WHEN God unveiled the scenes of futurity to patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, -by dreams and mystic visions, (a) by oral revelation, or an afflatus communicated from heaven, (')—it was sometimes to answer an immediate purpose of His pro

(a) Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.- Daniel ii. 27-29.

(b) For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.-2 Peter i. 21.

(c) This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh : What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh. Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: and there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.Genesis xli. 28-30, 33, 36. Also Acts xxvii. 21-25.

And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be

vidence; (c) sometimes, that the early fulfilment of a prediction might authorize the messages of His servants, and prove the reality of His sovereign power; (4) and sometimes that the events coming to pass in after ages, might demonstrate the

great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Cæsar. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judæa: which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.-Acts xi. 27-30.

(d) Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord God.- Ezekiel xxiv. 24.

And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.Ezekiel xxxiii. 33.

And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.-Zechariah vi. 15.

The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him.-Jeremiah xxviii. 8, 9.

Aud Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. 1 Kings xvii. 1.

B

authenticity of His word, and furnish an "evidence from prophecy" even more irresistible than that from "miracles." ()

The long series of prophecies, whether already accomplished or still unfulfilled, reveal to us not only God's foreknowledge, (f) but also His designed plan of the world's history; showing how the Divine will is operating in all the transactions of

(e) Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.-Isaiah xli. 21–23.

I am the Lord: that is my name and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.-Isaiah xlii. 8, 9.

And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.-Isaiah xliv. 7.

Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.-Isaiah xlv. 21.

Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.-Isaiah xlvi. 9, 10. And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?-Ezekiel Xxxviii. 16, 17.

And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.-John xiv. 29.

But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.-John xvi. 4.

(f) Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it? Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy ?-Amos iii. 6-8.

Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish; how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know

mankind, (9) as well as in the minutest workings of the inferior creation, (")—the rise and fall of nations, their changes and catastrophes, being all parts of one grand scheme of God's dealing with the universe.()

And while we learn from the magnificent visions of the Bible how the affairs of earth are related to a sublimer history simultaneously transpiring in the invisible world, () we obtain glimpses of the secret

what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.Isaiah xix. 11, 12.

Thus saith the Lord the maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it; the Lord is his name; Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.-Jeremiah xxxiii. 2, 3.

(g) Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.-Jeremiah i. 9, 10.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord.-2 Chronicles xxxvi. 12.

But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.Zechariah i. 6.

(h) Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.Matthew x. 29, 30.

(i) Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.-Daniel ii. 27, 28.

Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever for wisdom and might are his: and he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: he revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. -Daniel ii. 20-22.

(j) And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath,