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"in pieces captains and rulers. And I will "render unto Babylon, and to all the inhabi“tants of Chaldea, all their evil that they have "done in Zion, in your fight, faith the Lord;" Jer. li. 20.-24. "And the house of Jacob "fhall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a "flame, and the house of Efau for ftubble, and "they fhall kindle in them, and devour them; and "there shall not be any remaining of the house "of Efau ; for the Lord hath spoken it ;" Obadiah, ver. 18. "I will furely affemble, O Jacob, "all of thee: I will furely gather the remnant "of Ifrael, I will put them together as the "fheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of "their fold: They fhall make great noise by " reafon of the multitude of men. The break. "er is come up before them: They have bro"ken up, and have paffed through the gate, "and are gone out by it, and their king fhall "pafs before them, and the Lord on the head "of them;" Micah ii. 12, 13. "Now alfo 66 many nations are gathered against thee, that "fay, Let her be defiled, and let our eye "look upon Zion. But they know not the "thoughts of the Lord, neither understand "they his counsel: for he shall gather them as "the sheaves into the floor. Arise and thresh, "O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine "horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brafs, " and

go

"and thou shall beat in pieces many people : " and I will confecrate their gain unto the Lord, " and their fubftance unto the Lord of the "whole earth," Micah iv. 11, 12, 13. "And the remnant of Jacob fhall be among the "Gentiles in the midst of many people, as a "lion among the beafts of the foreft, as a young "lion among the flocks of fheep: who, if he "through, both treadeth down, and teareth in (( pieces, and none can deliver. Thine hand "fhall be lift up upon thine adversaries, and "all thine enemies fhall be cut off," Micah v. 8, 9. "Mine anger was kindled against the fhepherds, and I punished the goats: for the "Lord of hoft hath visited his flock in the house "of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly "horfe in the battle," Zech. x. 3. "In that "day will I make the governors of Judah like "a hearth of fire among the wood, and like a "torch of fire in a fheaf; and they fhall de"vour all the people round about, on the right "hand and on the left: and Jerufalem fhall be " inhabited again, in her own place, even in Je"rufalem; chap. xii. 6. "And Judah alfo "fhall fight at Jerufalem; and the wealth of "all the heathen round about fhall be gathered

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together, gold, and filver, and apparel in great abundance;" chap. xiv. 14.

SECT.

SECTION III.

The circumftances of the Battle, iffuing in a glorious Victory for the Jews.

THE fame light of truth which discovers the parties, reveals likewife the manner of the bat tle of Armageddon.

After the Jews are trained forty years in the wilderness of Affyria, from the date of their converfion, under the immediate eye of God: After the kings of the earth, deluded by Popish emiffaries, during the fame period, are induced at length to bring their armies into Judea, to refift them; the Jews by a mandate from heaven under the conduct of the Meffiah, march up to take poffeffion of the land given by promise to their fathers. "And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which "fhall be left from Affyria, like as it was to "Ifrael in the day that he came up out of the "land of Egypt;" Ifa. xi. 16.

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So folemn an occafion, will readily bring to their recollection the dealings of God with their nation in time paft, and certain circumstances in his dealings, will as readily excite fears for the future. Thofe fears, and the manner in which God removes them, are laid before us, Ifa. liv. 4.-17. to clofe.

It will be natural for them to reflect, now that they are about to poffefs the land, that they were put in poffeffion of it twice before, and were as often expelled out of it, while the last expulfion was far more fevere than the first; hence the dread of being ejected a third time, with ftill greater feverity, damps their joy, and overwhelms their spirits. To remove this fear, God addreffes them: "Fear not; for thou "fhalt not be afhamed: neither be thou con"founded; for thou shalt not be put to fhame : "for thou fhalt forget the fhame of thy 'youth, and fhalt not remember the reproach "of thy widowhood any more. For thy Ma"ker is thine hufband; the Lord of hofts is "his name: and thy Redeemer the holy One "of Ifrael; the God of the whole earth fhall "he be called. For the Lord hath called thee

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as a woman forsaken, and grieved in spirit, "and a wife of youth, when thou waft refused, "faith thy God. For a fmall moment have I "forfaken thee; but with great mercies will "I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face "from thee for a moment; but with everlast

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ing kindness will I have mercy on thee, faith "the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the "waters of Noah unto me: for as I have fworn "that the waters of Noah fhould no more go "over the earth; fo have I fworn that I would

not

"not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. "For the mountains fhall depart, and the hills "be removed; but my kindness shall not de66 part from thee, neither fhall the covenant of my peace be removed, faith the Lord that "hath mercy on thee;" Ifa. liv. 4.-10.

After intimations of the warmest love, compared to that of a husband for the wife of his youth, the object of his first and strongest affection, he affures them, that as he formerly fwore to Noah, and pledged himself to his posterity, filled with the dread of a fecond deluge, that no fuch event should ever take place to dif poffefs them of the earth; so now he folemnly fwears that he never will be wroth with them, nor rebuke them, by disinheriting them of the land they are about to poffefs. So long as the earth endures, they fhall remain in it, and when time shall be no more, they fhall experience his loving-kindness in a heavenly country, throughout the ages of eternity. It will readily occur to them, that ease and prosperity corrupted their fathers. The fubmiffion they learned by a course of discipline in the wildernefs, was changed into disobedience, upon their poffeffion of the land; "Jefhurun waxed fat

" and kicked."

The humility they acquired by their captivity in Babylon, was, fome time after their return,

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