then, he was determined that Christ should be magnified by him whether he lived or died, he was in a strait, which to choose, life or death. But there was another matter regarding which he was in no strait, viz., "To depart and to be with Christ, which is far better." What was that ?

Some have thought that the apostle desired to depart, in a way similar to that of Enoch and Elijah, to be with Christ in heaven. And every one can see that his words here, and elsewhere, would quite agree with such a desire, that such a consummation would be far better than living here, or lying in the grave. But while admitting the possibility of such a desire on the part of the apostle, it seems to us far more likely that he was thinking of departing and being with Christ as those will do who are alive at his coming; for that was an event familiar to his thoughts, and the theme of his consolation to others.

"The dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught away together with them to meet the Lord in the air; so shall we be ever with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thess. iv. 17, 18.)

Surely the apostle would have that source of comfort often before his mind; and it is plain to all that it is not doing violence to anything he has written, to understand him as referring to being caught away without dying, to meet the Lord in the air, and so be with him for evermore, when he said he had a desire to depart and to be with Christ. And surely none can deny that that would be "far better," "very far better," than either living in the mortal condition, or being among the dead.

This we know, that we have often heard the same desire expressed by those who, believing the apostle's doctrine, had no expectation of being with Christ, before he returns for his own. It is a very great mistake to suppose that none but those who believe in going to heaven, or to life in hades at death, can have a desire for departing and being with Christ. And from the foregoing considerations we cannot help thinking that many who read them will be satisfied that the application there made of the language of the apostle is the correct one, being in perfect harmony with the context, with the teaching of the apostle in all his writings, and the promise of the Lord, "I will come again, that where I am there ye may be also." On this promise rests the hope of the Church. Till he return, she mourns an absent Lord." Blessed hope! it binds us closely to the Saviour's heart; and the hope of being with him, and seeing his gracious face without being ashamed, sharing his glory and his throne for evermore, may well make the believer patient under the ills of the present life, while earnestly crying daily, "Even so. Come Lord Jesus, O come quickly!"

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W. LAING.

"THE TIMES OF RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS."

PART II.

HE prophet Hosea speaks of the future of Israel in terms so similar

that both must refer to the same events. In chap. i. we read first: "I

will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel" (ver. 4). "I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away; for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God" (vers. 6, 9). But we read also, in the same chapter, of ultimate blessing, when the foregoing threatenings will be reversed, and Judah and Israel shall be united under one head, precisely as foretold by Ezekiel: "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land; for great shall be the day of Jezreel (vers. 10, 11).

In chap. iii. 4, 5, reference is again made to this time, and, as in Ezekiel, David is named as the future king:-"For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim; afterwards shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days."

Both prophets doubtless allude to the same period, and a reference to Ezekiel xxxvii. will show that they are speaking of the future of Israel, when they shall be brought up out of their graves, gathered to their own land, and David, God's servant, shall be king over them.

It is probable that the first three verses of the sixth chapter refer to the time of Israel's restoration; for those who are to be healed, appear to be the same persons as those who are to be torn, as stated in the preceding verses: "For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away and none shall rescue him. I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. Come, and let us return unto the Lord; for he hath torn, and he will heal us: he hath smitten and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us ; in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord. His going forth is prepared as the morning, and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and the former rain unto the earth.” If the prophet is here speaking, as in chap. xiii., of the time when Israel shall be ransomed from the grave, his words are very suggestive, and throw light on the character of those "times of restoration of all things," of which as the apostle Peter tells us" God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."

In chapter xiii., the resurrection and restoration of Israel is predicted in most distinct terms, and in a manner that cannot be understood as referring to the restoration of their descendants to Palestine. "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." The context shows that it is Israel of whom this is spoken, and of whom it is also said: “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help" (ver. 9); and of whom it is also added, in the next chapter, "I will heal their

:

from

backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon." (xiv. 4, 5.)

Thus the predictions of Hosea confirm in a very remarkable manner what has been pointed out in the writings of Ezekiel. Israel is to be ransomed from the grave, redeemed from death, gathered to their own land, their number being as the sand of the sea. "And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there shall it be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God."

But inasmuch as an important question like that we are considering, cannot be satisfactorily settled by a few selected texts from one or two of the prophets, however decisive such texts may at first sight appear; I will now endeavour to ascertain whether the general teaching of the prophetic Scriptures be in harmony with what seems so plainly taught by Ezekiel and Hosea.

The forty-ninth chapter of Isaiah (vers. 13-26) is written in the form of a dialogue between God and Zion. It commences with God's promise: "Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted."

Then follows Zion's very natural reply: "But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me."

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To which the Lord answers: Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. . . . Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants; and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.”

Zion is then represented as astonished, and wondering who brought up her children: "Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children and am desolate; a captive, and removing to and fro ? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been ?"

"Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face to the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me."

Zion then, apparently raises a difficulty: "Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered ?"

"But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered, for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

N

And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh, and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob."

The prophet Isaiah, like Ezekiel, shows the contrast between God's thoughts regarding Israel, and their own thoughts regarding themselves : "But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me" how similar to Ezekiel xxxvii. 11, "Behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts." But how different in both cases is the word of the Lord respecting them, and how hopeful is their future in his sight. Israel had, by their iniquities and transgressions, brought down God's severe judgments on themselves; nevertheless, he had not forsaken or forgotten them. He will yet comfort his people and have mercy upon his afflicted, notwithstanding their loss of hope and joy in him. But the joyful return to Zion which the prophet foretells, must surely be something more than the gathering to Jerusalem of the remote descendants of the remnant of Judah now scattered throughout the world. "Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, and the lawful captive delivered?" is language which can hardly refer to captivity to other nations. The prospect of release from the hand of their enemies was no new thing in Israel's experience, and its announcement would have created no astonishment; but deliverance from the power of the grave, to which they had been brought into captivity through sin, was ever an anxious question, and one that is repeatedly met by a similar answer to that here given.

There are many other places in which Isaiah speaks of the forgiveness and exaltation of Israel; and the promises are explicitly given to the sinful and rebellious people to whom he was sent. "This people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise. But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." (xliii. 21-25.)

Again: "Remember these, O Jacob and Israel, for thou art my servant: I have formed thee, thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me, for I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it; shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel." (xliv. 21-23.) The obvious meaning of these words must surely be, that the same people who wearied God with their iniquities, are to be forgiven. "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me, for I have redeemed thee," is language that must have reference to those persons whom the prophet addressed-those who had committed the sins-and can hardly apply to any one else.

We read further," Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away" (li. 11). "But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded, world without end. . . . In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory" (xlv. 17, 25).

Without laying too much stress on these passages, it must not be forgotten that such things are written concerning Israel, and that elsewhere the prophet unquestionably speaks of Jacob and Israel, who were given for a spoil to robbers, and on whom God poured out the fury of his anger, as the same of whom he writes: "But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not; for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine" (xliii. 1).

The prophet Jeremiah when shut up in prison by king Zedekiah, during the siege of Jerusalem, received a command from God to buy of Hanameel a field in Anathoth. (See chap. xxxii.) When the purchase was concluded, he prayed to be enlightened as to the meaning of this command; knowing that the utter destruction of the city was at hand. But before considering the answer of God to this prayer, it will be well to recall to mind what he already knew of God's purposes concerning Israel and Judah.

At the time of Jeremiah's receiving the above command the Lord had, for nearly a century, removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. He "had put Israel away, and given her a bill of divorce" (Jer. iii. 8); and he had "cast out all their brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim" (vii. 15). And further, Zedekiah the king, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem that remained in the land at the time, were also about to be cut off and consumed. A reference to chap. xxiv. will show that the promise of return from Babylon was confined to the small remnant of Judah who were then in captivity, and who were represented by the "basket of good figs." "Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good." Jeremiah wrote to this remnant (chap. xxix), informing them of God's purpose, and instructing them to settle in Babylon for the seventy years they were to remain in captivity; also telling them of the miserable end awaiting Zedekiah and all who remained in Jerusalem. "Know that thus saith the Lord of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David (i.e. Zedekiah), and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten they are so evil " (vers. 16, 17).

Their subsequent history shows how completely these predictions were fulfilled; Jerusalem being shortly afterwards taken and destroyed. "Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.