pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' land, and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.'-Lev. xxvi: 15, 39. See also Deut. xxviii: 14, 26.

Such are the penalties attached to a violation of the law of Moses. These are the plagues to be brought on the unbelieving and rebellious Jews. These are the statutes by which they were to be judged; which were written in the books. This brought on Israel the Second political Death. They had once spiritually died in Adam our first representative, as well as all other nations; but having been chosen by God as his peculiar people, they became alive spiritually. They had the lively oracles of God committed to them, and Jesus Christ preached to them in the wilderness.-I. Cor. x: 4. But they did not believe the word preached to them, and so became blinded. Thus, by backsliding from God, who was Israel's habitation, they became a second time morally dead. They were like the sow that was washed, which returned to her wallowing in the mire; or as the Saviour said, like the man who had an unclean spirit cast out of him, and took unto himself seven other evil spirits; so that the last state of that man was

worse than the first. So it was with the Jews. By thus continuing to backslide, they left their own habitation, were ripe for the destruction of good men, who reproved them for their misdeeds, and so became guilty of all the righteous blood-shed upon the earth from the time of Abel to that of the Saviour.

The children of Israel departed from the commands of God, and sunk into the most shameless idolatry; almost beneath the worst of the Gentiles. Hence the declaration of Ezekiel, Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, thus saith the Lord God, yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me. * * * For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with your idols, even unto this day.' Ezek. xx: 27, 31. This fire was kept at the east gate of Jerusalem. And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is the valley of the son of Hinnom, to have their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the lord, that

it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter; for they shall bury in Tophet till there be no place.' Jer. viii. 31. 32. It was this fire to which Christ referred when he spoke of the fire that is not quenched and the worm that died not.

It was into this valley of the son of Hinnom, which, in the New Testament, is called Gehenna, and rendered hell, as the learned tell us, the dead bodies of the unbelieving Jews were thrown, when Christ came and judged them. In this was accomplished the prediction of the prophet. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. Isa. Ixvi: 24. This was accomplished when Jerusalem was destroyed. They were a people who wondered and perished, and brought upon themselves the second death. This was the political death of Israel. The first death was the Babylon captivity, which was accomplished by the king of Babylon. Israel lay dead seventy years, this was the first political death of

Israel. Ezekiel tells us of their being raised up out of their graves, even the whole house of Israel: then they were settled in their own land, and became a nation again, which I shall speak more of hereafter.

CHAPTER III.

ON THE COMING OF CHRIST AND THE PUNISHMENT
OF THE JEWS.

The Gospel which Paul preached, provided a second death for the Jews; but life in Christ to those who believed, whether Jews or Gentiles. Had they all have believed the gospel, they would have escaped the second death. But not doing this, they were judged out of those things written in the books of the law; but the Gentiles never had the law, and therefore, were judged out of the book of life-by the perfect law of liberty! Thus the Gentiles

were introduced into the kingdom of heaven, which is represented by being on the right hand of the Judge, while the Jews, rejected of God, which is represented by being placed on the left hand, were cast out into outer darkness, where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. All this was accomplished at Jerusalem, when Christ came to judgment, as he declared he should, before the generation then on the earth, should pass away. This the

Jews, as a people, have suffered.

Hence the Saviour said, 'I say unto you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness, where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.' Those who came from the east and west, were the Gentiles; and the children of the kingdom were the Jews, who were denied the privileges of the gospel kingdom, as a punishment, until the fulness of the Gentiles should be gathered in. Rom. xi: 25. To the same purpose is the language of our Saviour on another occasion. 'Wo urto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because