tures, 2 Thess. II, Dan. VII, VIII, XI, Rev. XIII. and xvII, to relate to the same time and the same events.

There are other prophecies by Isaiah foretelling the oppression of Israel by one whose character, conduct and pretensions closely resemble those of the man of sin and the king of Dan. xi. At the time of Israel's deliverance by the power and mercy of the Lord as predicted in Isaiah XIV, (with which compare ch. IX. 3-7, x. 12-27,) the king of Babylon, or the Assyrian, their oppressor is to be destroyed. (vv. 1-4.) In vv. 13, 14, his pretensions are thus recorded: 66 Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven: I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. (Comp. Dan. VIII. 10, 11.) I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. (Comp. Dan. xi. 45; Ps. XLVIII. 2.) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High." If with this we compare Dan. vii. 25, and 2 Thess. 11. 4, the examination will lead us to discover a very close resemblance, amounting almost to identity, between the persons mentioned in the different passages of Scripture. And this will be further confirmed by comparing chap. xiv. 25-where it is foretold that the Assyrian should fall in the land and upon the mountains of Israel-with Dan. xI. 41-45, where the same end is declared to await the blaspheming person who is therein described.

Other passages might be produced in further illustration of the prophecy in question; but these will suffice to shew that a power of the same character as the man of sin has been foreseen and foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament; and that as their predictions have especial reference to the affairs of the Jewish people, those of the Apostles

extend our view to the influence which shall be exercised over the churches of the Gentiles.

With regard to the identity of the principal persons of the different prophecies which have been quoted, we may hear objections urged by many, inasmuch as they have been frequently interpreted as belonging to different subjects. We may therefore in closing this division of the prophecy offer these reasons in favour of the supposition in addition to the proofs which have been already adduced. Each one forms the burden of the prophecy in which he is described, and is presented as the principal actor in the opposition which is manifested against the Lord and his people. Each has existence immediately before the coming of the Lord, because he appears to their destruction. And the pretensions asserted by them would be inconsistent with the supposition of their being different, because, existing at the same time, they would be disputing amongst themselves instead of directing their forces against Christ and his Church. Each is a blasphemer of God, exalting himself to an equality with God, or even above Him. And if it be admitted that the antichristian apostacy of the last days is the full development of the mystery of iniquity, and that it is of the highest importance to the Church to be forewarned of its nature and tendency, we may discover sufficient reason for the frequent and varied description of the head under whose influence it will be perfected.

3. A third particular of the description of the man of sin is that he shall sit as God in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Now as I do not profess to give my own interpretation of the prophecy, but simply to illustrate it by a comparison of apparently similar passages of Scripture, and thus to

discover if possible an infallible exposition of its meaning, I freely admit that in this part of the subject my task is not easy.

There are three different senses in which we shall find the expression the temple of God used in Scripture, excluding of course the application of it to the throne of God in heaven. -These are :

1. The believer's body, which is the temple of the Holy Ghost.

2. The Church universal, which is designed for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

know that the desolation thereof was nigh. But whatever primary reference the prophecy in St. Matthew's gospel might have to that event, the two prophecies appear to be different in many respects. Besides, if by the holy place the temple or its courts were intended, it is manifest that the disciples must have availed themselves of the Lord's warning in St. Luke long before the Roman standards could have been placed there. They would not therefore have seen the abomination of desolation standing there, if by

This act of the man of sin is evidently the establishment of idolatry, setting up himself in the place of God, or otherwise controlling the worship of his temple.

Now we read in Matt. xxiv. 15, that at some time, then future, the Abomination of Desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet should stand in the holy place; which holy place is shewn by Middleton, in his treatise on the Greek Article, in loco, to mean the Temple of Jerusalem. The time when this should take place is further shewn to be at the period of the great tribulation, which can be no other than that mentioned in Dan. XII. 1, which immediately precedes the coming of the Lord. It is commonly supposed that this abomination is the same thing as the Roman armies with their idolatrous standards which encompassed Jerusalem, and by the appearance of which the disciples of Jesus were to

e Matt. XXIV. 21-29.

were signified. And if we refer to the prophet Daniel, (as our Lord directs,) we shall find in chap. xi. 31, that the person commonly called the wilful king, to whom reference has already been made, "shall pollute the sanctuary of strength and take away the daily sacrifice, and place the abomination that maketh desolate." And although this has been variously interpreted, some referring it to Antiochus Epiphanes, (who in many respects seems to have been a remarkable type of Antichrist with reference to the Jewish nation,) and others referring it to the Romans,— yet we certainly know that whoever does this, the same continues down to the end of the chapter and falls upon the mountains of Israel, at what time Michael shall stand up on behalf of the children of Israel.*

We may compare together chaps. viii. 11—14, 1x. 27, marginal reading, and XII. 11. We may recollect also that it was the ambition of

f Luke XXI. 20.

III. The time of Antichrist's revelation will form the 3rd division of the prophecy. “Now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time." He will be revealed when the restraint which has been imposed upon the workings of the mystery of iniquity shall be removed. For," as the apostle declares, "the mystery of iniquity doth already work, ("and this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world,"i) only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way, and then shall that wicked be revealed."k What this restraint is does not clearly appear from any Scripture that I can recollect. It is generally understood to be the Roman empire; which was the interpretation of many of the fathers, whose opinions on the subject are quoted by bishop Newton; and most modern commentators have, I believe, agreed to this. As the restraining power was known to the Thessalonians, and from them the knowledge

g Isa. XIV. k 2 Thess, II. 7, 8.

was in all probability communicated to others, if not by the apostle himself, it would be unwise to reject the tradition. If then the Roman empire be signified by the fourth of Daniel's great monarchies, (as it is generally supposed to be,) it must continue until the time of the end— until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. During these times Jerusalem is trodden down of the Gentiles;" and as the Romans were the first to tread it down, according to the Lord's prediction, so perhaps the times of the Gentiles may endure so long as that empire in some form or other shall continue. Cyril of Jerusalem, as quoted by bishop Newton, saith, "This predicted Antichrist will come when the times of the Roman empire shall be fulfiled,” (όταν πληρωθωσιν οἱ καιροι της Ρωμαίων βασιλειας.) In the mean time" the Gospel of the kingdom is preached in the whole world, for a witness unto all the Gentiles:" and then (saith our Lord) shall come the end.1 The end" may be considered, I conceive, as equivalent to the expression "the time of the end" in Daniel VIII. 17 and XII. 9. Now as in Daniel vIII. we learn that certain things there predicted are to take place at that time, so in Matt. XXIV. we find things of a similar kind are to be accomplished at a time which I understand to be subsequent to the time mentioned verse 14, i. e. when the end is come. There is (v. 15) the setting up of the abomination of desolation in the holy place, which I think has been shewn to be the work of Antichrist. At the time of the end therefore he is revealed. But this is not till the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. While, therefore, the Gospel is being preached in the whole world, and

i 1 John Iv. 3.

the Holy Spirit is at work "in taking out of the Gentiles a people for his Name,"m the full development of the mystery of iniquity is restrained. But the day of salvation will have an end; the Spirit will not always strive with man; their times (kaipoi) will be fulfilled; and when the fulness of the Gentiles is come in (the πληρωμα, or the part which is grafted into the tree of life in the room of the Jewish branches which were cut off*) then probably will the nations be left to fill up the measure of their iniquities under the influ ence of the man of sin ;-then also will the Lord think upon his covenant with Abraham and with David, and Israel shall be prepared for the manifestation of his mercy and truth, as it is written in Psalm XCVIII. 3.

Perhaps some light may be thrown on this difficult subject by Rev. xiv. 6, &c. First is seen the angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people ;-then follows another angel proclaiming the fall of Babylon, which (as we learn from Rev. XVII.) is effected by Antichrist ;and then the third angel follows with the word of warning against the worship of the beast and his image, &c. If these verses are taken as representing events in their chronological order, we certainly learn that Antichrist is in full power after the

universal proclamation of the Gospel, as he will be also at the appearing of the Lord with all his saints.

IV. The fourth head relates to the destruction of Antichrist. (v. 8.)

This part of the subject has been somewhat anticipated. But it is important to point out particularly that it is the Lord who comes in person to overthrow him, and to destroy him,

τῇ επιφάνειᾳ τῆς παρεσίας αυτέ. He is not alone in his wickedness, nor in his destruction; for we find in Scripture a gathering together of the powers of the earth against the Lord, and against his Christ. This is foretold in numerous places of holy writ; amongst others in Psalm II. CXVIII. 10-12, and particularly in Rev. xvi. 14-16; xvII. 13, 14; XIX. 19-21. And these again refer us to a passage in Isaiah XI. 4, which declares, "with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked;"corresponding with that in our prophecy, the Lord shall consume him with the Spirit of his mouth." Also in Rev. XIX. 11-15, the prophet sees him coming in person with all his saints to the destruction of the Antichristian confederacy, and "out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations." But as we find the beast and false prophet preeminent in wickedness, so they have a preeminence in destruction: "these

66

both were cast alive into a lake of

fire burning with brimstone,""that everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels."n By this fiery destruction we are reminded of the overthrow of the typical Assyrian, described by Isaiah chap. Ix. 5; x. 16, 17; xxx. 27—33, where Tophet is expressly declared to be prepared for the king, the leader of the Assyrian oppressors. These passages ought to be closely compared with each other; and when it is remembered how very inapplicable the expressions are to the destruction of Sennacherib and his army, the propriety of their application to the antitype of the Assyrian will be manifest.

This may be a suitable place for gathering up and arranging what has been already referred to on this part of the subject. There are four things to be considered.

1. The reason for which he is destroyed: viz. his opposition to God, and perverse, blasphemous, and arrogant speeches against him; (see Dan. vII. 11; xI. 36; 2 Thess. II. 4; Isaiah x. 12-16; xiv. 13-15; Psalm x11. 3-5; also 2 Pet. II. 1, 2; Jude 4, 13-18; which texts I apprehend afford us a view of the state of the world generally, under the influence of the man of sin ;) and persecution of the people of God. Dan. vII. 21-26; Rev. XIII. 7-10.

2. The time when he is destroyed : viz. when he is engaged in a confederacy against the Lord and against his people. Psalm 11. 2—5; Isa. XXIX. 7, 8; Dan. vIII. 24, 25; XI. 36-45; XII. 1, 2; Joel . 1, 2, 13-16; Micah iv. 11-13; Rev. XVI. 13-16; XVII. 12-14; xIx. 19, 20.

3. The place of his destruction: the mountains of Israel. Isa. XIV. 24-26 compared with chap. x. 24

-27. (See also Psalm LXXVI. compared with Psalm XLVIII.) Zech. XIV. 2-5, compared with Rev. XIX. 11-20; Dan. xI. 45; Rev. xvi. 16, compared with Joel 111. 1, 2. See also Ezek. xxxix. 4, 17.

4. The manner of his destruction: without human agency. Dan. VIII. 25. The voice of the Lord and the fiery flame. Isa. xxx. 27-33; Ezek. XXXVIII. 22; Rev. xIx. 20; Dan. VII. 9-11, compare with these Scriptures 2 Thess. 1. 7-9; 11. 8; Mal. iv. 1; 2 Pet. III. Matt. XIII. 41, 42.

7;

These are some of the places of Scripture which relate to this important point. When this is established in the mind of the attentive student of the Bible, it will present itself in every part of the sacred volume, as the crisis to which all the workings of Satan are made ultimately to lead; and it will be seen typified or expressly declared no less frequently than the consummation of the church's deliverance, when Satan shall be bruised under her feet.

We proceed now to a very important feature in the description of Antichrist.

V. His coming with Satanic influence and agency. (vv. 9, 10.) That the deceivers of the last times shall be endued with an extraordinary power is manifest from the warning of our Lord, Matt. xxiv. 23-25: