of their power, genius, and riches, levelled with the dust, and preserved in ruins, for the purpose of illustrating and confirming the faithful testimony of the eternal God, as recorded in his most holy word. How wonderful are the predictions of his commissioned servants, when compared with the events to which they direct our minds; and what a convincing, demonstrative proof do we see of the truth and divinity of the holy Scriptures! With what admirable propriety does Jehovah allege this memorable instance of his foreknowledge, in relation to Babylon, and challenge all the false divinities and their votaries to produce anything of similar import. "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 else beside 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,” Isa. xlv. 21 ; xlvi.

10.

What an affecting lesson is afforded to us, by the blasted ruins of the temple and palaces of magnificent Babylon! Powerfully do they confirm, and illustrate, and awfully recommend, the instructive language of the apostles of Christ. "All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever," 1 John ii. 16, 17.

CHAPTER XII.—UNFULFILLED PROPHECY.

THE Bible scheme of prophecy is manifestly divine. Upon this subject the foregoing chapter, on several prophecies remarkably fulfilled, will serve as a demonstration to every reflecting reader. Considered in its first dawning; its gradual advancement; its partial comple

tion, in the overthrow of the great monarchies; the advent of the Messiah; the perfection of his mediation; the dispersion of the Jews, his enemies; the establishment of his kingdom among the Gentiles; and the prevailing influence of its saving knowledge and the fear of the LORD covering the earth, preparatory to the great day of God; prophecy is an object the most sublime that imagination can conceive, and the most important that a devout mind can contemplate.

In the Bible we behold the spirit of prophecy pervading all time; commencing so early as the first man, and extending to the final consummation of all things: we see it uniformly characterizing one person; first, by dark and obscure intimations, then gradually unfolding itself with brighter lustre as it advances, till the appearance of Him who was its ultimate end and object. In Him, and in his apostles, especially in his beloved disciple, we behold it renewed, predicting, with peculiar exactness, every important event which should befall his church, even from its earliest establishment, down to that period of awful expectation, when the great plan of divine mercy shall be brought to a glorious conclusion, and the mysterious counsels of the Almighty, respecting the Christian dispensation, shall be closed in judgment and consummated in glory.

In the mean time, many great and blessed things are to be effected among the nations of mankind, as declared in the "sure word of prophecy" contained in the Bible. We will notice several particulars.

1. Concerning the Lord our Redeemer, it is said, "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end," Isa. ix. 7. "He shall come down like rain upon the mowh grass: as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. His name shall endure for ever: His name shall be continued as long as

the sun and men shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed," Psalm lxxii. 6-8. 17.

To this end,

2. The gospel is to be preached among all the nations and people upon the earth. "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature," Mark xvi. 15. "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased," Dan. xii. 4. "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people," Rev. xiv. 6. "The earth shail be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea," Hab. ii. 14.

28.

3. The saving influences of the Holy Spirit are to accompany the ministry of the gospel, to give it the necessary efficacy. "And it shall come to pass afterwards, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh," Joeļ ii. "And when he (the Comforter) is come he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment," John xvi. 8. I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring; and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses. One shall say, I am the LORD's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel," Isa. xliv. 3—5.

4. As the consequence of the effusion of the Spirit, the church of Christ is to include all nations, in an extraordinary state of knowledge, holiness, and happiness. "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee," Psalm xxii. 27. "But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow in to it. And many nations shall

come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,' Micah iv. 1. 3. "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea," Isa. xi. 9.

"And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising; I will make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates praise," Isa. lx. 3. 17, 18. that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD," Zech. xiv. 20.

"In

5. Of the Jews it is predicted that their infidelity shall be removed, and by conversion, they shall be brought into the church of Christ, with the fulness of the Gentiles. "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 return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter day," Hos. iii. 4, 5. "I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced," Zech. xii. 16. "Thus saith the LORD GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathens, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains

of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all. I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd over them; they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore," Ezek. xxxvii. 21-24. 27, 28. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the LORD GOD," Ezek. xxxix. 29. "Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, there shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins,' Rom. xi. 25-27.

These are a few of the predictions which abound in the word of God; and that all these prophecies shall be perfectly fulfilled we have the most confidant assurance, arising from the faithful word of the LORD OF HOSTS. He has said, "For as the snow and the rain cometh down from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater: so shall the word be that goeth forth out of my mouth it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it," Isa. lv. 9, 10.

Besides the infallible word of God, the signs of the times, and the various means which Providence has brought into operation within the last fifty years especially, indicate the approaching accomplishment of all the merciful purposes of God towards mankind. Scriptural truth appears to be better understood by the church