come when he with the Gentile will be brought home. to the fold above; for 'in the dispensation of the fulness of times, God will gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth.'*

Such then is the character of the Messiah, and the great purpose for which he was sent into the world. Every view we take of him presents us with unnumbered beauties. If we look at his reign, we see it, as an author obseryes, 'sometimes under the type of a wilderness, newly clothed with bud and blossom; sometimes we see it under the type of a city descending from heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; sometimes we behold it as a great temple arising out of the earth, and capacious enough to contain all nations.' If we look at the various offices he sustained, we find that so many never met before in a single individual. The Messiah was 'anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows;' that is, above those who possessed with him a fellowship or similarity of office, as types of himself. was anointed high priest; Saul was anointed king; Elisha was anointed prophet; Melchisedec, king and priest; Moses, priest and prophet; David, king and prophet; yet none was ever anointed to the union and comprehension of all these offices together but the CHRIST of GOD. Having considered the character of the Saviour in the various ways presented to us in connection with this subject, we cannot help closing in the words of Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, 'We have found the MESSIAS, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.'

Aaron

* Eph. i. 10.

LVI. MICHAEL.

'And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.? Dan. xii. 1.

In attempting to embrace all the titles, it is possible that we may present those which only have an apparent reference to the Redeemer. This may be the case with the one under consideration, but we have ventured to place it among the number, leaving the reader to form his own conclusions. Some we have actually omitted because we thought them wholly inappropriate and inapplicable, though others have sacredly applied them to the Saviour.*.

This word is found in four other places, Dan. x. 13, 21; Jude 9; Rev. xii. 7.

Cruden renders Micaiah, Michaiah, and Michael, all in the same manner: Who is like unto God?' Calmet says, this was the name given to the archangel who is represented as presiding over the Jewish nation.

But for the propriety of applying this word to the Saviour, we rely chiefly on the connexion in which it stands. Three particulars are embraced in the passage.

* See PREFACE.

I. Michael should stand up for the people.

II. That at that time there should be trouble such as never was since there was a nation.

III. Then his people should be delivered.

Now it seems evident that our Lord had his eye on this very passage when speaking of the closing scenes of the Jewish dispensation: 'When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place: * * * For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.'*

At that time, the Lord Jesus stood up for his people, and delivered his immediate followers from those calamities that fell with such awful severity upon his enemies.

Then was 'great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.' It would be utterly impossible in a work like ours to give a description of the tremendous events connected with the closing scenes of the Jewish dispensation.†

Then was the time alluded to in the passage following the motto: 'And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.' Michael, the great prince, evidently alluded to this prophecy when he said, 'Marvel not at this: for the

*Matt. xxiv. 15, 21.

To all those who feel interested in this subject, we refer them to the works of JOSEPHUS, and to an excellent work entitled 'Observations on our Lord's conduct as a Divine Instructor.' By WILLIAM NEWCOME, D. D. Page 202, et seq.

hour is coming, in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.'* Those whose lives had accorded with the gospel, came forth to life or to the enjoyment of all the spiritual blessings connected with the reign of Jesus; while the vile and the wicked came. forth to condemnation.

It is very evident from the whole tenor of the Scriptures that two resurrections are taught; one a moral or spiritual resurrection, the other a literal resurrection; one a resurrection from dead works, the other from the grave, or from mortality to immortality. Various passages might be cited to illustrate the distinction here made, but mere references must answer. Speaking to the Ephesians, the Apostle says, 'And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.' The Apostle John says, 'We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.' The early Christians experienced this resurrection while in the flesh. But when the last or literal resurrection takes place, then, 'As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.' Then 'this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.' Whoever will follow out this subject, will find that this passage cannot with any propriety be applied to the final resurrection of all the sleeping dead. Indeed, the motto and its connection show

that the resurrection there spoken of was to take place when Michael, the great prince, should stand up for the children of thy people. And when Michael comes, then he quotes the very passage where the prophet spoke of him, and applies it to the closing scenes of the dispensation of rites and ceremonies. Yet a large portion of the christian world constantly apply the passage spoken of in Daniel to that of the final resurrection of the whole human race. And what makes this appear the more singular, is, that many divines who make this application of the passage, say that a future state is nowhere revealed in the Old Testament!

But we must leave this subject, with a few consolatory remarks. It appears that the miseries connected with the end of the Jewish dispensation can never be exceeded. Such is the promise of Michael, the great prince. There may be plagues, earthquakes, and famine, but then there will never be such a time of trouble again. This promise seems like a bow hung out in the heavens. But how could this be, if the doctrine of endless misery be true? What comparison is there between the destruction of a single city and the unceasing misery of a large portion of the human family? Reflect on this, reader, if thou art a believer in that doctrine,, and answer it to thy own heart.