entirely new division of the land among the several tribes will take place. The land promised by Jehovah to their father Abraham, was to extend "from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates; " and the last two Chapters of the prophet Ezekiel shew us that they will then possess the full extent of it; and that the divisions of the land among the several tribes will run in parallel lines from east to west; with the sanctuary in the centre. And yet, although the dimensions of the promised land will have been so greatly extended, so great will be the number of those who will then return from the several dispersions, and so fruitful will they now have become, that we are told, that the land will become too straight for them. For the prophet Isaiah, when speaking of this period, says, “Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith Jehovah, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too straight for me: give place to me that I may dwell. Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been? Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will lift up Mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up My standard to the people and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for Me." 112 And now, says He, "They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."1 "And Jehovah shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not."2 "And I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which Jehovah hath blessed."3 ́ And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from Jehovah, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men."4 66 And now will be fulfilled the prayer of the 67th Psalm, which is the prayer of an Israelite of the period in question, "God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us-that Thy way may be known upon earth, Thy saving health among all the Gentiles." "O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for Thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth." "Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him." For Israel now fully recognises the purpose for which Jehovah has blessed them, even that they should be the honoured instruments in His hands, for extending "the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah " over the whole habitable globe. And we can perceive how admirably they will then be adapted for carrying out this purpose: for having been brought back to their own land from almost every part of the earth, and understanding to perfection the manners, languages and customs of all people; and being, moreover, "filled with the Spirit," 1 Isaiah lxv. 23-24. 2 Isaiah lviii. 11. 3 Isaiah lxi. 8, 9. they will need no special training, but will at once enter upon the work, which the Lord will then have commissioned them to do; aided, as they will be also by a gracious promise of Jehovah, which will, I suppose, in some measure compensate for the original confusion of tongues, which was only partially removed at Pentecost-"For, then," saith He, "will I turn to the people a pure language that they may all call upon the Name of Jehovah, to serve Him with one consent." If it be asked, if there will then be any difference between Israel in the Millennium, and believers in this Dispensation, I would at once answer, none beyond this-that Israel will live under a far more glorious manifestation of Jehovah to them, and will be partakers of far greater outward privileges than believers have now: but in other respects they will be in the same position as we are now. For they will be "sons of God,' ," have the new Covenant written in their hearts, be in living union with the Lord Jesus Christ, and will call Him, "the Lord our Righteousness," as we now do; and will also look forward to "the new heavens and the new earth," when they will be changed into His likeness, as the saints themselves will thus have been changed at the Second Coming of the Lord. 3 I have before referred to the 24th Chapter of the Book of the prophet Isaiah, as giving a description of some of the terrible manifestations that will take place in the earth previous to, as well as consequent upon, the Second Coming of the Lord: but there is one prediction therein to which I would now direct my reader's attention, as it seems to me to be a very remarkable one, and one which bears upon the subject before us. The prophet tells us, that at this period "the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard." Now the word for "earth" here is eh'-retz, which is used both for 1 Zeph. iii. 9. 3 Jer. xxxi. 31-34. Isaiah xxiv. 18, 19. * Isaiah lxiii. 16; Jer. iii. 4, 19; Hos. i. 10. 4 Jer. xxiii. 6. See also Hag. ii. 16; Heb. xii. 26; Isaiah ii. 19. the ground, the land, and the whole earth; and if it here mean the earth itself, it might (I will not say that it does) hint at some change in the position of the earth's axis with respect to the sun which might greatly influence the character of climates in different parts of the world. But whether this be so, or not, it is certain from the Scriptures themselves, that there will be a mighty difference in this respect in the Holy Land, and probably in other parts of the earth likewise: just as there was such a difference in the earth after the flood, as to occasion the present earth to be distinguished from the former one, as the one that "now" is, from the one that "then was," which is said to have "perished." Indeed some have not unnaturally supposed, from the bow having never appeared in the cloud before,2 that there had been no rain before the flood, and that the earth was watered as it was in the garden of Eden.3 But whether this were so or not, it is not of course for me to determine. That the climate of the Holy Land will be surpassingly salubrious, and that the whole land will not only be wonderfully productive, but will also be exquisitely beautiful, the Scriptures very plainly assert: for they call it the glory of all lands-"the glorious land," or, as the margin has it, "the land of delight, or, ornament." For "the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall and the excellency of our God." see the glory of Jehovah, And "I will And "I will open rivers midst of the valleys: I in high places, and fountains in the will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree 1 2 Peter iii. 6, 7. 2 Gen. ix. 13-16. 3 Gen. ii. 6. 5 Isaiah xxxv. 1, 2. together that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath CREATED it." For "Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are created and Thou renewest the face of the earth. The glory of Jehovah shall endure for ever: Jehovah shall rejoice in His works " -passages, which from the word Bara, (which primarily means to create out of nothing,) having been used in both cases, intimates, I cannot but think, that Jehovah will inaugurate the Millennium with the creation of some new species, both of plants and animals. Indeed that there will be a mighty change of an advanced character in both respects, is more than intimated: for we are expressly told, that "the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice," or "adder's" (margin) "den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea."3 But whether this state of blessedness will be extended to the whole earth itself or not, is not stated. It is highly probable, however, from Rom. viii. 20-23, that this will be the case, to a greater or lesser extent: because the whole regions of the atmosphere will then have been completely purged from the presence of " Apollyon," the destroyer, and his hosts of demons under him, who now defile, " corrupt," and "destroy the earth; " and will be occupied, more or less, with the presence of Christ and His Church. Hence "the power of the enemy" will be at an end; and he will no longer be able to raise up furious storms in the 1 Isaiah xli. 18-20. See also Isaiah lv. 13; xxx. 23; Psalm lxvii. 6; 2 Psalm civ. 30, 31. 3 Isaiah xi. 6-9. Zech. viii. 12. |