rected Mofes to rehearse to the children of Ifrael, to be preferved by them. "For I lift my hand to heaven, and fay, I live forever. If (or when) I whet my glittering fword, and mine hand take hold on judg. ment I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with their blood (and my fword fhall devour flesh) and that with the blood of the flain, and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy. Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people; for he will avenge the blood of his fervants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people." This prophecy is very parallel with that which has been mentioned, which relates to the great battle.+ The fame events are predicted in the following words of Mofes: "There is none like unto the God of Jefhurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the fky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlafting arms: And he fhall thruft out the enemy from before thee, and shall fay, Destroy them. Ifrael then fhall dwell in fafety alone. The fountain of Jacob fhall be upon a land of corn and wine; alfo his heavens fhall drop down dew." In thefe words, God is reprefented as riding forth to thrust out and destroy the enemies of his people; and upon this the profperity of his church, the true Ifrael, is introduced. This prophecy therefore coincides with the defcription of the battle in the Revelation, as introductory to the Millennium. The fame events are predicted in the prayer or fong of Hannah. "He will keep the feet of his faints, and the wicked fhall be filent in darknefs; for by firength fhall no man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord fhall be broken to pieces: Out of heaven shall he thunder upon them. The Lord fhall judge the ends of the earth, and he shall give ftrength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed."§

This battle, by which the wicked will be deftroyed, and the reign of Chrift and his church on earth introduced, is frequently brought into view and predicted in the book of Pfalms. The following predictions of this kind, are worthy to be observed :— "Afk of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utmoft parts of the earth for thy poffeffion. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like

* Deut. xxxii. 40, 41, 42, 43. ↑ Deut. xxxii. 26, 27, 28.

+ Rev. xviii. zo. xix 1, 4,

§ 1 Sam. ii. 9, 10,

like a potter's veffel."* There is reference to this prediction
and promife in the following words of Chrift: "And he that
overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I
give power over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod
of iron; as the vefiels of a potter fhall they be broken to pieces,
even as I received of my Father." The followers of Chrift are
faid to do what he does for them, and in their behalf in deftroying
their enemies, as they are engaged in the fame caufe, and are with
him in these works of vengeance, and they who have overcome,
and have arrived to heaven, will be with him in a peculiar man-
ner, when he thall come forth to fight this great battle, and dash
the nations of the world into pieces, as a potter's veffel is broken.
Therefore, there is again reference to thofe words in the fecond.
Pfalm, when Chrift is reprefented as riding forth to the battle
there described, followed by the armies in heaven, comprehending
all who shall then have overcome. "And out of his mouth goeth
a fharp fword, that with it he fhould fmite the nations: And he
fhall rule them with a rod of iron: And he treadeth the wine prefs
of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." This is cer-
tainly the fame with the battle of that great day of Almighty God,
mentioned in the fixteenth chapter, as has been fhown; and is
predicted in the words now quoted from the second Pfalm.-
There is a prediction of the fame battle defcribed in the nineteenth
chapter of the Revelation, in the following words: "Gird thy
fword upon thy thigh, O most mighty; with thy glory and thy
majesty. And in thy majefty ride profperously, because of truth
and meckness, and righteoufnefs: And thy right hand shall teach
thee terrible things. Thine arrows are harp in the heart of the
king's enemies, whereby the people fall under thee."§ In the
next Pfalm, the profperity of the church is predicted, which will
take place in the Millennium; and the battle by which it will be-
introduced and effected is alfo defcribed. "There is a river, the
ftreams whereof fhall make glad the city of our God. God is in
the midst of her; the fhall not be moved: God fhall help her,
and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were
moved: He uttered his voice, the earth melted. Come, behold
the works of the Lord, what defolations he hath made in the earth.
He maketh wais to ceate unto the end of the carth, he breaketly
the bow, and cutteth the fpear in funder, he burneth the chariot

Q2

Pfal. ii. 8, 9.
Rev. xix. 14, 15+

† Rev. ii. 26, 27.
§ Pial. xlv. 3; 4; 5»

in

in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."

The twenty first Pfalm contains a prediction of Christ, and foretells the deftruction of the wicked, as introducing his reign on earth, and the prosperity and joy of the church. "Thine hand fhall find out all thine enemies, thy right hand fhall find out those that hate thee. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: The Lord fhall fwallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit fhalt thou destroy from the earth, and their feed from among the children of men : For they intended evil against thee; they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform. Therefore fhalt thou make them turn their back, when thou fhalt make ready thine arrows upon thy ftrings, against the face of them. Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own firength: So fhall we fing and praise thy power.

That the wicked fhall be cut off and destroyed from the earth, that the faints may inherit it, is foretold throughout the thirty feventh Pfalm. "Evil doers fhall be cut off: But thofe that wait upon the Lord, they fhall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked fhall not be: Yea, thou fhalt diligently confider his place, and it fhall not be. But the meek fhall inherit the carth, and delight themfelves in the abundance of peace. Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he fhall exalt thee to inherit the earth: When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. The tranfgreflors fhall be deftroyed together; the end of the wicked fhall be cut off. But the falvation of the righteous is of the Lord," &c.

The fame thing is brought into view in the feventy fifth, seventy fixth, and ninety seventh Pfalms. "God is the judge, he putteth down one, and fetteth up another. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture, and he "poureth out of the fame; but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them. All the horns of the wicked alfo will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous fhall be exalted. In Judah, is God known, his name is great in Ifrael. In Salem alfo is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion. There brake he the arrows of the bow, the fhield, and the fword, and the battle. Thou art more glorious and excellent than the i

Verf. 8-13.

the mountains of prey. The ftout hearted are spoiled, they have flept their fleep: And none of the men of might have found their hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are caft into a dead fleep. Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared and was ftill, when God arofe to judgment, to fave all the meek of the earth. He shall cut off the spirit of princes: He is terrible to the kings of the earth." "The Lord reigneth, let the people rejoice; let the multitude of ifles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round about him, righteoufnefs and judgment are the habitation of his throne. A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about. His lightnings enlightned the world: The earth faw, and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the prefence of the Lord; at the prefence of the Lord of the whole earth. Confounded be, ail they that serve graven images, that boaft themselves of idols.. Worship him all ye gods." This battle is brought into view, and foretold in the 110th Pfalm. "The Lord faid unto my Lord, fit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord fhall fend the rod of thy ftrength out of Zion; rule thou in the midft of thine enemies. The Lord at thy right hand fhall strike through kings in the day of his wrath, (i, e. in the great day of battle.) He thall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he fhail wound the heads over many countries."

In the prophecy of Ifaiah, this battle, as it has been explained, is often brought into view, as connected with the profperity of the church of Chrift on earth, and introductory to it: Some inftances of this will be mentioned. In the five firft verfes of the fecond chapter, there is a prophecy of the happy ftate of the church in the laft days, that is, in the Millennium. In the four next verses is a defcription of the corruption, worldliness and idolatry of the visible church, and confequently of the world in general, as the reason of the displeasure with them, and his punishing them. And from the tenth verfe to the end of the chapter, the manifeftation of his displeasure, in his fighting against them, and punishing them, is described. "Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the duft, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majefty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shail be bowed down, and the Lord alone fhall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hofts fhall be upon every one that is

proud

proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up, and he fhall be brought low. And the idols he fhall utterly abolith. And they fhall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he arifeth to shake terribly the earth."

The eleventh chapter contains a prediction of the Millennium, and of the flaughter of the wicked of the earth, which fhall make way for it. "With righteoufnels fhall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity, for the meek of the earth: And he fhall fmite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips fhall he flay the wicked." These last words are parelle with those in the Revelation, by which this battle, and the effect of it are expreffed. "And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he fhould finite the nations, and he fhall rule them with a rod of iron. And the remnant were flain with the sword of him who fat on the horse, which fword proceedeth out of his mouth."+

In the thirteenth chapter is a prediction of the fame thing: *Howlye, for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a deftruction from the Almighty. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath, and fierce anger, to lay the earth defolate: And he fhall destroy the finners thereof out of it. And will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will caufe the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will Jay low the haughtiness of the terrible." What is said in this chapter, has reference to ancient Babylon, and the deftruction of that, and of other nations, in order to the deliverance and restoration of Ifrael. But it evidently has chief reference to the deftruc tion of spiritual Babylon, and all the wicked in the world, in order to the deliverance and profperity of the true, spiritual Israel of God, and will be most completely fulfilled in the latter, of which the former are types and fhadows. As thofe prophecies which have a primary respect to the type, do generally, if not always, look forward to the antitype; and have their full and chief accomplishment in that, and the events which relate to it.

The twenty fourth chapter is wholly on this fubject, and defcribes the battle of that great day of God Almighty, and the flaughter of the wicked, in clear and ftriking language, in confequence of which, the church and people of God shall spread and profper.

!

*Verfe 4.