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ing, "Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, "saying, 'The two families which the Lord hath chosen, " he hath even cast them off.' Thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before "them." Thus saith the Lord, "If my covenant be not "with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordi"nances of heaven and earth, then will I cast away the "seed of Jacob, and David my servant; so that I will not "take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abra"ham, Isaac, and Jacob; for I will cause their captivity to "return, and have mercy on them." mercy on them." Jer. xxxiii. 23—26.

FROM EZEKIEL ".

No. CXIV, CXV.

A Prophecy of the Establishment of Christ and Christianity, and of the Distinction that should be made between different Persons according to their Works.

No. 114. Thus saith the Lord God: "I will also take of "the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it: I will

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crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, "and will plant it upon a high mountain and eminent. In "the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it, and "it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a "goodly cedar; and under it shall dwell all fowl of every "wing in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they "dwell. And all the trees of the field shall know that I, "the Lord, have brought down the high tree, have ex"alted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and

"The two families;" i. e. " the kingdoms of Israel and "Judah."

"Ezekiel prophesied whilst amongst the captive Jews at Babylon, from about 595 to 574 years before Christ.

"made the dry tree to flourish; I the Lord have spoken, " and have done it." Ezek. xvii. 22-24.

No. 115. Thus saith the Lord God, " Behold, I, even "I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the "lean cattle; I will save my flock, and they shall no "more be a prey, and I will judge between cattle and "cattle and I will set up one shepherd over them, "and he shall feed them, even my servant David: he "shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd: and "I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a "prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it: and I "will make with them a covenant of peace," &c. Ezek. xxxiv. 20. 22-25.

No. CXVI.

Of the Restoration of the ten Tribes-of their Union with the Jews under Christ's Government—of their Obedience to God's Law-of their perpetual Continuance in Christ's Service-and of the Protection they should receive from God.

No. 116. Thus saith the Lord God, "Behold, I will "take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whi"ther 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 Is"rael, and one king shall be king to them all: and they "shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be di"vided into two kingdoms any more at all: neither shall "they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor "with their detestable things, nor with any of their trans"gressions but 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: they shall also walk in my "judgments, and observe my statutes and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob "my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they

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"shall dwell therein, even they and their children, and "their children's children for ever; and my servant David "shall be their prince for ever. Moreover, I will make

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a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an ever"lasting covenant with them: and I will place them, "and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the "midst of them for evermore: 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. 21-28.

FROM DANIEL ".

No. CXVII. CXVIII.

A prophetic Account of the Successive Kingdoms of the Earthof the Establishment of Christ's Kingdom, its Destruction of the other Kingdoms, and its own unlimited Extent, and perpetual Duration.

No. 117. Thou ', O king, (Nebuchadnezzar,) sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee: and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces: then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors, and the wind carried them away,

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▾ Daniel, when young, was carried captive to Babylon (Dan. i. 6.) in the year before Christ 606, and he remained there during the whole of the Babylonish captivity. He was contemporary with Jeremiah and Ezekiel, much younger than the former, and probably younger than the latter.

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that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. "Thou, O king, "art a king of kings; for the God of heaven hath given "thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory."And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts "of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thy hand, and hath made thee ruler over "them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee "shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and ano"ther third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over "all the earth; and the fourth* kingdom shall be strong "as iron. And in the days of these kings shall the God "of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be des"troyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces, and consume all "these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." Dan. ii. 31-35. 37–40. 442.

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No. 118. I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the antient of days, and they brought him near before him: and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall

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* "Another kingdom," &c. The second kingdom was that of the Medes and Persians, which destroyed the Babylonian; the third, the Macedonian or Grecian; and the fourth, the Roman. Chandler's Defence, p. 120. Newton's 13th Dissertation.

y "For ever" and "everlasting dominion." The perpetual duration of Christ's kingdom is continually occurring as a subject of prophecy, and it has been fulfilling uninterruptedly since our Saviour's time, and is still fulfilling.

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* For a commentary upon this prophecy, see Bishop Chandler's Defence, p. 115, &c., and Bishop Newton's 13th Dissertation.

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"The Son," rather a Son." There is no article either in the Hebrew or in the Septuagint.

not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Dan. vii. 13, 14.

No. CXIX.

A prophetic Intimation of the Time of Christ's coming and its Purpose, and of the Destruction of Jerusalem.

No. 119. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy know, therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build

For a commentary on this prophecy, see Bishop Newton's 14th Dissertation, and Bishop Chandler's Defence, p. 128.

A week in prophetic language stands for seven years, (see Ezek. iv. 6.; Numb. xiv. 34.;) so that seventy weeks are 490 years. See Dr. Lowth. Kidder, part I. c. 3. p. 26.; Chandler's Defence, p. 136.

d" The commandment," &c. There was a decree in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, (set forth Ezra vii. 11, &c.,) which, if the chronology in our Bibles be correct, would bring the end of the seventy weeks exactly to the period of our Saviour's crucifixion. That, however, was not a decree literally to build Jerusalem; and therefore, unless the word "build" is used in a figurative sense, that is not the commandment from which the computation is to begin. That decree provided, that all they of the children of Israel, and of the priests and Levites in the realm, who were minded of their own free will might go up to Jerusalem with Ezra ; and in addition to offerings from the king, his counsellors, and others, which Ezra was carrying up to purchase sacrifices for the altar in the house of God in Jerusalem, it authorized Ezra to take out of the king's treasure-house whatever more should be needful for the house of God, and directed the king's treasurers beyond the river (the Euphrates) to supply Ezra with

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