Malachi; and to avoid going into unnecessary detail, I will produce a single example from the first of these prophets.

Let us observe, then, what is said in the tenth chapter of the prophecy of Zechariah, beginning at ver. 6.

"I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I WILL BRING THEM AGAIN TO PLACE THEM; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them. And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it and be glad; their hearts shall rejoice in the Lord. I WILL HISS FOR THEM, AND GATHER THEM; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased. And I will sow them among the people and THEY SHALL REMEMBER ME IN FAR COUNTRIES; and they shall live with their children, and turn again. I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I WILL BRING THEM INTO THE LAND OF GILEAD AND LEBANON; and place shall not be found for them. And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of

Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away. And I WILL STRENGTHEN THEM IN THE LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the Lord."

2. A second mark, by which prophecy respecting Israel may be known to be yet unfulfilled, is when the prosperity predicted is declared to be in the days of the MESSIAH.

Assuredly no prosperity or happiness has characterized the fortunes of Israel since the time when He appeared in the flesh who is nevertheless declared to be "the Redeemer of Israel;" nor has any restoration from captivity or from dispersion, nor any great and general spiritual renovation, taken place upon them since that period. Prophecies to such effect, therefore, must yet await their accomplishment.

Of this class is the following example, which find in Jeremiah xxiii. 5—8.

you

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I WILL RAISE UNTO DAVID A RIGHTEOUS BRANCH, AND A KING SHALL REIGN AND PROSPER, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. IN HIS DAYS JUDAH SHALL BE SAVED; AND ISRAEL SHALL DWELL SAFELY : and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, be

hold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the 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 HAD DRIVEN THEM; and THEY SHALL DWELL IN THEIR OWN LAND."

3. Again, a third and very striking and decisive mark of unfulfilled prophecy respecting Israel is, when JUDAH and ISRAEL ARE JOINED TOGETHER in the enjoyment of the promised mercies.

You are well aware, brethren, that during the reign of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, ten of the tribes of Israel revolted, and became a separate kingdom under Jeroboam; while the remaining two tribes only, those of Judah and Benjamin, remained faithful to their royal master. You are aware also, that these two kingdoms, which were distinguished by the names of Israel or Ephraim, and Judah, continued separate in all subsequent time; and that the former of them, that of Israel, was at length vanquished, and carried captive by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria; as also that the latter kingdom, that of Judah, was likewise, a little more than a century afterwards, carried captive into Babylon. From this captivity in Babylon the kingdom of Judah did indeed return after the expiration of seventy years

of captivity but from the captivity of Assyria, Israel has never returned even to this day. Judah and Israel have never yet, therefore, been united together, since they were first separated in the days of Rehoboam; and still less has their union been distinguished by temporal and spiritual prosperity; and this especially in the days of Messiah. We conclude, therefore, that all prophecies of this character are to be regarded as still unfulfilled. Of these I will quote two or three examples; the first of which occurs in Isaiah xi. 10—13.

"In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek and his rest shall be glorious. 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. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.” A second example of the same kind, you find

in Jeremiah xxxi. 27-34: "Behold the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL and the HOUSE OF JUDAH with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD. In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUse of Israel, AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I WILL PUT MY LAW

IN THEIR INWARD PARTS, AND WRITE IT IN

THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for