriads of mankind, that are to be summoned to judgment. As to the conjectures of Cornelius, that by means of levelling the places adjacent, that valley may be extended far and wide;-and then that the reprobate only are to be gathered together on the earth, and

* Error Tartessia muræna grandior.

the saints to be assembled not on the earth, but in a more elevated region and nearer the Judge, to wit, in the air; where they are to sit together as in an aerial scaffold, some higher and others lower according to their merits, these are the dreams of men disordered by a fever, or the ravings of madmen, not the discoveries of the Gospel.

XXXIX. But what is of the greatest weight, the passage in Joel referred to, doth not relate to the last judgment. To omit other arguments, the truth of this assertion is evident from the consideration, that the judgment spoken of by the Prophet, is succeeded by a description, which begins at the seventeenth verse, of the glorious state of the Church on earth. What then? This prophecy contains an account of some signal display of the Divine vengeance on the enemies of the New Testament Church, not unlike that which happened in the time of Jehoshaphat; for there is an allusion to that history, which may be thus explained. The Moabites, the Ammonites, and the children of mount Seir, undertook an expedition against Judea in the reign of Jehoshaphat, and came to the valley of Blessing, where, at the singing of the Israelites, as if struck with a kind of supernatural rage, they rushed against each other with mutual violence, and wounded and destroyed one another, so as clearly to manifest that Jehovah is the Judge, and the avenger of his people. God, in his adorable providence, is, in like manner, so to govern the affairs of the world, that nations which are in the vicinity of the Church, and somewhat connected with her in several respects, may take counsel against the Church which is separated from their communion, invade her boundaries, and reduce her to such extremities, that, like Jehoshaphat when he knew not

what to do, the Church may confess she is unable to cope with so vast a multitude of enemies. In this juncture, however, God will suddenly defeat the counsel and frustrate the efforts of the nations, and set them at variance with each other, that they may mutually attack one another, and thus exhaust their strength. By this means he will demonstrate that he is Judge in the quarrel into which they wantonly entered with the Church, and which he will decide in her favour, that she may celebrate his praises in joyful songs.51

XL. With respect to the TIME of the judgment, the following things are to be observed. 1st, God has determined a certain day;f namely, the last day of the world, the day in which the resurrection of the dead and the consummation of all things will take place.s 2dly, It is unknown to men, and should not be inquired into. Christ has prohibited inquiries respecting it.h Paul did not deem it necessary to write of it. It is not known even to the Angels in heaven; nor was it known to Christ himself, according to the human nature, in the state of humiliation. It has pleased God to conceal from us the day of judgment, that we might be always employed in devout and conscientious preparation for it.k

XLI. 3dly, The Apostles sometimes speak of the last day as if, even in their own time, it were already

near at hand.

Nay, in some passages the Apostle Paul seems to class himself amongst them whom that day shall find alive.m Those expressions, however, are not to be understood, according to the comments of Grotius, as if the Apostles imagined the day of the last judgment was so near, that it would come whilst themselves were living. This interpretation is inconsistent with the infallibility of the sacred writings, which the Apostles did not compose at random, from their own conjectures; but with absolute certainty, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Apostles, besides, delivered many predictions which they knew could not be accomplished within the space of their own life. They spoke also of their own death, and of events that were to happen after it. Paul, too, gave explicit notice, that the day of the Lord was not so very near, and that his words were not to be understood in that sense; although in his expressions he might sometimes personate those who shall be found alive in that day, and "in a figure transfer to himself," the events which are to happen to them. See another instance of the same figure in 1 Pet. iv. 3. The Apos tles' speaking of the day of the Lord as so near, if it ought not sometimes to be explained as referring to the judgment of God on the rebellious nation of the Jews, seems to be owing to this; that in the Divine estimation, and when time is compared with eternity, "a thousand years are as one day.” 9 52

11 Cor. x. 11. Philip. iv. 5. James v. 8, 9. 1 Pet. iv. 5. 1 John