Thus, in Psalm ii., from the pen of David, the nations are first exhibited as in a rage, and the kings of the earth as taking counsel together and arraying themselves against the Messiah, for the purpose of preventing him from reigning over them. "Why do the nations rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against Jehovah and his Messiah: (saying) Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us."-Vs. 2-3. The period to which the prediction refers is thus to be one in which the nations, instead of being converted, are to be in alienation from Christ, and indulging in a vain dream of a triumph over him; promising themselves, not improbably, like the infidel crowds of Europe at the present time, a total extrication from the restraints of his religion: while the kings of the earth are to unite in schemes for a complete extinction of his followers and his authority. This corresponds to the representation, Rev. xvi. 13-16, that they are, at the time of his second coming, to be assembled for a great battle against him. Their object is to be to prevent the re-establishment of the Israelites in Jerusalem, and thereby confute the prediction that he is to be their king, conquer all their foes, and extend his sceptre over the whole earth. But Jehovah will interpose and confound them, and turn their impious attempt into derision. "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and terrify them in his displeasure.”—Vs. 4, 5. Their terror will be caused not merely by his voice, but by the visible presence also, we learn from Rev. vi. 15-17, of God Almighty and the Lamb at his right hand; for they are, in their consternation, to cry to the mountains and rocks to fall on them, and hide them from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath has come." The Lord God Almighty-the Father-is to be visible, therefore, as well as the Lamb, as he was in the vision beheld by the apostle, Rev. iv. v. And God the Almighty shall say to them, "And I have constituted my king upon Zion, my holy hill," v. 8, according to the purpose revealed to the ancient prophets which you are endeavoring to confute. The Messiah himself is then to interpose, and recite the decree by which he

is constituted king, and proclaim the universality of his empire, and his conquest of his foes. "I will declare the decree. The Lord hath said unto me: Thou art my Son: this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give the nations thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod, of iron: thou shalt dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel."—Vs. 7-9. Zion is thus to be the seat of his throne; and at the time when he receives his dominion and enters on his reign, the kings of the earth, instead of being his obedient subjects, are to be assembled in array against him, and are to be overwhelmed by his avenging bolts. This is in harmony with the predictions of his coming, Isaiah lxvi. 15, 16, Zech. xiv. 1-4, 12, 13, 2 Thess. i. 1-10 and ii. 8, Rev. vi. 15-17, xi. 18, xix. 19-21, which foreshow that the kings are to be assembled in arms against him, and are to be swept to destruction by his devouring lightnings. The Psalmist now turns, and exhorts the kings and judges of the earth, instead of vainly attempting to exclude Christ from his empire, to bend in submission to his sceptre, and adore and serve him; that they may escape destruction, and share in the blessedness to which those who put their trust in him are to be exalted. "Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings; be instructed ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him."-Vs. 10-13. This implies, like Isaiah lxvi., Zech. xiv., 2 Thess. i. and ii., and Rev. vi. and xix., that the destruction is to be confined to the open and organized enemies who endeavor to intercept him from his throne, or refuse subjection to his sway; and that those who survive are to be led to welcome and serve him, and to partake in the blessings of his gracious reign. His assumption of the dominion of the earth and the conversion of the nations are, therefore, to take place-not at an antecedent period-but at the time of his second coming.

Psalm cx. presents a similar prediction of the destruction of hostile kings and the conversion of the nations at his assumption of the dominion of the earth. Christ is to sit at the right hand of the Father till his enemies are subdued. "Thus saith Jehovah to my Lord (the Messiah), Sit at my

right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. The rod of thy strength will Jehovah send forth from Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies."-Vs. 1, 2. This session at the right hand of Jehovah accords with Daniel vii. 9-14, in which the Ancient of days is exhibited as appearing enthroned at the judgment and destruction of the fourth beast; Rev. vi. 16, in which the Father, that sat on the throne, as well as the Lamb, is represented as appearing to the kings and their armies in the day of his wrath enthroned; and Rev. xxi. 22, 23, xxii. 1-3, in which the Lord God Almighty-the Father-is exhibited as enthroned with the Lamb in the New Jerusalem, and constituting its temple and its light during the millennium of the earth. It is subsequently announced that in the day of his wrath, which is the day of his second coming and judgment of his enemies, he is to smite kings and slaughter many foes. "The Lord at thy right hand-(the Messiah)—smites kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill them with dead bodies, he shall smite heads on the wide earth."—Vs. 5, 6. But that day of vengeance on his enemies is to be the day of the willing and joyful submission of the other inhabitants of the earth to his sceptre. "Thy people are free-will offerings in the day of thy power, in beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning to thee (thy morning), the dew of thy youth," v. 3: that is, from the first rays, the dawn in freshness and beauty of thy millennial reign. It is at the time of his coming, therefore, the conquest of his armed foes, and establishment of his throne in Zion, that the nations are to be converted, and become the willing and joyous subjects of his sceptre.

His judging and destroying the usurping powers that tyrannize over his people-which are to take place at his second coming-are likewise exhibited in Psalm lxxii. as to be immediately followed by the conversion of the Gentiles, and a reign of peace over the whole earth. The Psalmist first predicts, in the form of prayer, that God will invest the Son with the office of Judge of the earth, which he is to exercise in righteousness,-delivering his people and judging his enemies. "O God, give thy judgments to the king, and thy righteousness to the king's Son," v. 1. This investiture with the dominion of the earth is to take place, we learn from

Psalm ii. and cx., Dan. vii. 9-13, and Rev. xi. 15, at Christ's second coming and destruction of the antichristian hosts. The first great acts of his reign, it is then announced, are to be the deliverance and vindication of his humble and necessitous people, and the destruction of the tyrants who are warring on them. "He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy afflicted ones with judgment. He shall judge the afflicted of the people, he shall save the sons of the needy, and shall crush the oppressor."-Vs. 2-4. These judgments are to be immediately followed by the manifestation of himself in his infinite beauty and graciousness, the conversion of the nations, and the extension of his empire over the whole earth. "They shall fear thee with the sun [wherever it shines], and before the moon generation of generations. He shall come down like rain upon mown grass, and like showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous sprout, and abundance of peace till the moon shall cease. And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. Before him the inhabitants of the wilderness shall bow, and his enemies shall lick the dust. And to him shall all kings bow, all nations shall serve him."--Vs. 5–11. To the conversion of the nations is to succeed an everlasting reign of righteousness, plenty, and bliss. "He will have pity on the poor and needy, and the souls of the needy he will save. From oppression and from violence he shall redeem their soul, and precious shall their blood be in his eyes. Let there be (but) a handful of corn in the land on the top of the mountains; its fruit shall wave like Lebanon, and they shall flourish from the city like grass of the earth. His name shall be forever; his name shall be in the presence of the sun [wherever it shines], and by him shall men bless themselves; all nations shall praise him."-Vs. 13-17. This glorious change is thus to be wrought by the Messiah, at the time of his investiture with the dominion of the earth, and coming to judge and destroy the usurpers who arrogate his throne, and oppress and devour his people.

The next predictions probably in the order of time are those of Isaiah ii. and Micah iv., in which it is foreshown, in the most explicit terms, that in the last days, when Jehovah shall re-establish his temple on Mount Zion, and shall reveal himself there in glory, all the false religions that have before

prevailed, are to be swept from existence, and all nations. repair to Jerusalem to offer worship and receive laws:

"It shall come to pass in the last days, the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his figtree, and none shall make afraid; for the mouth of Jehovah of hosts hath spoken it."-Isaiah ii. 1-4, Micah iv. 1–5.

And that is to be when Jehovah comes in visible majesty, and his enemies are to fly to the caverns of the mountains, to hide themselves from his vengeance. Rev. vi. 15-17. "Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty."-Isaiah ii. 10. This implies that he is then to appear visibly, with such dazzling displays of his deity as to strike his enemies with consternation. "For the day of Jehovah of hosts shall be upon every one that is lofty, and upon every one lifted up; and he shall be brought low: and the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of man shall be made low; and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth."-Vs. 10-19. Why should they fly to the dens and caverns to hide themselves from the splendors of his majesty, if there are to be no signals of his personal presence? Why should they be smitten. with terror at his impending vengeance, if-as they maintain who deny that he is then to come in person-that epoch is to be an epoch of mercy exclusively, and not of judgment on his enemies?

At this great crisis, accordingly, he is effectually to vindicate his right to the supreme homage he demands. The