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"fire; and his breath as an overflowing ftream, "fhall reach to the midft of the neck.-And "the Lord fhall caufe his glorious voice (thun"der) to be heard, and fhall fhew the lighting "down of his arm, with the indignation of his

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anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire,

27, 28. 30. 33.

(lightning), with scattering, and tempeft, and "hail-ftones.-For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made " it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and "much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a ❝ftream of brimstone doth kindle it." Ifa. xxx. "For behold, the Lord will "come with fire, and with his chariots like a "whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and "his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire, " and by his fword, will the Lord plead with all "flesh; and the flain of the Lord shall be many,' chap. lxvi. 15, 16. "God came from Teman, " and the holy One from mount Paran. His

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glory covered the heavens, and the earth was "full of his praise, and his brightness was as "the light, he had horns coming out of his "hand, and there was the hiding of his power. "Before him went the peftilence, and burn"ing coals went forth at his feet.-Thou didst "march through the land in indignation, thou "didft thresh the heathen in anger. Thou "wenteft forth for the falvation of thy people,

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"even for falvation with thine anointed;" Habak. iii. 3, 4, 5. 12, 13 '.

The Jews are then described as descending to the valley of Jehoshaphat, to complete the victory which the fwords of their enemies, and the fire of the elements had already obtained for them. "And Judah alfo fhall fight at Jerusa- . "lem;" Zech. xiv. 14 2.

The remains of those forces once fo formidable, now scatter in various directions, and endeavour severally to gain their own countries, (Ifa. xiii. 14. Jer. 1. 16.); but the Jews pursue and make an immense slaughter all over the land of Palestine. This is that wine-press out of which came "blood even unto the horse"bridles, by the fpace of a thousand and fix "hundred furlongs ;" Rev. xiv. 20.

The complete deftruction of the enemies of religion at Armageddon, is laid before us in various paffages. Take the following as a fpecimen: "And the deftruction of the tranfgreffors "and

(1) See likewife Ifa. lxiii. 1.--5, 6. and Rev. xiv. 17.-20. to clofe.

(2) See the texts quoted, p. 348. and downwards.

(3) For the holy land, according to Jerom, measures in length 200 Roman or 160 Grecian miles. The Romans computed eight furlongs to a mile, but the Greeks allowed ten, fo that by either computation the extent is juft 1600 furlongs; fee Mede's Clavis Apocalyptica.

"and of the finners fhall be together, and they "that forfake the Lord fhall be confumed."And the ftrong fhall be as tow, and the ma"ker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn "together, and none fhall quench them ;"Ifa. i. 28.31. "Wo to the multitude of many people, "which make a noise like the noise of the feas "and to the rushing of nations, that make a' "rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! "The nations fhall rufh like the rufhing of "many waters: but God fhall rebuke them, and s's they shall flee far off, and fhall be chaced as the "chaff of the mountains before the wind, and "like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

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And, behold, at evening-tide trouble; and "before the morning he is not. This is the "portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of "them that rob us';" Ifa. xvii. 12.-14.

"Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth "forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind; "it fhall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.

(1) The chaff of the fummer threshing-floor is the figure ufed, Dan. ii. 35. to fignify the deftruction of the enemies of religion, immediately before the kingdom of Christ, or the Millennium commences. Here too the circumstances fix the time, " at evening-tide," towards the clofe of the long calamitous day of their difperfion, there shall be trouble arifing from the perfecution of the blafphemous king, and before the morning of the first resurrection, or Millennium, he their oppreffor ceafes to exift. 7. z

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" wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord fhall "not return, until he have done it, and until " he have performed the intents of his heart: "in the latter days ye fhall confider it ;" Jer. XXX. 23, 24. "Say to the foreft of the fouth', "Hear the word of the Lord, Thus faith the "Lord God, Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, " and it fhall devour every green tree in thee, " and every dry tree: the flaming flame fhall "not be quenched, and all faces from the fouth "to the north shall be burnt therein. And all "flesh shall fee that I the Lord have kindled it it fhall not be quenched;" Ezek. xx, 47, 48,

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(1) Armageddon or Judea may be called the Foreft of the South, because at the time the kings of the earth and their armies are gathered together there, the Jews, to whom the prophecy is directed, lie to the north of them, in the wilderness of Affyria.

CHAPTER VI.

Of the Events that take place betwixt the Battle of Armageddon and the Millennium.

L

ET us now see the confequences of the vic

tory obtained at Armageddon, or the events that occur during the five years which intervene betwixt the battle and the commencement of the Millennium.

SECTION I.

Refettlement of the Jews in the Land of Promife.

THE first and immediate effect of this victory is, that the Jews take poffeffion of the land given by promise to their fathers, out of which they had been ejected 2000 years.

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appears from the concurring teftimony of the prophets, that they shall be very numerous; for it is at that period God addreffes Zion: "Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: "all these gather themselves together, and come "to thee. As I live, faith the Lord, thou shalt furely clothe thee with them all as with an " ornament,

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