land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth, which brought up, and which led, the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from ALL countries whither I have driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land" (Jer. xxiii. 7, 8). This deliverance evidently extends to the whole posterity of Israel—those from the "north country" referring to the Ten Tribes, and those from "all countries" to the other two tribes. And again, "According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew him marvellous things" (Micah vii. 15). And the very language that is used in speaking of the one deliverance, is likewise used in speaking of the other: "As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and with a stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you and I will bring you out from the people, and bring you out of the countries wherein ye were scattered, with a mighty hand and with a stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out: and I will bring you into the wilderness of the people"-Here the parallel is still carried forward: after their restoration they shall be brought into the wilderness-" and there," saith the Lord, as he did with their fathers under Moses, "will I plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God" (Ezek. xx. 33-36).

And here the observation may be again made, that nothing corresponding to this prediction has yet transpired; no deliverance of the Jews has yet happened, which, in its essential features, bears even a comparison with the deliverance from Egypt. The events, therefore, which are here predicted, must be FUTURE.

There are some authors who have explained these, and other strong prophecies respecting Israel's future restoration, as referring to the deliverance from Babylon; but when it is considered, that, instead of the promised liberty, glory, and greatness, with which such prophecies abound, but a comparative few returned at that time, and that these were tributary to the Persians,-"for we are but servants," said Ezraand that they only partially possessed their own land; that they were subsequently greatly oppressed by the Greeks, who slew, banished, and enslaved great numbers of them; that they afterwards, on the overthrow of the Grecian kingdoms, paid tribute to the Romans, and this as long as they possessed their country ;it is impossible to apply such a restoration as is spoken of in the elevated, glowing, and rapturous language of the prophets, to an event in which it bears no resemblance in any one feature. Besides, that was only the first time they were restored from the nations where they had been carried captive; but these great prophecies

refer to a second restoration: for, in Isaiah xi. 11, 12, it is said, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the OUTCASTS of Israel, and gather together the DISPERSED of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” And in Jer. xxxii. 37, 38,

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Behold, I will gather them out of all countries whither I have driven them....and I will.... cause them to dwell SAFELY." And in Amos ix. 15, "I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God."

It is also declared in those glorious prophecies respecting their restoration, that the cities which are now laid waste shall be rebuilt. "Thus saith the Lord God; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the Garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced,

and are inhabited." (Ezek. xxxvi. 33-35.) "And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of And strangers shall

MANY

GENERATIONS.

stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But YE shall be named the priests of the Lord: men shall call you the ministers of God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves." (Isa. lxi. 4-6.)

As the fact thus appears clear and indisputable, from these and many other passages which might be quoted, that the whole of the posterity of Abraham, both of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, shall certainly be restored with great signs and wonders to their own land, -that land which has been the theatre of so many wonderful transactions, and is connected with associations infinitely more grand, sublime, and interesting, than those with which Gibbon is said to have contemplated the ancient majesty of Rome-the important question of its chronology now remains to be considered. When shall this period of wonders take place? At what time are we to look for or to expect these great events to happen? How long will it

be ere this " out?

cup of fury" shall be fully poured

We have seen that in the two former captivities of the people-those of Egypt and Babylon-a distinct intimation was given of the length of their duration. Is any such intimation to be found in the pages of the inspired records, with regard to this greater and more overwhelming calamity; this long and weary estrangement from their own soil; this captivity which has been attended with such complicated sufferings and trials, such misery, reproach, and shame?

In the book of Daniel, as well as Revelations, the term "time" is used to express an acknowledged chronological period of a determined and unequivocal duration, the meaning of which has already been explained: and to my mind, after very close consideration of the subject, the PERFECTION of calamity which has fallen upon the whole Jewish nation, has a PERFECTION of duration attached to it, in the clear, intelligible, and divinely-accredited term of seven times named in four several places in this important prophecy of the 26th of Leviticus :— "If ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins" (verses 27, 28; see also verses 18, 21,