denote the compass, or pale, of His future In agreement with this

Universal Church.

remark, is that of Vitringa, upon the corre sponding phrases used in St. John's Prophecy of Gogue; where the same identical, objects of that tyrant's violence, which Ezekiel denominates "Israel, and the land of Israel," are by St. John called, "the camp of the "saints," and "the beloved city."-" By "these latter names," says Vitringa, "no "" one doubts that we are to understand

66

THE CHURCH, with relation to the places " and countries wherein it should be eventually "planted. Both denominations are figura❝tive, and adapted to lead us to a know"ledge of the state of the Church there "intended. That Church, founded upon "rules of the best ordered discipline, was ❝to have GOD, ever-present, for its Gover66 nor; who would pitch his tabernacle "within it, and so revive a similitude of "the camp of Israel,' as it had appeared in "ancient times*."

"In Apocalyps." p. 872.

St. Augustine has justly remarked, that as "the most ancient prophecies, made to "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, regarded the ❝ land of Canaan; so the succeeding Pro"phecies relate, partly, to the people de"scended from Abraham according to the "flesh, and partly to that 'seed of Abraham,' "in which all those nations were to be blessed "who were to become joint heirs, by the new "covenant, in the inheritance of eternal "life and the kingdom of heaven. "Part, therefore, of those Prophecies per"tain to the bondmaid, which gendereth to "bondage; that is, the earthly Jerusalem, "which is in bondage with her children *; "and part to the free city of God, the "true Jerusalem, eternal in the heavens +:' all "whose children, living according to God, "are strangers on the earth. But there 46 are also some of them which are to be "understood to relate to both of these; viz. "to the bondwoman, literally, and to the free

*Galat. iv. 24, 5. † 2 Cor. v. 1. Heb. xii. 22. Ibid. xi. 13.

woman, figuratively. Thus the declara❝tions of the prophets are found to be "threefold; some respecting the earthly "Jerusalem, some the heavenly, and some "both the one and the other*' Of the first of these, are the Prophecies which foretold. the Assyrian and Babylonish captivities, the Persian restoration, and the ultimate dispersion of the Jewish nation. Of the

* "Sicut oracula illa divina ad Abraham, Isaac, et "Jacob, facta sunt; ita cæteræ ab illo tempore pro" phetiæ, partim pertinent ad gentem carnis Abrahæ, "partim vero ad illud semen illius, in quo benedicun" tur omnes gentes cohæredes Christi per Testamentum "Novum, ad possidendam vitam æternam regnumque "cælorum. Partim ergo ad ancillam, quæ in servitutem generat, id est terrenam Hierusalem, quæ servit cum filiis suis, partim vero ad liberam civitatem "Dei, id est veram Hierusalem æternam in cœlis, "cujus filii omnes secundum Deum viventes peregri"nantur in terris. Sed sunt in eis quædam, quæ ad "utranque pertinere intelliguntur, ad ancillam proprie, "ad liberam figurate. Tripertita itaque reperiun"tur eloquia prophetarum: siquidem aliqua sunt ad

terrenam Hierusalem spectantia, aliqua ad cælestem, "non nulla ad utranque." - De Civitate Dei, lib. xvii, c. 3.

second, are all those Prophecies which, under a figure of the restoration, establishment, and unperishable glory of "Jeru"salem" and "the land of Israel," foretold the kingdom of the Messiah, both militant in the present order of things, and triumphant in a future order; among which is this Prophecy of Ezekiel. And of the number of the third, appears to be the closing part of this same Prophecy, which concludes the secular and earthly concerns of both churches; and which, comprehending and uniting both references, seems to speak at one and the same time, of the Jewish nation literally, and figuratively of all the nations participating in the blessing of THE MESSIAH, in prospect to their final and common deliverance. In this last reference, we are to understand the name "Israel" in Ezekiel's Prophecy, as intending" the Israel of God"" the Common"wealth of Israel+," in the sense in which those phrases are used by St. Paul, to denote ALL who are called to the knowledge of THE

Gal. vi. 16.

↑ Eph. ii. 12:

of

MESSIAH and His GOSPEL; as the same apostle elsewhere calls "children of Abra"ham" all those, whether Jews or Gentiles, who entertain a belief of the final fulfilment of those great promises which were originally given to "Abraham, the "father of ALL them that believe."

With these several illustrations, limitations, and cautions, present to our minds, let us now approach, with reverence and awe, to contemplate this most stupendous and punctual Oracle, pronounced 2400 years ago; diligently and faithfully comparing its ancient denunciations, with the great CONTEMPORARY EVENTS, of which WE of this present day are made THE

LIVING WITNESSES.

Compare Rom. iv. 11, 12, 16 ; x. 12. Gal. iii. 7, 29. Philip. iii. 3.