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"fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire "and by sword will the Lord plead with all flesh; and the "slain of the Lord shall be many. For behold the day "cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, "yea all that do wickedly, shall be as stubble; and the "day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of "hosts, and it shall leave them neither root nor branch. "But unto you that fear my name, shall the Sun of "righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye "shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall."† The two events, the battle of the great day, and the introduction of the Millennium, are abundantly predicted in connexion, through the prophets. The former is Christ's ruling the nations with his rod of iron, and dashing them in pieces like a potter's vessel. This is the smiting of the stone, cut out without hands, upon the feet of the image; so that the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, are broken to pieces together, and become like the chaff of the summer threshing floor, and the wind carries them away, that no place is found for them.§ And the stone that smote them, becomes a great mountain, and fills the world. Thus evil doers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. The wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs; (offered in sacrifice:) they shall consume; into smoke they shall consume arway. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in abundance of peace.¶

A Babylonian and Assyrian of the last days.

SOME prophecies, relative to ancient Babylon, are evidently to have their ultimate fulfilment upon Antichrist, in the last days; who is accordingly, in the Revelation, repeatedly called Babylon. And things are said, rela

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Psalm ii, 9; Rev. ii, 27, and xix, 15. § See also Isa. xli, 15, 16, Psalm xxxvii, 9, 11, 20.

Dan. ii, 34,

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tive to the apocalyptic Babylon, in evident allusion to things said of the ancient literal Babylon; and in such a way, as to evince, those ancient prophecies related ultimately to Antichrist. In Jer. 1, and li, we have predictions relative to Babylon; which Mr. Scott observes, from Bp. Lowth, "comprises the fall of mystical Babylon." Bp. Lowth adds, that this is the case "here, and in the parallel passages of Isaiah, and the Revelation." The

passages then, in the Revelation, in Isaiah, and in the list. chapter of Jeremiah, Bp. Lowth views "parallel passages" comprising the fall of Antichrist. And in the latter passage, we read;-"The violence done to me and to my flesh, be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood, upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say." "Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment and a hissing, without an inhabitant." "A rumor shall both come one year, and after that in another year, shall come a rumor, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler:" (as our Lord predicted; "wars and rumors of wars.") "I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats." "My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord." As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

In Isa. xiy, is one of these passages, which Dr. Lowth calls "parallel passages; comprising the fall of mystical Babylon." After announcing, in the preceding chapter, that Babylon shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah; the fourteenth chapter is introduced with a promise of Israel's restoration; which was partially fulfilled in their ancient restoration from Babylon; but which is to receive a more important accomplishment in their final restoration, which is still future. "For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land." The prophet then goes on to describe the destruction of Babylon, their oppressor. This description will be most emphatically fulfilled in the destruction of Gog and his bands, in the battle of that great day of God.

"Thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers. The whole earth is at rest and is quiet; they break forth into singing." This clause has never been fulfilled. But it will be,-after the battle of that great day. "Yea, the fir-trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller (or cutter of wood) is come up against us." i. e. Wars, upon the fall of the antichristian Babylon, shall cease, to the ends of the earth; as predicted Psalm xlvi, 8, 9. The prophet proceeds; "Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming!" The inhabitants of the regions of the dead are, by a figure, represented as in vast commotion, at the approach of this Power (called Babylon) among them. Kings and chieftains address him; "Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy vials. The worm is spread under thee; and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, who didst weaken the nations. For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the throne of God. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell-They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man, who made the earth to tremble, and did shake the kingdoms? that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof? All the kings of the nations lie in glory, every one in his own house." i. e. Their bodies, when they died, were laid in superb tombs, under lofty monuments. But so it shall not be with this hateful Babylon. "But thou art cast out of thy grave, like an abominable branch,and as the raiment of those, who are slain, thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit, as a carcass trodden under feet. Prepare slaughter for his children, for the iniquity of their fathers. For I will rise up against

them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name and the remnant, and son and nephew, saith the Lord." Exactly this all agrees with the predicted destruction of Antichrist; beginning with his coalition against the Jews in Palestine, and thence rolling through antichristian nations. The tremendous scene opens, upon the mountains of Israel; and thence proceeds through the wicked world. The prophet proceeds; "The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying,Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot." Here it is decided, that the prediction has a special relation to the destruction of Antichrist in the last days, under the name of Gog, Ezek. xxxix. For the slaughter is to be in God's land, upon the mountains in the land of Israel, the very place where, and at the very time when Gog and his bands fall. But there ancient Babylon did not fall. "Then shall his yoke depart from off them (the Jews returned) and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand, that is stretched out upon all the nations."

Babylon is here, verse 25, called the Assyrian. The Babylonian monarchy was subsequent to the Assyrian monarchy. Yet in the above prophecy the name of the Assyrian is given to Babylon: Or rather, the names Babylon, and the Assyrian, as though one and the same, are applied to Antichrist.

This may lead us to understand the tenth chapter of Isaiah. Here is another of those parallel passages, which Dr. Lowth informs comprise the mystical Babylon. This tenth of Isaiah had an awful fulfilment upon the ancient people of God; and in the literal destruction of the Assyrian, who captivated them. But it was to have a much more awful fulfilment in the events of the last days.

Verse 5-O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the

spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets." I shall show, by and by, from subsequent passages in this chapter, that these events clearly relate (as to their most interesting fulfilment) to the events of the last days, about the time of the restoration of the Jews. At that time was to appear a terrible Assyrian, a Rod of God's anger, commissioned against the hypocritical nation, the people of God's wrath: Names, which perfectly apply to Papal Babylon; or the body of nations of the Papal delusion. He has a providential charge against them, to plunder them; and to tread them down as mire. All his power against them originates in God's indignation against them, and determination to cut them off. This Assyrian is the rod of God's anger, his saw, his axe. (verse 15.) But notice is given of the different and wicked motive of this horrible agent. "Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so: But it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few. For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?" He has no view of fulfilling the righteous judgments of God; but to destroy and rule the nations. He boasts that his vassal princes are fully kings. The Revelator says, they have receiv ed no real kingdom; but have received power as kings, one hour with the beast. (Rev. xvii, 12.) The prophecy proceeds to announce, that when God shall have performed his work upon the hypocritical nation, (the perfidious people, that have borne his name,) that God will punish the fruit of the stout heart of this kingdom of Assyria, and the glory of their high looks. This enormous Power shall be utterly destroyed. He is represented, verse 16-19, as being burnt up, like thorns, in one day. And those who shall be left of him, shall be few, that a child may write them. Verse 20→→ 24. "And it shall come to pass, in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him, thatsmote them, but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy one of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though

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