SECTION II.

A virulent Perfecution of the Jews is carried on by the Papal Power, in a great Part of Afia and Africa.

ONE circumftance clearly revealed, is, that the Jews fhall be in very great diftress immediately before their converfion. To this purpose are the expreffions of Jeremiah, chap. xxx. 4.-9, 10." And these are the words that the "Lord fpake concerning Ifrael, and concern"ing Judah. For thus faith the Lord, We have "heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not "of peace. Afk ye now, and fee whether a 66 man doth travail with child? Wherefore do "I fee every man with his hands on his loins,

as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned "into palenefs? Alas! for that day is great, "fo that none is like it; it is even the time of "Jacob's trouble; but he fhall be faved out of "it. For, it fhall come to pafs in that day, faith "the Lord of hofts, that I will break his yoke "from off thy neck, and will burft thy bonds, "and strangers fhall no more ferve themselves "of him: But they fhall ferve the Lord their "God, and David their king, whom I will "raise up unto them." Of this trouble, paint

ed

ed in fuch lively colours, it is faid, "That Ja"cob fhall be faved out of it ;" that is, it fhall end in deliverance. And when shall that be? "In that day,-when ftrangers fhall not more "ferve themselves of him;" that is, at the clofe of their long difperfion. faved," They fhall ferve the Lord their God, "and David their king;" that is, they shall fubmit to the Meffiah. Thefe circumftances are applicable to the period immediately preceding their converfion, and to that only.

But being thus

This circumftance is confirmed by the prophet Ezekiel, chap. vii. 16.-18. "But they "that escape of them, fhall efcape, and shall be C6 on the mountains like doves of the vallies all "of them mourning, every one for his iniquity. "All hands fhall be feeble, and all knees fhall "be weak as water. They fhall also gird them"felves with fackcloth, and horror fhall cover "them; and shame fhall be upon all faces, and "baldness upon all their heads." From the beginning of the chapter, the prophet defcribes the defolation of the land of promise, by the Roman difperfion. But in order to afford fome confolation to the faithful, he obferves, verse 16. That a "remnant fhould escape;" that is, after all the calamities of their dispersion, who fhould be brought to a sense of their fin, and be made to mourn over it: He then defcribes that

diftrefs

diftrefs which, in the courfe of providence, would be the mean of bringing them to a sense of fin. So that it immediately precedes their converfion.

I.

The Prophet Daniel predicts the fame trouble, with this addition, That it fhould be the greatest the nation had ever experienced, chap. xii. 1." And at that time fhall Michael ftand up, "the great prince which ftandeth for the chil"dren of thy people; and there shall be a time "of trouble, such as never was fince there was ' a nation, even to that fame time: And at that "time thy people shall be delivered, every one "that fhall be found written in the book." Here are three circumftances which fix the period of this trouble to that immediately preceding their converfion. The expreffion," at that "time," in the beginning of the verse, connects it with the end of the reign of the blafphemous king, mentioned in the clofe of the preceding chapter. It is likewife the time at which Michael fhall ftand up for the nation of the prophet. I confider Michael as a disguised name for the Meffiah. If he had called him Meffiah here, it would confound this period with that of his first appearance, formerly mentioned in the prophecy of the feventy weeks, chap. ix. 24. This "standing up for them," intimates the manifestation of him to Ifrael,-at the fame

time the people" fhall be delivered;" fo it must be the close of their long calamitous disperfion

The nature of this diftrefs is as clearly revealed as its exiftence. It appears to proceed from the fword and famine. So the Prophet Ifaiah exprefsly afferts, "These two things are "come unto thee; who fhall be forry for thee? "Defolation and destruction, and the famine " and the fword: By whom fhall I comfort "thee?" Chap. li. 19. As it is fometimes an eafier matter to rear a new building, than to clear the foundation of old rubbish, so it is eafier to establish the true sense of scripture, than to remove the errors occafioned by false interpretation. All the commentators of name upon Ifaiah, apply this paffage to the return from Babylon. But a little attention to the paffage itfelf muft convince the unprejudiced, that unless we shall permit the hiftorian flatly to contradict the prophet, no one iota of this paffage can apply to that period. At the period here mentioned, "There is none to guide her (Jerufalem,

or the Jewish nation,) among all the fons "whom she hath brought forth; neither is there ' any that taketh her by the hand, of all the "fons that he hath brought up," verfe 18. Was there none of the nation either able or willing to fupport her at the return from Babylon? There

There were Zerubabel and Shealtiel, Ezra and Nehemiah, Joshua the high-prieft, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the prophets; all of them as willing to take the hand of their nation, as they were able to guide her. "Thy "fons have fainted, they lie at the head of all "the ftreets as a wild bull in a net: They are "full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God;" verse 20. Did any fuch diftrefs as this, together with the fword and famine mentioned in the foregoing verfe, precede the return from Babylon? On the contrary, many were fo well fatisfied with the land of their captivity, that they remained there, notwithstanding the proclamation of Cyrus. The fact is, that they only returned," whofe fpirit God had raised to go up to build the Houfe of the Lord;" Ezra i. 5. perfons whom God excited to forego their temporal interests in Babylon, for their spiritual privileges in Jerufalem. "Thus saith the Lord "-Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup

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"of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again;" Ifa. li. 22. This intimates a deliverance from fuch diftrefs as never fhould be renewed, therefore cannot apply to the Babylonish captivity; for it has been renewed by the Roman difperfion, and rendered much more ca lamitous. But all the prophets affert, that when

converted,