2. The clause in Ezek. xxxix, 2, I will leave but a sixth part of thee, is an incorrect translation. The Hebrew word sesa, from ses, six, is rendered differently from our translation by critics. The Septuagint, the Vulgate, the Targum, Buxtorf, Kimchi, and Pool, dissent from our translation in this sentence. Pool's mar

gin reads it thus, I will strike thee with six plagues, or draw thee back with a hook of six teeth, as chap. xxxviii, 4. In the verse here referred to, we read, I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and will bring thee forth. Some part of chap. 39th is but a repetition of various passages in chap. 38th. In chap. xxxviii, 3, 4, we read, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and will bring thee forth. In chap. xxxix, 1, 2, we read, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: and I will turn thee back, and (sesa) will drag thee with a six pronged hook, as Buxtorf renders it: or, according to Pool, I will strike thee with six plagues; or draw thee back with a hook of six teeth. This fully agrees with its parallel text; I will turn thee back and put hooks in thy jaws. This might refer to the six judgments threatened to Gog, in chap. xxxix, 21, 22:—the sword, pestilence, blood, rain, hail, and fire.

Another argument Mr. Faber. adduces from Ezek. xxxviii, 11, where the Most High says to Gog, And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled viblages, I will go to them, that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates. The state here described, Mr. Faber thinks Israel cannot reach, short of all, or a considerable part of the Millennium: And therefore it cannot relate to the attack of Antichrist upon the Jews. But I think we may suppose the Jews, after their return to Jerusalem, may arrive at the situation here described in a few years. Nothing forbids this.

Another argument Mr. Faber derives from a persuasion, which he has, that Antichrist is to attack the

Jews, before the return of the ten tribes. But it is evident, he allows, that the ten tribes, as well as the Jews, return before the attack upon them to be made by Gog and his bands. (See Ezek. xxxvii.) In answer to this, I must say, I have never been able to discover, in the scriptures adduced for the purpose, any evidence that the final attack of Antichrist upon Palestine, is before the return of a body of the ten tribes. And I think there is no such indication. The subversion of the Turkish empire, under the sixth vial, is said to take place, that the way of the kings of the east may be prepared. Mr. Faber admits, that these kings of the east probably mean the ten tribes, under the name of the Afghans, now in Persia, who call themselves Melchim, kings. And if the way be prepared under the sixth vial for their return, surely it cannot be strange that they should return before the seventh vial; for this event appears clearly implied. Otherwise why is the event of the sixth vial said to be, to prepare the way for it? I am sensible there are various predictions of the gathering of God's ancient covenant people from the various nations, after the battle of the great day. But such predictions do not teach, nor imply, that a body of the ten tribes are not returned to Jerusalem before the battle of the great day; any more than they imply, that a body of the Jews are not returned, before the battle of the great day. No doubt there will be vast gleanings, both of Israelites and of Jews, after the destruction of Antichrist. (Isai. xliii, 5, 6.) But a body of each will be previously restored. The dry bones of the house of Israel are raised, and the sticks of Ephraim and Judah are united in one, before the attack of Gog, who is Antichrist.*

Faber is, that Antichrist north; but Gog and his But I find as much said

Another argument of Mr. invades Jerusalem from the bands come from all points. of Gog's coming from the north, as of Antichrist's coming from the north: And thou shalt come from thy place

*See Ezek. 37th and 38th chapters. See also Isai. xi, 11, to the end.

out of the north parts, thou and many people with thee.* And I will cause thee to come up from thy north parts.† It is true the auxiliaries of Gog come to Jerusalem from every point of the compass from that place. And this is not inconsistent with any thing said of the hosts of Antichrist. The latter are said to be the kings of the earth, and of the whole world.‡

Mr. Faber's last argument; on which I shall remark, is derived from Dan. vii, 12; As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. This text, Mr. Faber thinks, relates to the time of the destruction of Antichrist; and teaches that though the preceding Babylonian, Persian, and Grecian beasts have their dominion, at the time of the fall of Antichrist, taken from them, yet their existence will be prolonged after the battle of the great day: they may exist through the Millennium; and may at the close of it constitute the Gog and Magog, then to arise. But Persia is expressly said to be among the bands of Ezekiel's Gog, who perish in his expedition. (Ezek. xxxviii, 5.) Therefore this Gog, and Antichrist cannot be the same. To this argument I submit the following remarks.

1. We find that those nations, signified by the rest of the beasts, are to be destroyed at the time of the fall of Antichrist; and are not prolonged for a season and a time, after that event. In Dan. ii, 35, concerning those very nations, which had been symbolized by the golden head, the silver breast and arms, and the belly and thighs of brass, as well as concerning the feet and toes of the Roman empire, it is said, (upon the smiting of the stone upon them,) Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floor, and the wind carried them away, and no place was found for them. Certainly we here learn that those beasts had not their lives prolonged for a season and a time, after the battle of the great day of God Almighty: That this

*Ezek. xxxviii, 15. +Chap. xxxix, 2. Rev. xvi, 14.

therefore could not be the period referred to in that text.

2. It cannot accord with the predictions of the battle of the great day, that the nations, which formerly constituted the Babylonian, the Persian, and the Grecian empires, should be all exempt from the terrors of that day, and should be prolonged for a season and a time, after Antichrist falls, and the whole earth is devoured with the fire of God's jealousy.

3. The seclusion of those vast sections of the earth from the blessings of the Gospel, during the Millermium, does not accord with the predictions concerning the kingdon of Christ at that period. In that case, how is the earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the seas? How shall all flesh come and see God's glory; and the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom, under the whole heaven, be given to the saints; and the stone become a great mountain, aud fill the whole world; if the people of those vast territories of the ancient Babylonian, Persian, and Grecian empires continue of the nature of the beast through the Millennium? Very numerous are the predictions of the extent of Christ's kingdom at the period, which appear utterly inconsistent with Mr. Faber's scheme, of those vast nations remaining in heathenism, through the Millennium.

4. The prolongation of the lives of those beasts then, must have related to the very time, when their dominion was taken away, and not to the time of the destruction of Antichrist. Their dominion was taken away, when each in his turn fell under the victorious arms of his successor: But their lives were then prolonged for a time. It was not with them, as it will be with the Antichristian beast. They did not, as he will, lose their dominion, and their existence on earth together. When their power was taken from them, (each in his turn) their multitudes still lived, that they might unite in the last coalition under Antichrist, and with him go into perdition. Thus, though Persia be expressed in the coalition of Gog, we cannot infer from this, in connexion with Dan. vii, 12, relative to the lives of the

rest of the beasts being prolonged, that Gog is a different power from Antichrist. For Persia, as well as Antichrist, will feel the terrors of the day of God. I now submit it to the reader, if it has not been made clearly to appear, that Gog and Antichrist are one and the

same.

I shall close this section with several remarks.

1. From the comments made on Rev. xx, relative to the resurrections there mentioned, we may perhaps learn the true sense of several passages in the Old Testament. In Isai. xxvi, 19, we read; Thy dead men shall live; together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs; and the earth shall cast out the dead. The connexion of this text decides, that it relates to the return of the Jews, and the Millennium. The whole chapter is a prediction of these events. The chapter closes with this address, which follows the above text: Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For behold, the Lord cometh out of his place, to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth shall also disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. Some have supposed this passage in verse 19, to predict a literal resurrection. This is in a sense true: For a mystical resurrection implies a literal one. A thing which did not exist would not be adopted as a metaphor. The doctrine of the resurrection was hence learned from the above text. But that it did not predict a literal resurrection, to take place at the time, to which it relates, is evident from various considerations. 1. We find no use made of this text, to prove the resurrection of the body. Our Savior when he would prove to the Sadducees the doctrine of the resurrection, did not note this text; but referred to what God said to Moses at the bush.* 2. Mystical resurrections are common in the prophetic writings. John the Baptist was Elijah risen. And it is on the same principle, that the enemies

*Matt. xxii, 31, 32.