sweeping, prolonged, and vastly desolating abomination, which commenced at the time of the Roman invasion of Judea, when the Christian disciples, in recollection of, and obedience to, the Saviour's command, seized the opportunity, so unexpectedly afforded them, of fleeing to the mountains, and of thus escaping the doom which was impending over the beloved and holy city of Jerusalem.

If this be a fair and consistent interpretation of our Lord's meaning, it necessarily follows that the "desolation," to which our Lord referred when quoting from the prophet Daniel, is the one which we have been considering in this chapter. It is true that the phrase, "abomination that maketh desolate," or what is equivalent to it, occurs no less than four times in the Book of Daniel, viz., in Dan. viii. 13; ix. 27; xi. 31; and xii. 11. In the first and last of these passages it will be observed, that a particular time is specified for the continuance of the desolation: the former was to last exactly 1,150 days, and was fulfilled, as we have already seen in the previous chapter, by the pollution of the Temple and the cessation of "the daily sacrifice" under Antiochus Epiphanes; the latter is said to continue for a period somewhat longer, viz., 1,290 days, and refers, as there are grounds for believing, to some desolation which is yet future. Of the other two passages where this term is used, no length of period for the continuance of the desolation is specified; and this is, we conceive, an additional argument for referring them both to the long-continued desolation of Jerusalem, which was commenced at the time of the Roman invasion, and which has continued down to our own day. The position which Dan. xi. 31 occupies, in the last of all the visions which were vouchsafed to the prophet. points very clearly to the Roman armies, which appear under the title of "ships of Chittim," as restraining the power of Antiochus Epiphanes, and then subsequently as

Wintle observes:-" The reasons of the sudden transition from the Grecian to the Roman powers, may be seen largely treated of at the beginning of Bishop Newton's 17th Dissertation. Some copies of the Greek and Armenian versions read in v. 31 arms and an offspring;' the word has both senses; and in one MS. it is followed by the word, of the sea, or of the west. These variations tend at least to confirm the application of the passage to the Romans, who, springing originally from some of the Grecian coasts, migrated to the west, and settled on the borders of the same sea. By arms' may be understood military powers of superior strength, fortified troops, or mighty forces."

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brought into contact with the Jewish people. Wintle's translation of that passage will convey, perhaps, a more intelligible rendering than that of the authorized version :-"But mighty powers shall stand up from these (i.e., the descendants of Chittim), who shall defile the sanctuary of strength, and shall remove the daily sacrifice, and set up the abomination that maketh desolate." We have already seen how the Romans accomplished this, both literally and completely, when referring to the prophecy which has been considered in this chapter; and the very striking similarity of the terms employed, the position they occupy in the respective visions of the prophet, and the absence of any definite period for the continuance of the foretold desolation, are sufficient to convince us that they refer to one and the same thing.

We have thus considered at some length the past history of the Jews, as foretold in Scripture, chiefly by Moses and Daniel. We have shown how literally the prophecies concerning them have been fulfilled: 1st, in the limited desolation under Antiochus Epiphanes; 2ndly, in the unlimited desolation by the Romans, the commencement of which embraced a period, as we have endeavoured to show, of the first half of the last of Daniel's 70 weeks a period of 3 years-and the termination of which, as we purpose noticing in a future chapter, will embrace a period of similar length; and, 3rdly, in the history of the afflicted people of Israel, who have, during the last 18 centuries, according to the prophecy, been "an astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word among all nations" on the face of the earth.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE JEW.

The present condition of the Jews-The marvellous change of feeling towards them, both amongst the Church of Christ and the civilized nations of the earth-Opinion of the Chief Rabbi in England respecting the nearness of the restoration-Signs of the Jews' expectations being aroused-Feeling of the Jews in the present day respecting their forefathers' treatment of Jesus Christ-Dr. Raphall, of Birmingham-Dr. Samuel Hirsch-The present condition of the Jews foretold by Hosea iii. 4—Without a king or sacrifice, or teraphim.

IN the preceding chapters, the past history of the Jews has been considered; and we have seen, in the terrible judgments wherewith they were visited, first by Antiochus Epiphanes, then by the Roman power, and subsequently in the way they have been treated by the various nations of the earth amongst whom they have been "peeled and scattered" on account of their sins, a complete and exact fulfilment of the word of prophecy concerning them.

Even until very recent times, the state of degradation to which they have been reduced by despotic governments, while it sickens the mind to contemplate it, has amply proved the truth of what it was foretold they should undergo. A modern writer has observed, that "the Jews have often in bygone days been treated as beasts of the field, even amongst nations of Christendom; and to make humiliation still more humiliating, they have, in some parts of the continent of Europe, been made to pay toll on the high road of the same amount as that paid for a swine." (See Dr. Henderson's Travels in Russia and Poland.)

A marvellous change, however, has taken place in recent times, and especially during this present century, on the part of Christians and the civilized nations of the earth towards these long-despised outcasts of Israel. They are now being honoured and flattered on account of the wealth, which it has been their chief characteristic to amass whenever the opportunity has presented

itself. It is well known that some of the chief powers of the world are dependent upon the assistance which they can obtain from the great money-lenders of the land, who are almost entirely composed of Jews. France and Spain have in our days had Jewish ministers of state, ruling where their ancestors were spoiled and persecuted, as we have seen; and in the greatest city of the world, our own metropolis, the year 1856 witnessed the exaltation of a Jew to the responsible post of chief magistrate of London.*

These are symptoms of what has been termed "the beginning of the end," and the "lifting up of their ends" is only one of the many" signs of times," which combine to assure us that "their redemption draweth nigh." A distinguished minister of the present day has justly remarked concerning their present condition :-" In all directions the Jewish race are awakening to a sense of their nationality. They have newspapers conducted with great talent and power. They begin to stand out as they never did before. They were always insulated, but it was rather

The following intelligence respecting the Jews in England sufficiently displays their hopes of again repossessing the land of their fathers. The Chief Rabbi in England some time ago issued this appeal in behalf of the suffering Jews in the Holy Land, dated London, May 18th, 5614(A.D. 1854): "Without alluding to the happy restitution that we anxiously look for, which lies in the hand of the Lord, who commandeth us "not to stir, neither to awake His love until He please," the present war (against Russia) may, by the Divine blessing, bring about a great and beneficial change in the Holy Land. It is more than probable that the government of the Porte will concede to our brethren in Palestine the right of holding land, and that this right will be placed under secure protection. It will then become the duty of our leading men to organise a proper plan of operations: to put themselves in communication with the different committees abroad; to raise the necessary means; to send men of ability, properly authorized, to Jerusalem; to bring about an unity of action among the different congregations there; to purchase land; to establish farms and factories; and to devote a portion of the money annually collected as wages to those who will labour therein, under the charge of the persons superintending those undertakings. The time for the realization of such a scheme may not be remote, as the munificent legacy of the philanthropist, Judah Touro, of New Orleans, was bequeathed for this very purpose; which bequest will have an important bearing on the improvement of the Holy Land." This is sufficient to show the present expectation of the English Jews with respect to their future restoration to the land of promise. And it is interesting to know that one of the few good results of the war has been the expected concession on the part of the Porte, by which the Jews (the first time since the days of Titus) are again permitted to hold land in the country which God gave to Abraham and his seed for "an everlasting possession."

as broken and fragmental units; now they begin to be insulated in their nationality, and to consolidate their power. They are organizing plans for repossessing Palestine. Many of them have gone out as farmers and agriculturists; and in one of the Jewish newspapers there are reports of the agriculturist Jews in Palestine, addressed to their brethren at home, just as we might read the account of the spies of old, when they told the children of the desert of the riches and glories of the promised land. In America, funds are at this moment being raised, and near a million dollars secured for building the Temple of Jerusalem; the dry bones in ten thousand valleys give tokens of returning life; the springs of Palestine have suddenly become full of fresh and refreshing water; every branch of the fig-tree buds; and more Jews have been converted, according to Tholuck, during the last 18 years than during the previous 1,800; and there are more Jews at this moment in Jerusalem than there have been during the last 17 centuries."

The altered feeling on the part of the Church of Christ at large, as well as amongst the civilized nations and governments of the world, is no less a significant sign that the redemption of Israel draweth nigh. And we may account it one of the greatest honours to the Church of Christ in our land, that during our own days she has been privileged to direct her attention and her energies to the spiritual welfare of the once favoured people of God, and to preach, with no little success,* Christ as the only Saviour for Jew or Gentile to the peeled and scattered House of Israel. If anything could preserve us, as a nation, from the doom which appears to await England, as we shall have occasion to show in this work from prophecy, in consequence of her forming a portion of those ten kingdoms who are described as giving "their power to the Beast," and could cause Him, in whose hands are the destinies of all peoples, to suspend those threatened judgments, as He once did when Jonah preached to the inhabitants of Nineveh, we believe it would be on account of the noble and generous efforts which the Church of Christ in this country (acting thereby so differently from our forefathers) has made in

One of the religious societies in connection with the Church of England, "The Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews," alone employs upwards of fifty converted Israelites in conveying the knowledge of the Messiah having appeared in the flesh and died on the cross, to their brethren of the house of Israel.