Precisely the same order is observed by St. John, with this only difference, that, treating of the Church at large, he does not particularly notice the restoration of Israel, but contents himself with only obscurely intimating that the exhaustion of the symbolical Euphrates, or the overthrow of the Ottoman empire, should prepare a way for the kings from the east: 1. The gathering together of the Antichristian confederacy to Megiddo in the land of Palestine, the country which extends 1600 furlongs, the region between the two seas; 2. Its overthrow in that country by the miraculous intervention of the personal Word of God; 3. The first resurrection, either literal or symbolical, of the saints, and their reign with Christ during the period of the Millennium; 4. The expedition and destruction of Gog and Magog.

It is impossible to avoid being struck with the exact correspondence between Ezekiel and St. John, in the order of their respective details. If then the arguments, which I have already adduced, be well-founded; and if this correspondence be allowed to exist: we must come to the conclusion, that the Gog and Magog of Ezekiel are the same as the Gog and Magog of St. John; and consequently that their expedition will take place, not before the commencement, but at the end of the Millennium.

No matter of any consequence seems to occur between the destruction of Gog and Magog, and the end of the world; but it does not certainly ap

pear,

pear, how long a space of time will intervene between those two great events. St. John, so far as his narrative is concerned, passes immediately from the one to the other, without specifying the length of the intervening period *. But Ezekiel, though neither does he specify its length, gives us reason to believe, that the end of the world will not be directly consecutive to the overthrow of the Magogian confederacy. After this overthrow is accomplished, it is said, The house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward†; an expression, which leads us to suppose, that they will continue in the land of their fathers some indefinite time after the destruction of their enemies, ere the end of all things shall arrive. And this supposition is confirmed by Ezekiel's mention of two periods; seven years, and seven months ‡. But, whether we are to understand by them prophetic years and months or natural years and months, and whether the burning of the arms and the burying of the carcases connected with these two periods is to be understood figuratively or literally, I venture not to determine §. The whole passage is pe

culiarly

* Rev. xx. 9, 10, 11. † Ezek. xxxix. 22. ↑ Ezek. xxxix. 9, 12, 14.

§ "No remarkable event occurs," says Mr. Fraser, “during "the period that elapses between the destruction of Gog and "the last day; only it would appear, that the Jewish church "continues faithful until Christ's appearance, Their endea

culiarly difficult and obscure: yet it at least serves to shew, that the end of the world does not immediately follow the rout of Gog and Magog.

PRO

"vours to maintain purity and fidelity are increased in consequence of Gog's invasion. Being fully sensible of the great "evils arising from a spirit of opposition to the discipline of "the Church which animated Gog and his followers, they "endeavour to discover and suppress the first movements of "it. So I understand the expressions in Ezek. xxxix. 14, 15. "They cannot be taken in a literal sense; because the army of Gog, if it were allowed to remain unburied for seven months, would occasion pestilential disorders. Again, if 46 you suppose the bones mentioned to be a few scattered over "the mountains, which had escaped the notice of those who "buried the main body at the end of seven months, the danger "arising from them would be over; and the burial of them "does not appear of so great importance, as to require that "men should be appointed for that employment, nor could it "be said that the burying of these bones cleansed the land. "The expressions are certainly figurative. As the Jews un"converted are compared to dead and dry bones (Ezek. xxxvii.);'

46

so the bones of Gog's army here signify persons unconverted, "who resist the authority of the Church, and hate the con"straints of religion. That men answered to the continual em

66

ployment of discovering these bones implies, that the Church "appoints officers for the purpose of searching into the first move"ments of the spirit mentioned. When the spirit is discovered, "the officers employed make it publicly known to the ordi"nary civil magistrates, who, by every legal method, suppress "it. The proper employment of the civil magistrate is to "suppress all vice, immorality, and irreligion, as a burier "covers out of sight a nauseous carcase. By the lawful dili"gent exercise of discipline, the land is cleansed, the Jewish

PROPHECY XXVI.

Descriptive character of the powers that will compose the Antichristian confederacy-The progress of Antichrist to Palestine-His overthrow thereThe restoration of Judah during a time of great trouble at the close of the 1260 years.

Dan. ii. 40. The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and, as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 41.. And, whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with the miry clay. 42. And, as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 43. And, whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with

"church is kept pure" (Fraser's Key to the Prophecies. p. 458.). If the passage is to be understood symbolically, I doubt whether Mr. Fraser gives quite the proper explanation of it. The Jews are not symbolized by dead and dry bones on account of their infidelity, but on account of their long political extinction as a nation. The burying therefore of Gog's army, if interpreted symbolically, would denote the utter extinction of his national existence.

the

the seed of men but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 44. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever: 45. Forasmuch as thou sawest-34.-till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them and the stone, that smote the image, became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

vii. 7. After this I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that went before it; and it had ten horns. 8. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots and behold, in this horn there were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. 9. I beheld, till the

thrones