dictions, however, are so clear and specific, they need no comment on my part to unfold them. The prophet Isaiah likewise in the same strain, speaks of the reign of this Blessed One, " And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots and the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah; and shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of Jehovah : and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears but with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked one," as we have seen, at His Second Coming. "And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins." And then follows the passage I quoted in the last Section, relative to the harmonies that will then exist between animals, which now prey upon one another, and the utter absence of injury and destruction in Emmanuel's pleasant land." Again, in another Chapter, he says, "Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." "Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places." To the like purport also speaks the prophet Obadiah, "And Saviours shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount Esau; and the kingdom shall be Jehovah's." "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom 66 1 Isaiah xi. 1-5. Isaiah xxxii. 1, 2, 16-18. 3 Obad. 21. under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, Whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him: for the time will then have come for "the saints" to "possess the kingdom." Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when Jehovah of Hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously." 66 The reason why the moon is here said to be confounded, and the sun ashamed, is in consequence of the glorious light, that will emanate, not only from the bodies of Christ and His saints, but also from the new Jerusalem, which will be in the heavens above the city of Jerusalem itself. For "when Jehovah shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning;" "Jehovah will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain "—which shews that the glory will be tempered to suit the weaknesses of human nature: otherwise men would be blinded by the excess of light, as Saul was, when Christ revealed Himself to him before Damascus, in a glory which was "above the brightness of the sun: "4 for now "the saints have come into possession of their "inheritance in light."5 For the promise to Israel is, "The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but Jehovah shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory." The glory of "the New Jerusalem" is described in the Book of the "Revelation:" for this is the "city which hath 1 Dan. vii. 27, 22. 2 Isaiah xxiv. 23. 3 Isaiah iv. 4-6. foundations, whose builder and maker is God," which Abraham "looked for; " to which believers are already said in spirit to have "come;" and which Christ Himself told His disciples He had gone to heaven "to prepare "3 for them. "And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, HAVING THE GLORY OF GOD: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal." And then, after having given a description of its walls, gates, and foundations, he continues, "And I saw no temple therein for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it: for THE GLORY OF GOD DID LIGHTEN IT, AND THE LAMB IS THE LIGHT THEREOF. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it:"-Isaiah says of this very period, "O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of Jehovah "4. "and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour" eis," "unto it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations unto it. And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." That this vision relates to Millennial days, is proved from the fact that the heavenly Jerusalem does not descend into the earth, until the creation of "the new heavens and the new earth," wherein "righteousness" alone is to "dwell." For the previous vision, which commences with chapter xix. 11, and ends with chapter xxi. 8, reaches from the Second Coming of the Lord down to the Final State; and then from verse 9 of chapter xxi. to verse 5 of chapter xxii., 3 John xiv. 2, 3. 5 1 Heb. xi. 10. 4 Isaiah ii. 5. Heb. xii. 22, 23. 5 The parallel passages shew that els must here mean unto (and not into) as in Chap. xix. 9, 17, and other passages. Rev. xxi. 10, 11, 22-27. 7 Compare Rev. xxi. 1-5; 2 Peter iii. 13. we have a description of the Heavenly City itself, as it will appear in Millennial days. And when "the Redeemer" thus "comes to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob," it is not to be wondered at, that it will then be said unto them, "Arise, shine," or as the margin has it, "be enlightened; for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee." For "Jehovah shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising." And now a few words only as to the reign and rule of the saints, under Christ, over the earth, during the Millennium; and then I will close this subject. I have already referred to several passages of Scripture, which shew us that the saints will then take the place of the angels in this Dispensation; and we have likewise seen from the Scriptural account of the rapture and translation of the saints themselves, how perfectly they will then be fitted for the position which will be assigned them. As Israel, however, will then be distinct from other nations, both in position and privilege, a peculiar heavenly government will be provided for them: for when "Peter said unto" Jesus, "Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore?" "Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration WHEN THE SON OF MAN SHALL SIT IN THE THRONE OF HIS GLORY, ye also shall sit on twelve thrones, JUDGING THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL 2-a promise, which will then of course be fulfilled. This would seem also to shew, that the angel "Michael," "the great prince which standeth for the children of" Israel, Daniel's "people," will then yield up this his rule and government, into the hands of the glorified Apostles. Other glorified saints will, therefore, bear rule over other parts of the earth; some of them being promoted to rule, as we have seen, over more "cities" than 12 1 Isaiah lix. 20; lx. 1-3; Rom. xi. 25-27. 2 Matt. xix. 27, 28. See also Luke xxii. 28-30. others but where, and under what varied circumstances, it is not of course for me to determine. Suffice it for us to know, what the angel said to Daniel, "Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, AND STAND IN THY LOT AT THE END OF THE DAYS."1 1 Dan. xii. 12, 13. |