shall be their God;" xxi., 3. And the prophet Ezekiel, who by the ancients was supposed to speak of the millennium, says, in like manner, "I will make a covenant of peace with them, and will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forever. My tabernacle also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people;" xxxvii., 26, 27. This temple and sanctuary are described at length by the prophet Ezekiel, in the forty-first and forty-fifth chapters, and they are the same with the new heaven and the new earth, and the heavenly Jerusalem, which was seen by St. John in vision. This tabernacle is to be pitched in the land described by Ezekiel, (xlvii., 13—23,) which is to be divided among the twelve tribes; all of which we understand to be a figurative representation of the conversion of the Jews to the Christian faith, and their happy state and condition after that conversion. 4. Once more, St. John says, "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away;" xxi., 4. The prophet Isaiah has given the same representation of the state of things in Jerusalem, after the former heaven and earth are passed away: "The voice of weeping shall be heard no more in her, nor the voice of crying;" lxv., 19. The Lord will wipe away tears from all faces;" xxv., 8. "They shall not hunger nor thirst neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them;" xlix., 10. This language of the prophet exactly corresponds with that of the Revelator: They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light upon them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;" vii., 16, 17. 66 5. Furthermore, St. John says, "The building of the wall of the city was of jasper; and the city was of pure gold, like unto clear glass; and the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones;" xxi., 18, 19. And Isaiah says, "I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires; and I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones;" liv., 11, 12. And Tobit also says, "Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires, and emeralds, and precious stones; thy walls, and towers, and battlements, with pure gold; and the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl, carbuncle, and stones of Ophir;" xiii., 16-18. 66 6. Again, St. John speaks of "The tree of life planted there," and of a pure river of water of life, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb;" xxii., 1, 2. And the prophet Zechariah speaks "of living water going out of Jerusalem;" xiv., 8. And the prophet Ezekiel says, that "The waters which issued out from under the threshold, became a river that could not be passed over;" xlvii., 1—5. "And by the river upon the bank thereof on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed; it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine;" 12. So on either side of St. John's river," was there the tree of life, which bear twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations;" xxii., 2. And he who passed under the name of Esdras, says, "They shall have the tree of life planted for an ornament of sweet savor; for unto you is paradise opened, the tree of life is planted; 2 Esd. ii., 12. 7. Once more, St. John says, "There shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light;" xxii., 5. And Isaiah declares the same thing: "The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended;" lx., 19. And the prophet Zechariah says, "It shall be one day which shall be known unto the Lord, not day nor night but it shall come to pass, that at evening-time it shall be light;" xiv., 7. 8. St. John, moreover, so represents the state of things following the fall of anti-christ, as plainly to inform us that he is speaking of this glorious conversion of the Jewish nation to the Christian faith, and God's marrying her again whom he had formerly divorced. For as the church of Christ is represented as the commonwealth of Israel; Eph. ii., 12; the Israel of God; Gal. vi., 16; the Jerusalem which is above; Gal. iv., 36; the celestial Jerusalem; Heb. xii., 22; so St. John represents the new state of things in the same language, saying: "I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, come down from God out of heaven;" xxi., 2. And, again, "he showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God;" 10. Now, that this great and holy city, this new Jerusalem, is the Jewish church converted to God, the characters he gives of it will not permit us to doubt. For, in the first place, he says, "The city had no need of the sun, neither the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof;" xxi., 23. Now, God speaks of the conversion of the Jews to the gospel in the same language: "They shall call thee the city of the Lord, the Zion of the holy one of Israel. Thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory;" Isa. lx., 14, 18, 19. St. John says, "The gates of this city shall not be shut at all by day, neither shall there be any night there, and they shall bring the glory and substance of the nations into it ;" xxi., 25, 26. Isaiah declares the same thing, respecting the conversion of the Jews: "Thy gates shall be opened continually, they shall not be shut day nor night, that men may bring unto thee the wealth of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought;" lx., 11. Finally, St. John says: "And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it;" 24; which we have fully shown to be the very thing foretold by the prophets at the conversion of the Jewish nation to the Christian faith. 9. St. John, finally, introduces this holy city, this new Jerusalem," Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband;" xxi., 2; and says, "come hither, and I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife," and then he "showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God;" 9, 10. He also says, "I heard a great voice, saying, The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready; and to her was granted, that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints;" xix., 7, 8. Now, the prophets have given the same representations of the Jewish church when she is converted. She is introduced speaking thus: "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for he hath clothed me in the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decked himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels;" Isa. Ixi.. 10. And again," Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate; but thou sbait be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah; for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee; and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee;" Ixii., 4, 5. Thus, it appears that the new Jerusalem of St. John, is a figurative representation of the conversion of the Jews to the Christian faith, immediately after the fall of anti-christ, and that this is the great event spoken of by the prophets, which is to succeed the overthrow of mystic Babylon, and not, as some suppose, the end of the world. III. Those who deny that the Jews will be converted to the Christian faith, maintain that the Israel spoken of in the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, which St. Paul says shall be saved, means the spiritual Israel of God; that is, true Christians, and not Jews. According to this interpretation, then, St. Paul gravely asserts, that all Christians shall be saved, and enters into a long argument to prove this assertion, than which nothing can be more absurd. It is evident, that those who maintain this idea, are driven to this most unreasonable construction, because the true interpretation of the chapter stands in the way of their favorite dog ma, that Christ will come to destroy the world, and put an end to the present state of things, in eighteen hundred and forty-three. The fact is, St. Paul, in discussing the question of the rejection and restoration of the Jews, has introduced into his argument both the natural and spiritual seed of Abraham, and has shown that God did not cast away that part of Abraham's natural seed who believed in Christ, because by faith in Christ they became the spiritual seed of Abraham, and, therefore, were entitled to the promises made to the spiritual seed. Isaac and Jacob were not only the legitimate descendants of Abraham, but they were alsó eminent types of this spiritual seed, especially Isaac. St. Paul also tells us, that God cast away the natural seed of Abraham, who had rejected and crucified the Lord of life and glory; that he rejected them from the gospel church for their infidelity; and that as long as they remained in unbelief, they did not belong to the spiritual seed of Abraham, and, consequently, could not claim any promises which God had made to this spiritual seed. Three questions here naturally arise, which we shall now proceed to answer: Who were the persons St. Paul says God rejected? Was their rejection to be final, or temporary? And are they ever to be brought in again? 1. Who were the persons St. Paul says God rejected? God did not reject the spiritual seed of Abraham, the spiritual Israel, the believing Jews. This St. Paul has positively declared: "I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Even so then at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded;" Rom. xi., 1, 2, 5, 7. It is a fact, evident and notorious, that the twelve apostles, the seventy disciples, as well as all the members of the first Christian church which was planted at Jerusalem, were all believing Jews. According to the Acts of the Apostles, many thousand converts were made to the Christian faith from among the Jews, before the gospel was ever preached to the Gentiles. In fact, it is asserted again and again, in the Acts of the Apostles, and also in their Epistles, that the spiritual Israel, the inward Jew, the believing Jew, instead of being cast off, were accepted of God, and incorporated into the Christian church. This, then, is a fact so clear and so evident, that I presume all will readily admit it. The persons, then, whom God cast off, were the unbelieving Jews, who constituted the great body of that church and nation. The Jews and Israelites here mentioned, are evidently distinguished from the elect of Israel by this character, that they were "the blinded of Israel;" 7; who lay under a "spiritual slumber;" 8; whose " eyes were blinded that they saw not; " 10; who “stumbleth at the stumbling-stone;" 11; they are the Israel" whose casting away was the riches of the world, whose diminution was their 66 fulness" 12; they are Israel "according to the flesh;" 14; "the branches broken off for unbelief;" 17, 19, 20; they "who believed not;" 23, 30, 31, 32; and "who were enemies to the gospel for the Gentiles' sake;" 29; this is the Israel of whom the apostle here asserts, "they shall be saved," of this "blinded," this "unbelieving," this Israel cut off," these "branches broken from their own olive-tree," these "enemies" to the converted Gentiles; as there has been, says the apostle, "a diminution," so there shall be "a fulness;" as there has been "a casting them off," so shall there be "a reception of them;" as there has been "a breaking them off from their own olive-tree," so shall there be an "inserting them into it again;" 24; as there has been a time of their "unbelief," and so of severity" and of "wrath" to them; ix., 22; 1 Thes. ii., 16; so shall there be of mercy;" 31, 32. Now, since the " unbelief," the "diminution," the "rejecting," the "breaking the branches off," must necessarily be understood of "Israel according to the flesh," of the "natural branches" of the stock of Abraham; 22, 24; "beloved for the father's sake;" 28; "of the seed of Jacob," whose sins were not taken away; 26. If we understand the "fulness," the "reception," the "ingrafting" of them, the "salvation" here mentioned of the "spiritual Israel," and the "elect" opposed to "Israel that was blinded" 7; the antithesis is wholly lost; since the "diminution," and the "fulness," the "rejection," and the "reception," the " breaking off," and the "insertion," the "severity" and the "mercy," will not relate to the same persons. Again, "blindness in part hath happened to Israel," says the apostle, "till the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, and then all Israel shall be saved;" now, certainly, the blindness happened to Israel," according to the flesh," and must not the antithesis require that the "salvation" should belong to the same Israel? It happened not to the elect, for "the election," says the apostle," hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded ;" and, therefore, the salvation cannot respect them only. Once more, to whom did this blindness happen? was it not to the national church, and the great body of the Jewish nation? The very persons to whom our Saviour had said, "Whilst you have the light, believe in the light, lest darkness come upon you;" John xii., 35. Is it not of the same children of Israel of whom the apostle says, "They could not see to the end of that which was to be abolished, but their minds are blinded, for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away?" 2 Cor. iii., 13, 14. Was it not this very people "who had eyes, and saw not; ears, and heard not; whose heart was waxed gross, their ears dull, and their eyes closed?" Isa. vi., 9. Acts xxviii., 26, 27. Rom. xi., 8, 10. And from whose eyes were "hid the things that belong to their peace, because they knew not the time of their visitation ?" Luke xix., 42, 44. To whom belonged this apobole, rejection, or casting off? Does it not relate to the great body of the Jewish church and nation? Does not our Saviour say of them, "The children of the kingdom |